Mabel " Madea" Earlene Simmons (née Baker/Murphy) is a character created and portrayed by
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmak ...
. She is portrayed as a tough, street-smart elderly
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
woman.
Madea is based on Perry's mother and his aunt. In Perry's own words, Madea is "exactly the PG version of my mother and my aunt, and I loved having an opportunity to pay homage to them. She would beat the hell out of you but make sure the ambulance got there in time to make sure they could set your arm back".
The Madea films/plays are comedies, but all contain serious themes and are intended to deliver moral messages about issues such as infidelity, spousal abuse and consequences of one's actions.
shotgun house
A shotgun house is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than about wide, with rooms arranged one behind the other and doors at each end of the house. It was the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from t ...
with her parents and siblings. Madea has stated that although her family didn't have much, they had love.
When she was in her early teens, her family moved to
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
, where they lived on the west side. She attended Booker T. Washington High School and was a cheerleader. In ''I Can Do Bad All by Myself'', we learn that she once lived in Cleveland, Alabama, but later returned to Atlanta.
According to ''A Madea Christmas: The Play'', Madea's mother, "Big Mabel" Murphy, was a
hooker
Hooker may refer to:
People
* Hooker (surname)
Places Antarctica
* Mount Hooker (Antarctica)
* Cape Hooker (Antarctica)
* Cape Hooker (South Shetland Islands)
New Zealand
* Hooker River
* Mount Hooker (New Zealand) in the Southern Alps
* Hoo ...
during Madea's childhood and was not at all religious. Madea grew up with little knowledge of religion, explaining why she has a tendency to misquote the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...
. Madea makes frequent reference to herself once being a hooker and a stripper.
Her maiden name is not stated, but it is presumably either Baker or Murphy, the last names of her father and mother, respectively.
It is not revealed where and when she met her first husband, Johnny. Madea and Johnny had their first child, Michelle, as young teens, possibly 15 or 16. When Madea was 18, she got pregnant with her other daughter, Cora, through a one-night stand. Sometime later, Madea and Johnny had a son, William. All of her children are said to be married and had children. Madea and Johnny raised three of their grandchildren, Maylee and Vianne "Khazzy" Simmons, after their daughter's death from drug addiction.
Criminal background
In '' Madea Goes to Jail'' we learn Madea's criminal record began at age nine with a charge of
theft
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for so ...
. She was charged with her first felony at this age, and her crimes began progressing to illegal gambling at age 18, which later evolved into check fraud,
identity theft
Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was c ...
,
insurance fraud
Insurance fraud is any act committed to defraud an insurance process. It occurs when a claimant attempts to obtain some benefit or advantage they are not entitled to, or when an insurer knowingly denies some benefit that is due. According to th ...
(related to her nine deceased husbands),
assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cri ...
,
attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions.
Canada
Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ...
,
road rage
Road rage is aggressive or angry behavior exhibited by motorists. These behaviors include rude and verbal insults, yelling, physical threats or dangerous driving methods targeted at other drivers, pedestrians or cyclists in an effort to intimi ...
(usually when Madea is in vehicle), and vehicle theft.
In '' Diary of a Mad Black Woman'', Madea and her granddaughter Helen McCarter were both charged with "criminal trespassing, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a
handgun
A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also brac ...
, assault with a deadly weapon,
riving on a
Wood splitting (''riving'',"Riving" def. 1.b. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 cleaving) is an ancient technique used in carpentry to make lumber for making wooden objects, some basket ...
suspended license, expired registration, reckless driving, and a broken taillight," which caused Judge Mablean Ephriam to place Madea on house arrest, while her granddaughter was bailed for $5,000.
In '' Madea's Family Reunion'', Madea was brought before Judge Ephriam once again after she removed her
ankle monitor
The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joi ...
in order to purchase her brother Joe's medication, in effect violating her house arrest. After rigorous efforts, Brian was finally able to persuade Madea to accept Judge Ephraim's ruling to become the foster mother of Nikki Grady.
In '' Meet the Browns'', she was arrested for causing a high speed chase following a routine traffic stop, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer while Joe fled the area claiming that Madea kidnapped him.
In '' Madea Goes to Jail'', Madea was placed under anger management by Judge Ephriam that was overseen by
Phil McGraw
Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), better known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author best known for hosting the talk show ''Dr. Phil''. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased rene ...
in light of the car chase and the police officers failing to read Madea her
Miranda rights
In the United States, the ''Miranda'' warning is a type of notification customarily given by police to criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial interrogation) advising them of their right to silence and, in effect, protection fr ...
and suspends her already suspended driver's license.
In the same movie, she was arrested once again for removing a woman's Pontiac Solstice with a forklift and damaging it in the parking lot of the Big Kmart stealing Madea’s parking spot. She was sentenced to prison for 5 to 10 years by Judge Greg Mathis. This is later overturned and she as part of the “Georgia Seven” are released.
In ''
Madea's Big Happy Family
''Madea's Big Happy Family'' is a 2010 American stage play created, produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry. It stars Tyler Perry as Mabel "Madea" Simmons and Cassi Davis as Aunt Bam. The play also marks the debut appearance of Aunt Bam ...
'', Madea smashes her car into the fast-food restaurant Snax out of frustration that the manager Sabrina won't give her food even using excuses related to her Cadillac's technical problems in order to persuade the manager to give her food while waiting. No police action was brought up.
In the animated film '' Madea's Tough Love'', Madea is arrested for excessive damage to public property (which she unintentionally committed while chasing after two unruly skateboarders), two bench warrants, 25 unpaid
parking tickets
A parking violation is the act of parking a motor vehicle in a restricted place or in an unauthorized manner. It is against the law virtually everywhere to park a vehicle in the middle of a highway or road; parking on one or both sides of a road ...
, and an unpaid speeding ticket. Madea was released from the sentence when the truth about Mayor Candidate Betsy Holiday's secret illegal activities were exposed proving that Madea was right about her.
Media and entertainment featuring Madea
Madea has appeared in several plays (some of which have been recorded for repeated viewing), fully produced films, a couple of
television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising ...
s (
guest appearance
In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...
s), one book and one
animated film
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
. The character made her first appearance in the 1999 play ''I Can Do Bad All by Myself'', later appearing in numerous other plays by Perry, then appearing in films based on those plays.
Madea's Big Happy Family
''Madea's Big Happy Family'' is a 2010 American stage play created, produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry. It stars Tyler Perry as Mabel "Madea" Simmons and Cassi Davis as Aunt Bam. The play also marks the debut appearance of Aunt Bam ...
Madea Gets a Job
''Madea Gets a Job'' is a 2012 American stage play created, written, produced, and directed by Tyler Perry. It stars Tyler Perry as Madea "Mabel" Simmons and Patrice Lovely as Hattie. The live performance released on DVD on February 5, 2013 ...
''—2012
* ''Madea's Neighbors from Hell''—2013
* ''Madea on the Run''—2015
* ''Madea's Farewell''—2019
Madea's Big Happy Family
''Madea's Big Happy Family'' is a 2010 American stage play created, produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry. It stars Tyler Perry as Mabel "Madea" Simmons and Cassi Davis as Aunt Bam. The play also marks the debut appearance of Aunt Bam ...
Boo! A Madea Halloween
''Boo! A Madea Halloween'' is a 2016 American comedy horror film directed, written, starring and co-produced by Tyler Perry. The idea for the film originated from a fictitious Madea Halloween movie that was mentioned in Chris Rock's 2014 film '' ...
In the TBScomedy drama '' House of Payne'' pilot episode "Bully and the Beast", Madea was the foster mother of Nikki. She factored into the plot through a school altercation between her adopted daughter and Curtis Payne's great-nephew Malik. Curtis takes a particular disliking to Madea who is not in the least bit intimidated by Curtis at all. Rather conversely, Curtis became intimidated by Madea and had nightmares about her.
In the episode "The Wench Who Saved Christmas", Curtis tries to discourage everyone from having the Christmas spirit. He later fell asleep and dreamt that Madea was the Ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. In this form, she tried to teach him a lesson about his killjoy behaviour.
In the episode "Wife Swap", Curtis' wife Ella chastises him for taking her for granted. That night, Curtis has an extended nightmare where he is married to Madea instead of Ella.
''Meet the Browns'' (mentioned)
On another TBS series, '' Meet the Browns'', Mable is said to be the mother of Cora Simmons as a result of a one-night stand with the show's lead character. She is an
unseen character
An unseen character in theatre, comics, film, or television, or silent character in radio or literature, is a character that is mentioned but not directly known to the audience, but who advances the action of the plot in a significant way, and wh ...
In a commercial for BET+, Tyler Perry explained this streaming service to Madea and Joe at the time when they were arguing on what to watch on TV.
Cast and characters
* This table shows the principal characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise.
* A dark grey cell indicates that the character did not appear or that the character's presence has yet to be announced.
* A indicates a role as a younger version of character portrayed by another actor.
* A indicates an uncredited role.
* A indicates a photographic role.
* A indicates a cameo role.
* A indicates a voice-only role.
* An indicates an appearance through archival footage or stills.
Book
''
Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings
''Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings'' is a 2006 humor novel by Tyler Perry and focuses on his character of Madea. The book won the 2006 Quills Awards for ''Book of the Year'', and spent twelve weeks on both '' The New York Times'' ...
'': Perry wrote the book in the character's persona. The book was published on April 11, 2006.
Reception
In 2009, ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'' put the character on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Whether she's going to jail or just opening up a can of whupass, Tyler Perry's Madea is the profane, gun-toting granny you never had but (maybe) wish you did."
On April 1, 2013,
Orlando Jones
Orlando Jones (born April 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series '' MADtv'', for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999 to 2002, and for his rol ...
pulled an
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may b ...
prank, informing the public via his '' Huffington Post'' account that he would be replacing Perry as Madea. Jones led the public to believe that the decision had come amid Perry's prior obligations, assisting Oprah Winfrey with her struggling OWN network. As part of the prank, Jones released a photo of himself to the public in which he was impersonating Madea. In addition, he incorporated several pretend quotes seemingly issued by Perry, both acknowledging the news and giving Jones his blessing to continue on with the character. Unaware of the prank, fans responded with outrage and criticism. As result of increasing outcries from fans, Perry informed the public on April 15, 2013, that the news was untrue. Perry was quoted as stating "That was an April Fool's joke that ''HE'' did. Not true. And not funny. When I'm done with Madea, she is done."
Perry has been accused of minstrelsy and playing into black stereotypes with the Madea character, most notably by fellow black director
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
. Perry's argument with Lee dates back to a 2009 interview in which Lee referred to Perry's films as "coonery buffoonery". Lee equated the Madea movies with the old-time
minstrel show
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century.
Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...
s which lampooned black people as dim-witted, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious and happy-go-lucky,The Coon Character Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University. Retrieved 9 November 2011.John Kenrick musicals101.com. 1996, revised 2003. Retrieved 9 November 2011. and further stated that if a white director made a movie depicting black people in such a manner he would be ostracised. Perry responded by stating that his films were meant as entertainment and should not be taken so seriously, saying, "I am sick of him talking about me. I am sick of him saying, 'This is a coon, this is a buffoon.' I am sick of him talking about black people going to see movies. This is what he said: 'You vote by what you see'—as if black people don't know what they want to see. I am sick of him. He talked about Whoopi, he talked about Oprah, he talked about me, he talked about
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' D ...
. Spike needs to shut the hell up!" Perry has been criticised for stereotyping black femininity using black masculinity. Some critics believe that the characterisation of Madea, in addition to other black women featured in Madea films, works to legitimise harmful and damaging stereotypes. There is growing concern around these depictions of blackness as critics believe they can have a negative impact on how black women see themselves in society and how they are perceived by others. In addition, Tyler Perry's role as Madea has received criticism due to some viewing his cross-gender acting as a misappropriation of drag culture. Critics have alleged Tyler Perry perpetuates patriarchal ideology through his characterisation of Madea and her interactions with other protagonists.
Parody and satire
* In the ''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...
Akiko Akiko can refer to:
* ''Akiko'' (comic book), an American comic book
* ''Akiko'' (film), a 1961 Italian comedy film
* Akiko (Amiga), a custom chip used in the Amiga CD32 games console
* Akiko (given name)
is a feminine Japanese given name.
Po ...
(who was also competing), instead spelling random Tyler Perry/Madea films.
* The character was parodied on '' The Boondocks'' episode " Pause", in which a thinly disguised version of Perry named Winston Jerome (voiced by
Affion Crockett
Affion Crockett (born August 12, 1974) is an American actor and comedian.
Early life
Crockett was raised in Germany and Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Career
Crockett appeared in HBO's '' Def Comedy Jam'' in 1996, demonstrating his impression ...
) plays a similar character to Madea called Ma Duke.
* In early December 2012, Madea was parodied on a ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...
'' episode by the episode's host
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film ''Ray'', for which he won the A ...
.
* In the episode ''
Funnybot
"Funnybot" is the second episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series ''South Park'', and the 211th episode of the series overall. "Funnybot" premiered in the United States on Comedy Central on May 4, 2011, the firs ...
'' from Season 15 of '' South Park'', Perry played his character Madea after being repeatedly paid by Tolkien Black after every joke, and was trapped in a metallic shell to be left underground at the conclusion.