Diary of a Mad Black Woman

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Would you believe that this was based on a christian-themed play?

A 2005 movie directed Darren Grant and starring Tyler Perry.

Helen (Kimberly Elise) and Charles McCarter (Steve Harris) had everything: fine home, beautiful clothes and success. In public, they were the perfect match. But behind the scenes was another matter. On what should have been the end of the happiest day of their lives, Charles evicts Helen, his wife of 18 years, from their house in the presence of his mistress. She moves in with her grandmother, Madea (Tyler Perry). Helen then goes from meek and mild to mad, starts a diary and a new life, and meets a new man, Orlando (Shemar Moore).

Tropes used in Diary of a Mad Black Woman include:

Baliff:... Criminal trespassing, Reckless endangerment, Criminal possession of a handgun, Assault with a deadly weapon, Suspended license, Expired registration, Reckless driving, and a broken taillight.

Orlando: Hey, I was just trying to help you out the other night.
Helen: Oh, yeah right. You're no good Samaritan. He paid you. It's not like you're some savior or something.
Brian: I...I'm gonna go...check the...do something. (Scurries away.)

Brenda: I know Tae Kwan Doe
Madea: And i know whoop yo ass!

  • Interrupted Suicide - Sort of. After he's crippled, Charles, when thrown into a bathtub while being on the receiving end of yet another "The Reason You Suck" Speech by Helen, attempts to drown himself in shame. Helen, however, had other plans for him.
  • It's All About Me
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: You'll hurt yourself trying to decide how much "gold" is in Madea's heart.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: The second half of the movie is pretty much every rotten thing Charles has done coming back to bite him in the ass. His dealings with criminal clients leads to him getting paralyzed, his mistress Brenda leaves him to die and takes both his money and their kids without telling him, and when he has the nerve to still treat Helen like trash even after she tries to help him, Helen finally decides to get even. She delivers a massive "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how being married to him was no picnic on her end but she at least tried to make it work, whereas he stopped caring. The stress he gave Helen caused her, among other things, two miscarriages.
  • Law of Inverse Fertility: Helen wanted children with Charles, but had two miscarriages. Meanwhile, he had two kids with his mistress.
  • The Mistress: She also had two kids for Charles and had no qualms about cleaning him out financially, letting him die in surgery rather then live as a cripple, and leaving him after he was shot and paralyzed. She also took the kids with her.
  • Montages: Quite a few.
  • Melodrama
  • Narrator: Helen who narrates as she's writing in her diary. Hence the title.
  • Never Mess with Granny: Never ever mess with Mabel Madea Simmons... or with her granddaughter.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: The film does a short but blatant riff on Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston after Judge Mablean Ephriam rules Helen and Madea's case:

Judge Ephriam: Bailiff, call the next case.
Bailiff: The State of Georgia versus Bobby Brown.
Judge Ephriam: What is this? Repeat offender day?
Voice of Whitney Houston: Bobby! Bobby, I love you!
Judge Ephriam: Sit down, Miss Houston.

Helen:September 19th. Dear Diary, as I sit here thinking about picking up the pieces of what used to be my life, I realized something. Every room in this house holds a painful memory for me. Even though he's suffering, something somewhere in me wants him to suffer more. A few months and a divorce can take you through just as many emotions as 18 years in a marriage. And I'm starting to feel all of them at once. But the one that is clear is rage. Signed, a Mad Black Woman.

  • Too Dumb to Live: Charles apparently thought it was a good idea to continue treating Helen like trash after she attempted to help get his affairs in order right after A: He was paralyzed and B: She's the reason he's still alive.
  • Trailers Always Lie: As you can see from the picture, most of this movie's promotional material made it look like a slapstick comedy about Medea, when in reality she's a supporting character and her antics take up a fairly small part of the film.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Charles.
    • Ungrateful Bitch: Brenda. After Charles is paralyzed she almost immediately opts to have them terminate his life support if need arise, but since Helen was still technically Charles' wife that decision was turned down. Brenda also fired the staff of Charles' house, cleaned out his bank account, took the kids, and abandoned him.
  • Vague Age: Madea. Helen was married for 18 years, making her most likely around 36. Helen's mother says she was 39 when she had her, which would make her around 75. Being conservative, Madea has to be somewhere upwards of 90, which means she gets around awfully well for her age.
    • It's possible Medea is Helen's paternal grandmother, and that Helen's father was somewhat younger than her mom. None of this is explained in the movie, however. Tyler Perry was just determined to get Cicely Tyson in his first feature film.
      • It's mentioned that Helen is the daughter of Madea's son, if not in this movie, then in the play I believe.
  • Woman Scorned: Helen, of course. She even states this herself:

Helen: I'm not bitter. I'm mad as hell.

  • Your Cheating Heart: Charles, who not only cheated with a mistress(and possible other women), but had children with said mistress.
    • It's even his motive for kicking Helen out "I can't keep doing this to my kids."
    • To be fair to Helen, she tried to get pregnant multiple times but has stated she had at least two miscarriages as a result of the stress Charles has caused her.
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