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class, family, gender, master, master-slavemorality, morality, nietzsche, oprahwinfrey, oprahwinfreynetwork, OWN, power, race, slave, slavery, thehavesandthehavenots, tylerperry, wealth
One of the main themes of the TV show, The Haves and the Have Nots, which I have not discussed since my first blog post is the master/servant, white/black, employer/employee relationship, or in Tyler Perry’s world the relationship between the Haves and the Have Nots. This is represented through the characters of the black maid, Hanna young and her family, and her white employer, Mrs Katherine Cryer and her family.
Mrs Cryer and Hanna Young in her walk-in wardrobe
This relationship between white and black, employer and employee, is reminiscent of the master and slave relationship pre-1865. It is clear that the personality traits that Perry has created for each group are evocative of Friedrich Nietzsche’s notion of the ‘master-slave morality’. According to Nietzsche (1973), slave morality values graciousness, humility, compassion, sympathy, and kindness, morals that are connected to your soul and well-being, which seem to reflect the character of Hanna Young, or the Hanna we have met in the first few episode’s of the show. Whilst contrastingly, master morality values pride, power, and superiority, ideals that are connected with materialistic ambitions, which appears to mirror the principles of the Cryer family, or as with Hanna, the Cryer’s that we have met so far. Nietzsche therefore argued that the establishment of a particular culture, for example black and white culture, is inextricably linked to these two separate moralities. It would seem that Perry is presenting this notion as being very much still alive through the white and black relationship, which was formed back in the era of slavery, in the U.S. South today.
Hanna Young and Candace Young in Mrs Cryer’s walk-in wardrobe
However, in episode 2 of the show, titled Playing in the Deep End, this connection back to the institution of slavery is cruelly exposed by Hanna’s daughter Candace, a supposed ‘Have not’. When Candace is caught snooping around Mrs Cryer’s bedroom, Hanna boldly demands she leaves. At first Candace refuses and threatens to get Hanna fired, but Hanna is persistent in removing her from the bedroom. When Candace finally gives in she spitefully replies, whilst distastefully mimicking the voice of a slave (24:20): “Yes masser, Issa let you get on back ta cleanin’ up naw”. Hanna slaps her daughter in a defiant and disgusted manner. Candace goes to hit her back, but stops herself. Hanna snarls, “I wish you would…I will kill you dead right here” (24:35). This scene depicts a side of Hanna that we had not been exposed to up until this point in the show. Hanna had seemed like the typical representation of a house maid, who is dutiful and obedient, but it is clear that there is a side to her personality which is far more defiant and stronger than first appeared. I look forward to seeing how this contrasting side to her personality plays out in her relationship with her wealthy, white employers in the episodes that follow.
Finally, it is clear that Perry is playing with these contrasting notions of ‘Have’ and ‘Have Not’ and ‘master’ and ‘servant’, and what it actually means to be a part of these categories. This is something I am going to discuss in my next blog post, because as the actor who plays Jim Cryer, John Schneider, remarks in regard to Tyler Perry’s creation, “I’m not sure that the wealthy people are the ‘haves’. This is about what’s in your soul. And, I have a feeling that my family is coming out at the short end of that stick”(1:45).
The Haves and the Have Nots 