Everything That Was Wrong With Mea culpa
Opinion Piece by Timi Awoyinka
Tyler Perry movies are like those older family members that come off cute but can be a little ignorant but you just engage with for a bit of peace and entertainment. We all know before watching his movies what we’re going to be in for but we watch anyway for the plot. This time, the plot included Kelly Rowland and Trevante Rhodes which seems like a great pair for virality yet ended up being for the wrong reasons.
The Hated Dark Skinned Wife Trope
The first thing that struck me was the fact that the beautiful Kelly Rowland was portrayed as the imperfect, nagging, unwanted wife along with her sister-in-law who was also dark skinned. The two were best friends and married to mixed race brothers. It’s 2024, what kind of storyline is that? Kelly’s mother in law in the movie made sure to let her know that she preferred her son’s ex-girlfriend who happened to be light skinned by inviting her to her birthday dinner. With all the money going into this kind of movie, surely this is an outdated concept for a movie?
2. The Unbelievable Casting of Ray, Kal And Their Mother
Another funny aspect of this movie was the casting for Mea Culpa’s (Kelly Rowland) husband and brother-in-law. At most, they look like they could be half Black and half Latino. Kal kinda looked like Quincy Brown but his brother Ray looked a bit more ambiguous. You can’t really tell with race these days but with the description I just gave about the brothers, how in the world could their mother be a white woman with ginger hair? I mean how are we supposed to believe that? Even if the storyline is all over the place, surely the casting should be solid.
3. Rushed Storylines
The premise of the movie is pretty interesting. A defense attorney takes on the case of an artist accused of murdering his girlfriend while fighting for her own marriage. I really wanted to fall in love with the chemistry between Kelly and Trevante but there was just something missing. I don’t think we really got to see that moment where they both grew to like each other or maybe from the lens it was told, it seemed like lust for Kelly and love for Trevante. The actors lacked the passion needed for the forbidden love trope and I think it was due to not getting any glimpse of them falling for each other. Trevante drops a few flirtatious lines here and there while Kelly tries to avoid forming any connection. Next thing, we get the most passionate scene of them having the most vibrant paint filled sex ever?
Towards the end of the movie, we see Kelly discovers Trevante’s girlfriend is still alive. What happened to her? How come we didn’t get to see whatever deal was made to get her there and what happened to her after? Whose body was found for her murder then? I guess we will never know. At least we know Mea’s inlaws were behind it all.
4. Directed, Written, and Produced By Tyler Perry
I think this is the biggest problem with the movie. When will Tyler give room for more diversity in his projects? We can only be as good as the team we have surrounding us. We are limited in perspectives and must welcome other perspectives to produce something beautiful. I think his earlier movies and plays were great and spoke to the times they were in but it wouldn’t hurt to get other experts in or welcome younger writers in to tell new stories. Hopefully we get to see the day that happens on our Tyler Perry production and that women get to have it all for once.