Who's the Biggest Payne?

Whether you watch Tyler Perry's House of Payne on TBS(airs everyWednesday at 9pm) or not there is a debate going on about his casting choice of Cassie Davis as the matriarch, Ella.

In his 6/19/07 email message to his fans, to writes:

One person asked why does the mama have to be a "FAT BLACK WOMAN" and said that I am perpetuating stereotypes by putting these overweight people on the show, as if there are no fat black women in America that are mothers. My mother and aunts are fat black women. And it upsets me to think that people, especially Black people, would say that I'm doing a disservice to America by putting them on T.V.

I sincerely think that TP doesn't understand how black women have been historically systemically degraded and how this effort has affected the black woman psyche even today. But in his defence, TP shouldn't be singled out for his portayal of black women. Hollywood and societal pressure also play a role in this(Big Momma, Norbit, Soul Food.)

When I look at Cassie Davis' performance on the show I think she is very sweet and her weight is a non-issue. No one puns her or debases her for her wieght. In fact she seems to be the most beloved member of the family. While CJ's thin wife, Janine is a crack addict and a big pain in the Payne Family.

So who's the bigger pain for this show?

My opinion: I like Cassie. I think the show needs better writers, better directors , and the female cast should have more to say than an occasional punch line. And...if TP wants to give his naysayers a more balance view of women, have one of his male charaters fall for a hard-to-get, gorgeous, and intelligent phat girl lke me:)

Your thoughts...