Life lessons Tyler Perry taught me

These movies changed my life.

Growing up in a single parent household, I could never fall into the category of what George P. Murdock deemed as the nuclear family. He would probably turn in his grave if he could see how my family have challenged what he deemed as ‘the standard’ and the ‘norm’.

But you win some, and you lose some and this is a battle I actually didn’t mind losing.

Anyways, I digress.

Growing up in a household where there was no example of a loving relationship left me both inquisitive and perplexed. As I got older, I yearned to see and understand how relationships functioned and what a healthy marriage and partnership looked like.

That’s when Tyler Perry came through like a beacon of hope in response to my adolescent crisis. The ‘Why did I get married’ franchise, taught me so much about the type of person I desired to be in a relationship and the type I did not want to be.

It held up a mirror to my conscious and showed me things that could potentially cause a hinderance on any future romantic relationships I wanted. It taught me the importance of forgiveness and letting go or otherwise letting those emotions overflow and cause more harm than good. It taught me how everyone loves differently and that’s okay because you are not made for everyone, and that’s okay.

But most importantly, it showed me that marriage is NOT perfect.

Even the one that everyone holds on a pedal stool could be the one that crumbles the most behind closed doors. For a hopeless romantic like myself, this was a very important message for me grasp. It was like a gentle reminder to keep coming down from the clouds every once in a while, to keep myself grounded on my fairy-tale expectations of my happy ending.

It taught me that every, single, person has mess. They may hide it well, or it my flare up occasionally but it is still there. These movies taught me that regardless of whatever type of relationship, platonic or romantic, when those issues are exposed it’s down to you to decide whether it is worth sticking it out to work or if it’s time for you depart.

Those movies are timeless just like the lessons they have produced.