Tyler Perry's 'Straw' Movie: A Review of Its Portrayal of Black Women

Review of Tyler Perry's 'Straw'

• 🎬 The movie "Straw," the number one film on Netflix, is critically reviewed as exceptionally bad.
• 💡 The film's central character, Janiah (played by Taraji Henson), is revealed late in the movie to be suffering from psychosis, a detachment from reality.
• ⚠️ A major point of contention is that many viewers, particularly black women, identified with Janiah, seeing her actions as representative of their own struggles.

Critique of Character and Plot

• 🎯 The plot depicts Janiah, a single mother with a special needs daughter, experiencing a series of increasingly extreme and unrealistic events, including a road rage incident with a white man, mistreatment by her black boss, a grocery store robbery where she kills one perpetrator, and subsequently her boss.
• 🚫 The narrative is criticized for presenting every man Janiah encounters as abusive and for the plot's lack of realism, culminating in her taking hostages at a bank.
• 🌟 A sympathetic black female cop is introduced, who deems Janiah's actions justifiable, further contributing to the film's perceived detachment from reality.

Tyler Perry's Influence and Message

• 🧠 The reviewers argue that Tyler Perry's films, including "Straw," create delusion and a false reality for black women, suggesting they can do no wrong and are perpetual victims.
• 🗣️ The film is seen as promoting the idea that a woman's violent and erratic behavior is solely a product of systemic racism and mistreatment.
• 🎭 The reviewers express strong disapproval of Perry's work, labeling his movies as