Review of The Single Moms Club (2014) by Spencer S — 26 Mar 2015

As Roxane Gay notes in her book of essays "Bad Feminist": "Tyler Perry loves to tell a good morality tale." This has hindered me from watching a Tyler Perry production since the 2005 film "Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

" That film was filled with forced morality, and stifling stereotypes. This film, too, has its moments of morality, especially when it comes to caricaturized men who are made unnecessarily villainous to suit a woman-power narrative.

The women have to fight against ex-husbands, addict ex-boyfriends, institutionalized sexism, and poverty. Each of the women in this film learn a lesson, spoon fed to the audience with each guiltily soapy scene.

The women's interactions with each other often revolve around complaining about men, their children, and their lack of support. I'm not even sure that this film can pass the Bechdel Test, or if it does than it's by a narrow margin.

While it's nice to see a film helmed by women, I just wish their characters are explored beyond their families. While Jan (McLendon-Covey) has a major plot with her job, it's quickly abandoned, because she is portrayed as a harried career woman who is completely closed off and man hating.

It's much better than past Tyler Perry films, but not by much.