Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/Getty Images

Director, actor, producer, and box office-whisperer, Tyler Perry might still be promoting a movie based off a Chris Rock Top Five joke (Boo! A Madea Halloween), but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have more noble ambitions for his most famous character. Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast, Perry revealed that he believes Medea, an elderly woman Perry has played in nine different films and ten plays, could also be a mouthpiece against more than just disrespectful youths and no-good-adulterers. “I have been able to use this character to bring messages to people who no one has been able to get a message to,” Perry said, speaking about the character’s tendency to offer advice and dole out some harsh truths between outrageous bits of broad physical comedy. He continued, “She can talk about anything. She can make them laugh. And it’s so disarming — it’s like anesthesia.” Which is, why, Perry claims, Madea might be able to take on one of the most troubling problems facing black communities in America: “If I could find a way to talk about police brutality, and all of these people being shot by police officers, through this character — and I’ve been thinking about it — I think it would speak volumes to what so many people can’t say.” Whether this means Madea will be heading back to jail — or court — in a future film remains to be seen.

