Rhetoric Race and Religion
by Bernardo A. Zapata
Special to R3
Carol Miles reads Tyler Perry’s movie Good Deeds through the glasses of the familiar biblical text of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)[1]. Even though in this movie Perry does not make reference to specific religious themes, the author still tries to find the Christian moral in the story, perhaps influenced by the popular perception that most of Perry’s work has at least a subtly embedded religious tone. One of the movie’s narratives goes around the life of two brothers, children of privilege and wealth, one of them Tyler Perry’s character named Wesley who is the picture perfect ‘good man’; the other one is his misogynistic, arrogant, hateful brother Walter. Miles’ reverse use of the parable of the prodigal son is quite an interesting approach to the relationship between the biblical text and the movie. Miles proposes that even though Walter is the quintessential candidate for the role of the prodigal son, it is in fact Wesley who at the end becomes such character, given his decision to leave everything behind to fulfill his quest for finding his true self.
Even though Miles approach is commendable because of its originality, I do not see a plausible reason along the movie’s narrative that may connect these two characters with the narrative in Scripture. Wesley has always been his parents’ favorite, he has not defiled their relationship, he is not one in need of redemption; he may be tired of always playing the Mr. Right’s role, but he is only searching for his true self, he is not a broken man. On the other hand, the revengeful and resentful Walter, the true broken man is not redeemed because he never sought and was never offered forgiveness and redemption. Miles reading is plausible from the humanistic point of view which I would argue, is the same point of view used by Perry in his work; there is not a theological reading either to Miles construct, nor to Perry’s work. Wesley is both portrayed by Perry and viewed by Miles as a ‘decent, hard-working man’ (p. 1) with a profound need to define himself, who is searching for happiness by means of plunging himself in the unchartered waters of adventure and unpredictability. Similarly, Walter faces his demise in both constructs mainly because he never sought for alternatives beyond the boundaries of his egotistic behavior, he got the penalty he deserved when he was demoted of his role in the family company; a more secular, humanistic portrait of these two characters is difficult to find.
I would also argue, that Miles writing falls short on critiquing Good Deeds shallow portray of what might be the core of the narrative in the movie: a fairy tale with no moral attached. By the most part Good Deeds’ intent is to represent the idea of a wealthy, well-educated man who is almost without blemish, and who through his ‘good deeds’ is a close candidate to become a real-life hero, similar to those fiction characters idolized in popular culture so prevalent not only on Sunday’s comic-strips but in everyday media as well. Perry uses Wesley Deeds’ wealth, mild manners and heart for charity as the vehicle to portray the new quasi-universal construct of a ‘good man’; even though Miles seems to recognize the stereotype Perry develops, she fails to call out Perry’s veiled attempt to harmonize wealth and good deeds as a trademark for most of the roles Perry himself plays in his movies and plays.
I would suggest that Miles’ failure to address this constant in Perry’s work is not the result of an intentional effort on her part to disguise Perry’s intent as lovable. Perhaps her reading is an exemplification of how deep this secular, individualistic idea of kindness and goodness is so encysted in today’s American culture, that even those supposed to critically address it miss the point. Philanthropy is the medium used by those in the high circles of power to overshadow the disservices and injustices done to the meek and hungry; philanthropy or good deeds is the backdrop that covers inequities and oppression against the poor and the dispossessed.
Wesley Deeds uses his wealth and power to solve the individual needs of a person who has entered into his life at random; his role is that of a savior or redeemer that magically with his Midas touch provides for the desperate need of the one meek person in which he has a vested interest. Miles rightly portrays such behavior as almost extravagant in his generosity (p. 2). Deeds uses not his privilege and position within the dominant circles of power to intentionally influence corporate America towards a more just society where people are paid justly and earn enough money to make a living; he is not even aware, perhaps he is oblivious to the fact that he may lead his own multi-million dollar enterprise to become the model for such more just, less divisive society.
Hand by hand with the super-hero trend, goes Perry’s movement away from the familial shallow theology he presented his audience with in some of his movies, and in most of his plays. Miles suggests that the more sophisticated both the targeted audience and the movie’s characters become, the more evident is that the need for calling Jesus’ name, and to solve all conflicts by invoking the use of prayer is less of prevalent. For Perry upward mobility clearly mark the partition between those who have the need for religion and those who don’t (p. 5) Miles concludes; even insubstantial religion I would add.
I understand that the goal for Perry’s enterprises is not other than generate the biggest possible profit through the movies, plays, and media products that such enterprise develops and sells; it cannot be understood in any other ways in the neo-liberal atmosphere that permeates today’s America. Although his propaganda machine tells his target audience otherwise, he is not an undercover Christian apologist; Perry is a sharp businessman with an acute knowledge of his surroundings as well as of the community in which he was groomed. That is the main reason why he has been able to almost seamlessly make the move for the ‘chitlin’ circuit to mainstream films; he can almost intimately relate to people’s life experiences in the ‘hood’ and with no effort on his part he can transcend on the opposite side of the spectrum amongst the wealthy and powerful, almost as magically as the teleported characters of Star trek did.
What perplexes me the most is that Perry has been able to establish himself almost as a religious guru, even among scholars and other authors in the f
ield of critical thinking. Miles, in this particular paper is capable of reading Good Deeds as essentially a retelling of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (p. 2), even though as I contended above it is a humanistic reading rather than a theological one. If one were to analyze Good Deeds from a Christian prospective I would argue, it should be done by looking into what the narrative does not address. It is precisely because of its lack of a hint of social justice all along the movie that I would counter Perry’s narrative against the parable of the rich man in Mark 10. That’s how much of a Christian movie, this one is.
[1] Film Review by Carol Miles (2012), ‘Good Deeds’ in Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 16, Issue 1, Article 15. University of Nebraska, Omaha
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