What Tyler Perry Was Too Scared To Say In Netflix's Movie "Straw"

A wake up call for his female supporters

Original Trailer For The Movie

“It was a great movie,” she said.

“Umm,” I responded. “What was so great?”

It was at this point my older sister started her monologue on why Tyler Perry’s latest Netflix movie Straw, “is such a great movie.” Mid-way through, I interrupted. “Every one of his movies portray Black women in a struggle, but he never shows how or why the women got there.”

“Yeah, but it was such good acting, Taraji P. Henson is in it.”

“Okay yeah, she’s amazing,” I smiled at the thought of watching Taraji on the big screen.

“But haven’t you ever noticed that we’re Tyler Perry’s target audience, yet he shows us as broken women, or mocks the negative stereotypes about us?” I asked her. Then added, “when will he be honest about how and why we end up broken?”

My sister remained mute. Meanwhile, I could imagine her on the other end of the line doing what Black women do best; she didn’t want to see the many ways that all men, but more precisely Black men, oppress Black women in very nuanced ways.

“Listen, since it’s such a good movie, I’ll watch it, but I’ll watch it through a different lens.” I paused for impact, “Not the one Tyler Perry wants us to see it through.”

That’s what I did, and Tyler Perry didn’t fail to disappoint me. I concluded that by looking closely at the male characters; we see a snapshot of what Black male oppression of Black women looks like. This is something

I wrote about just last week, I’m so glad this movie has been released in divine timing, showing clear examples of what I alluded to.

Image of Taraji. P. Henson as Janaiyah

Janayiah, the character Taraji P. Henson plays so well, is clearly a victim; what we need to consider more precisely is who is she a victim of. What Tyler Perry did in his movie is make it look as if Janaiyah is a victim of “society,” not men, or more precisely, Black men. He also rinsed and repeated his formula which is to create an interesting movie highlighting the reality for many Black women, with great actors and actresses — yes, but he was too scared (and in my view has always been too scared) to highlight the whys and hows Black women end up like Janayiah, outside of the societal “norms” we’re all used to falling back on as reasons.

My theory is Tyler Perry does this in his movies hoping that Black women will overlook it, not question it, and not focus on what he is scared to say and will not say. Based on the success he has had with the formula he rinses and repeats, it’s clear for many of us. We focus on a “great movie” that reflects Black women’s pain, which conveniently he goes on to profit off. Women like my older sister for example, and maybe even yourself, or other Black women you know who are currently praising Tyler Perry for this movie.

Why should we?

I don’t praise him. In fact, in the first thirty minutes, with careful observation and a firm grasp on reality, we can pinpoint why Tyler Perry as a Black man should be questioned.

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Why is Janaiyah facing such poverty?

In the opening scene of the movie, viewers are shown the life situation of Taraji’s character, Janaiyah: the left over noodles for dinner, her and her daughter’s worn apartment that is in serious need of updating, and the shared bed for her and her daughter as opposed to separate rooms. We then see Janaiyah making her way to the supermarket she works at, which we can assume is a lower-paid job — even though we later learn she was in nursing school.

This change in her status is key, from nursing school student to supermarket check-out lady. We can assume she dropped out of her studies due to childcare responsibilities, and the need to earn as the sole provider for her and her daughter. If we pause here, what Tyler Perry has shown us is:

1. A Black woman who was on her way to qualify to work in one of the most respected and well paid professions — the medical field.

2. This path for this Black woman was disrupted; she was forced to give this up due to becoming a (single) mother.

This is as far as he went to show the reality of Janaiyah’s life. What he was too scared to show us in his script writing was a more accurate view of Janaiyiah’s reasons for poverty, and life path change: this woman found herself in this position because a man placed her there.

How?

1. A man abandoned her and her child, and we can assume was not helping her financially.

2. Perry also didn’t show the lead up to this point in her life, because that would require viewers to focus on the role a man played in her poverty. Janaiyah (sadly), as Black women often do and are encouraged to do, made the grave mistake many Black women make: she allowed a man access to her who never should have had access to her, based on his lack of ability to provide for himself, let alone her and a family he may have.

You may think, Okay, how can we make this assumption in point two? According to a study by the Brookings Institute (who really have done a lot of research on Black women and their outcomes in life), titled Single Black Female BA Seeks Educated Husband (2015), they cite a commonly found “mismatch between Black men and women,” as only 49% of college educated Black women marry a “well educated man;” and we know that good education will lead to good earning potential.

In the UK, where I’m from, there’s an echo in the research into Black women normally being “mismatched” with the men we decide to partner with when it comes to education and achievement. One study cites:

“Highly educated Black women perceive a scarcity of similarly educated Black men, pushing them toward partners with less education or status.” — Exploring Partner Scarcity: Highly Educated Black Women and Dating Compromise (2021)

Black men often tell us via places like the Manosphere that “Your education means nothing.” That’s what they did when Kevin Samuels and his toxic masculinity narratives were Black men’s Bible verses, which they recited, and worshiped as “the Gospel.” But what we can gather when we look beyond that is:

1. Data, research, and statistics back up the notion that Black men do not value education; they are less likely to be part of this field, while Black women clearly do value education.

2. Often Black women stumble across “lesser” men when it comes to intellectual compatibility. Being compatible in this way clearly would lead to financial stability and compatibility, but instead we “settle” for the lesser man. However, the result is often Janaiyah’s life path and destiny swap — this is the part Tyler Perry won’t ever and at the time of me writing has never shown in his movies. This is also the part that he refuses to use his influence to encourage his male peers of African descent to make a change with, so that they can elevate themselves, and be suitable partners for not just Black women, but all women, and reduce the chances of leaving a woman regardless of her race a sole parent, because he was not a suitable partner.

Tyler Perry also left out the part where he himself encouraged Black women to accept “lesser” or mismatched men, especially if said Black woman is doing well for herself (like Janaiyah was in his movie).

Back in 2023, for those who don’t remember, when I wrote the essay

How We Take Back Control Of Black Women’s Femininity, I made reference to the speech Tyler Perry gave to Black women on “dating the Light Bill Guy.” His speech made headlines in many mainstream papers and can be read here in the Independent newspaper.

If we go back and think about what he said, it was basically to lower your standards, accept a man with little to offer, provide for him and pay for all the bills while he only pays the light bill if that’s all he can afford — just so you can attach yourself to a Black man and be in a relationship with him as a partner (if that’s your preference). Considering this, we can see that following his advice leads to Janaiyah’s situation, but he doesn’t want you to see the reality of this.

But it does show how his “advice” for Black women in life and his movies plays a role in keeping you oppressed by way of poverty, or being attached to a man that will place you in poverty — like Janaiyah.

Photo by bill wegener on Unsplash

Using poverty to oppress Black women

I would argue that what we heard from Tyler Perry back in 2023, along with the fact that Black women are often impregnated and abandoned (by Black men), these behaviours from Tyler Perry and men in the community who place women in these situations are a form of the nuanced oppression that Black men place on Black women.

They use poverty to oppress us, either by putting us in it themselves, or bringing us down to a poverty level when we were never there to begin with — if we use Janaiyah, Tyler Perry’s character, as an example.

Given this theory, and how we see it play out in the community, I’m sure we all have girlfriends, mothers, aunties, or friends who have had these experiences or even you the reader may have experienced it. Based on this, it could also be argued that Tyler Perry is one of Black women’s biggest Black male celebrity oppressors, who fed into the oppression we see in the community by producing content for Black women to consume (because we know that’s his target market), hence his content helps to maintain outcomes like Janaiyah’s as life experiences for Black women.

He does not want you to elevate, and he certainly does not want Black men to, or if he does he does not want Black women to elevate past Black men (which data and research confirms has already happened).

While many Black women praise him, all he does is take our oppression (by Black men) in various forms and run with it to generate profit for himself. This will be evidenced as we progress along — stay with me.

Can men really put Black women in poverty, then?

What I write, my sentiments, and my way of thinking about a Black man that is so popular in the community such as Tyler Perry may seem harsh. Whoever you are reading this, I’d like you to remember that I’m not (and I never do), giving emotional or angry arguments. Critical thinking, which is my natural nature as an ex-high school teacher, will always allow me to remain objective.

Questions for Black women…

My question to Black women is: can you not see how poverty is used as a way to keep you from elevation? And if so, do you not realise it’s not just from a societal level, which has systems and processes that may exclude non-white people to keep Black women in poverty? It also comes from the lack a man may have when he enters our lives. Whether this be emotional maturity lacking, financial lacking, or whatever it is, where there is a lack with these men you’ll end up in poverty, especially financial lack which studies show we as a group of women are more likely to accept.

Apart from using poverty as a way of oppressing Black women, it would appear that a man can, does, or has the potential to bring poverty to a woman’s doorstep, even though he has male privilege in a male dominated society. The Brookings Institute’s study confirms that sadly, when it comes to Black women and their choice of men — yes, men can and more likely will bring poverty. The study cites that:

“The report is another contribution to the growing literature showing that race gaps in the intergenerational persistence of poverty are a large part the result of poor outcomes for Black men. Specifically, Chetty et al. show that Black men born to low-income parents are much more likely to end up with a low individual income than Black women, white women, and — especially — white men.” — The Inheritance of Poverty It’s All About Men (2018)

So based on the research findings from the Brookings Institute: poverty is inherited largely via a man, (in the case of Black women, at least), more precisely a man evidenced to have what they cite as “poor outcomes.”

This is where the mismatch is also often found, and where we settle; this is also how everything fits together that Tyler Perry won’t place “together” in his movies; he will always give us half the story.

We also know that Black women are more likely to value the things that will help remove them from “poor outcomes,” education being one of them for example, (just like Janaiyah in Tyler Perry’s movie, who was studying to be a nurse). Finally, we know that Black men largely don’t value education as reflected in many research studies, and from the Black Manosphere’s viewpoint, “your degree means nothing.”

So my first question for Black women is: would it be fair to conclude that Tyler Perry has left a lot unsaid about women in the community like Janaiyah, and how her destiny was swapped — by a Black man, who probably didn’t value what she did, and who used poverty to oppress, get her pregnant, then go about his day and life?

My second question for Black women is: would it also be fair to say that again Tyler Perry has used Black women’s hardships inflicted on her by outside sources, as his “special formula” he has discovered over the decades will bring him his billions?

My third question for Black women is: would it also be fair to say that with all the influence and net worth this man (Tyler Perry) has, that he could easily produce something that gives a more balanced “punch down” on not only Black women and their hardships, but Black men’s reality of how they often show up in relationships, and how they often mess up women’s lives (regardless of the race of the woman, as we have studies out there to confirm). Could Tyler not have done this with his influence to spark some action and reflection from his peer group of Black men?

Why didn’t he?

Why hasn’t he?

And when will he?

It could also be argued that the saddest part about this movie is that Black women will lap it up and praise it, because it does highlight hardships that are relatable to many Black women. However, critical thinking about the movie as well as Tyler Perry’s motives must happen so questions can be raised about: how, why, and whom may have had such a great impact on Janaiyah to give her the life outcome she had. This is removing the psychosis she was obviously experiencing, and her future in prison. The focus should be on the very first life event that happened in her life, to place her on this path and swap her nursing career destiny for what she was left with.

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What Tyler Perry showed us about Black male oppression of Black women

Many Black women may dismiss the idea of Black male oppression; many Black women may feel a loyalty to them and are silenced by this. Many Black women may dislike Black women like myself because I am and never have been afraid to go head-to-head with men over women’s oppression. That includes Black men and their nuanced oppression, not just non-Black men. Regarding the latter, my older sister might be one of these women, but I guess she would never tell me.

I would guess she may have been uncomfortable with another Black woman, especially her baby sister, telling her some home truths about how we coddle Black men to our detriment. The funny thing is, our mother certainly did not raise us to coddle them; our mum was a total non-male worshiper and had an expectation of the man she married, our dad. Mum also didn’t and would have never used religion to justify and accept women’s oppression, given that she was born in the Caribbean and an immigrant to the UK, and this is not the norm for that demographic. Caribbean women are very male centred. Mum was cut from a different cloth, for real, for real.

If we look at history, we need to change this male centred-ness many Black women are encouraged to be. Black women have this reputation of being “strong women.” And yes, we are, but it is directed to coddling and protecting men — Black men.

Black men have told us for years that we are loud, aggressive, have a bad attitude, and that somehow white women and Asian women are more even tempered and “mild” to deal with. It could be argued differently. When it comes to calling out male oppression, white women have never been afraid to call out their men. History shows us this; women have rights because they checked white men’s oppression towards women, even if white women have historically never included us, and have been very racist towards us when it comes to women’s advocacy historically, and I would argue presently still in the 21st century too as I’ve written about my experiences with white feminists, and so-called white liberal or progressive women who have no clue what “all women” means.

Consider also, as I write this, Asian women are leading the way with the 4B movement, as a revolt and uprising against the oppression of their men — Asian men.

Black women, what are we doing to take a stand against oppression that we face from Black men that is nuanced and specific to our culture, and history?

Black male (cultural) abuse as oppression:

If we switch gears and look at the movie Straw for other evidence of Black male oppression of Black women that is nuanced, that sadly at times Black women can overlook, when Janaiyah arrived at work after the school run, she is hit head on with her angry, aggressive, Black male boss. From his attitude, mannerisms, and way of talking to her and about her, viewers can tell he sees her and certainly treated her as something less. This older Black man had no empathy for Janaiyah and her outside responsibilities.

Fast forward from this: in the same scene we see Janaiyah do her job, in a polite way she let another Black lady know, “You can’t use this card to purchase these items.” She had a card which I assume gave her certain benefits or assistance with food purchases, removing the fact that the Black lady took it badly, what did the Black man whom she was with do because of Janaiyah doing her job?:

· He threw a bottle that smashed at her feet — he abused and assaulted her.

· He didn’t even attempt to pull out his own wallet and pay cash for the items.

Corbon Place in their research A Layered Look at Domestic Violence in the Black Community (2020) shows that Black women are less likely to report abuse, and more likely to tolerate it as they, “Don’t want to turn their partner into a statistic.” This leads to protection of Black men when it comes to the nuanced oppression they use — abuse is another one to add to poverty. Be it physically, mentally, emotionally, or financially, abuse is used often against Black women, mentally and emotionally in particular as they love to (try) to tread on our self-esteem by:

· Discrediting our achievements and education as discussed already.

· Actively online mocking our appearance, weight, make-up, or whatever the case may be, using our appearance as a way to humble us.

While these tactics from the Manosphere, Red Pill et. al. indicate very insecure men, and do not impact all of us Black women in the way they would like it to, for some women it does make them question themselves. Usually, the women who want to be “picked” by this group of men, rather than the Black women who see them as unworthy.

The point here is that the Black man with the lady who tried to purchase food used abuse (physical assault) as a measure against Janaiyah. What he didn’t do is pull out his wallet and assist the woman he was with, who we can assume was probably the mother of his child (ren).

It’s at this point I wish to go back to Tyler Perry, and what he was too afraid to say or show in his movie Straw: Black men and their abuse of Black women is so normalised (even in movies), that no one in the supermarket batted an eyelid when it happened; it was full of Black customers.

It is therefore a nuanced form of oppression used against Black women, a cultural dynamic that goes unchecked, and unspoken about, and highly accepted by the African diaspora. Black women protect their abusers. The Black lady this man was with also said nothing.

Could Tyler Have Written This Scene Differently?

Tyler Perry would not have written this scene in a different way, showing the Black man pulling out his wallet to pay just thirty- eight dollars, simply because it does not fit the narrative he wants to keep pushing — Black women in struggling situations, even if there’s a “man by their side.”

The older Black male manager who witnesses the abuse of Janaiyah went on to blame her and degrade her further. Tyler Perry didn’t and wouldn’t write this scene in a different way using this older Black man either, because it does not fit his narrative for Black women — unprotected by the males in our community, even when they are abused by other Black men in their faces.

image of Tyler Perry taken from Imdb

To his credit on the other hand, we could argue he is right, Black men are not protectors of Black women; we are their protectors from societal racism, and even providing financially for them, and have been since we’ve come off the plantation. They in return are Black women’s main abusers and oppressors as research cited by Corbon Place identified.

As we progress through the movie, around sixteen minutes in we see Janaiyah’s older Black male boss fire her for “being two hours late” back from her break. She had to organise lunch, care, and medication for her sickly daughter. He tells her:

“You have too many excuses.”

Excuses?

Related to a child with a disability that she is the sole carer of. Of course, as a Black man he does not see this part, just like Tyler Perry did not see Janaiyah’s reality being caused by Black male oppression by way of poverty and single motherhood when he penned the script.

When Janaiyah takes her fired status on the chin and simply asked for her payment via the cheque in his office, her older Black male boss refused her, forcing her into poverty even more when he could clearly see her situation and that she is a mother. So here we see it again, Black men using poverty to oppress a Black woman and keep her rooted to poverty, especially when children are involved.

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Blaming Black women

Finally, in this same scene when the supermarket is held up at gun point, and the robber can read Janaiyah’s name tag and directly address her. How did the older Black male manager react? He blamed her, and told her, “She was in on it,” and that “She was going to jail” as he started to call the police. What we see here is another form of Black male oppression: blaming women for all that goes wrong in a man’s life or is wrong in the community.

Let’s take this point away from the movie Straw: when we have unsavoury Black males in the community who act in stereotypical ways that are commonly attached to Black men (drugs, robbery, etc), who do Black men blame?

I hope you said, “mothers or single mothers.” And do Black women push back on this and give logical and statistically proven counter arguments? These could include: it’s not single mothers, it’s absent fathers (which are rife in the community), who are the cause for males who go off the rails, and/or Black male culture promoted in music. Also, it’s the fault of other Black men who don’t hold other men or boys accountable for their behaviour.

No, largely we don’t.

Only some of us will do this; for the most part, Black women will accommodate this ridiculous argument that a woman’s presence in a male child’s life (only) will result in this bad behaviour as opposed to the lack of presence (in very high numbers) of males who could hold them responsible in the community, and/or real father figures in a male child’s life — these things will cause poor behaviour, as well as how Black men choose to articulate themselves in their raps and music (which women have no influence over), but this does influence other males.

Our final Black male character Tyler Perry created to look at is the Black, male detective who worked with the Black, female detective. When we reach to around the thirty-five minute mark of the movie, we see the investigation into the robbery take place. A closer look shows us some Black male oppression and something else Tyler Perry was not brave enough to say. Automatically, the Black male officer can see a motive for Janaiyah being involved in the robbery that went wrong; the Black female officer could see what I saw — Janaiyah’s situation, abandonment, and how she was placed in poverty by a Black man also. She doesn’t find the story about Janaiyah setting up the robbery plausible, but the Black male cop did.

Why did Tyler Perry do this?

Given what we know about how Black males like to blame Black women for the ills of the community, it’s hardly surprising. But my theory is, based on Tyler Perry’s documented history of creating struggling Black female characters for profit and entertainment, he did this to overlook how and why Janaiyah got in this situation (as discussed earlier). Also, to promote more Black male oppression via blaming “single mothers” and “black women” for things that go wrong.

It took the critical thinking, and the personal life experience of the Black female detective to show the Black, male, detective how unplausible his theory over Janaiyah’s involvement was.

I have another question for Black women: why couldn’t he (Tyler Perry) show the male cop how unbelievable the story was without creating a Black, female, officer who also had been oppressed and mistreated by a Black man? Could this female officer just have used her female intuition instead?

He (Tyler) had to create another mirror for Janaiyah, another Black woman in a bad situation but this time a cop. The female detective admitted that she too was in the same situation as Janaiyah, albeit she was successful, had a career, and no doubt a much higher-paid job — she had the same outcome with a man, and his oppression via poverty and single motherhood.

In conclusion, I don’t support Tyler Perry’s movies due to the parts he conveniently won’t address, which leads to covering up half the story as to why Black women experience the kinds of issues that Janaiyah’s character highlights. I’m convinced he thinks poorly of Black women, or he wants to keep a certain narrative about them alive, like the Black Manosphere does.

If we consult research and data, it shows a different story for Black women than what Tyler Perry and the Manosphere have been promoting over the years. It shows a turning point for Black women globally, but a stagnation for Black men.

How he profits off Black women’s struggles, pain, and outcomes in life, all while forgetting who placed them there — his peers, other Black men — does not and never will sit right with me as a Black woman.

Tyler Perry needs to use his talent, influence and billions to produce movies that will cause action in his peers — Black men. His movies should highlight the oppression of Black women, from Black men, to fix that problem, rather than covering it up for money.

What did you make of this movie?

If you’re a “fan,” tell me why?

If you don’t like it, welcome to the club — tell me why?

Much love,

The Black Woman Essayist

Ps. You can join me on YouTube here

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