After A Jazzman's Blues, She the People might be the only other Tyler Perry thing that could be labeled as enjoyable or watchable. Perry is an...interesting filmmaker. He churns out films and shows like a machine that refuses to shut down. Look at his IMDb page - has he ever taken a nap? Probably not, which is why quantity over quality seems to be his motto. A Jazzman's Blues and She the People are an anomaly in his filmography. They are exceptions, not norms. Needless to say, the bar is so low that it's almost invisible. Yet when Perry succeeds, he leaves you sufficiently satisfied. His new highly bingeable eight-episode sitcom works mainly due to some light jokes sprinkled here and there. It's not a scream, but it puts a smile on your face nonetheless. I am thinking about that scene where the character played by Jo Marie Payton hands out fliers at a funeral. There is an amusing Pig Hollering Contest where the new lieutenant governor of Mississippi, Antoinette Dunkerson (Terri J. Vaughn), ends up becoming an online sensation. Her daughter, Lola (Drew Olivia Tillman), is into gymnastics, but gymnastics is definitely not into her. Perry also surprisingly comes up with a few funny dialogues, like in the scene where Antoinette tries to assure the men of god that she has a plan to solve the pipeline business. And I really liked that moment where Antoinette asks her assistant/cousin, Shamika (Jade Novah), whether she's smoking, and when she replies, "No," smoke comes out of her mouth.
After becoming a lieutenant governor, Antoinette, her family, and her colleagues/friends start living in a mansion. The vibe is creepy, and racist paintings hang on the walls. In one of the episodes, Shamika and her boyfriend, Basil (Dyon Brooks), try to scare Antoinette by suggesting that someone is standing behind her. At first, she refuses to look behind her shoulders, but when Basil and Shamika leave the room, she turns back. Antoinette falls victim to a prank. Moments like these render the characters' relationships believable. This is a fine cast. But this is where we stop admiring the show - there is nothing else to admire. She the People suffers from a crucial flaw, and it exists right in the center. We are told that Antoinette is a Harvard graduate and that she is very smart. Well, why not give space to her intelligence? Why not give us a peek into her goals and plans for her people? What did she want to achieve as lieutenant governor? What were her hopes before the governor (Robert Craighead) undermined her position? On her first day on the job, just as she is about to express her opinion on a topic, she is interrupted by a character. Perry, similarly, doesn't allow Antoinette to show her intelligence (her opinions and her thoughts are generic and along the lines of "I want to change the world"). Instead, Perry throws her female protagonist into the world of romance. Antoinette finds her new bodyguard-cum-driver (Karon Riley; he is J. Vaughn's real-life husband) sexually attractive, and she is torn between resisting him and embracing his flesh. The lieutenant governor, basically, behaves like a ditzy woman belonging to the world of teen romance. I guess there was no point in going to Harvard. Maybe Volume 2 (set to release on August 14) will present Antoinette as a clever politician. For now, She the People is mediocre but just acceptable enough. It's serviceable.
Final Score- [4.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times