5 Lessons from Tyler Perry’s Acrimony

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Hey guys,

I am guessing you have been hearing about Tyler Perry’s “Acrimony” and you probably have seen the movie. It was released on 30th March 2018 and I consider it a block buster!

Acrimony is a story of love, hope, trust, sacrifice, betrayal, divorce, anger, regret and unparalled rage. Starring Taraji Henson as Melinda Moore who meets and marries the love of her life, Lyriq Bent as Robert Gayle against her family’s wishes. Melinda gives all the money her mother left for her to her struggling husband but life throws them into a cycle of debts, joblessness and disappointments.

They struggle for almost two tiring decades and just when they were about to breakthrough, they hit the rocks again and this time, they had both had it and Melinda wanted out. The turn of events leaves her devastated, bitter and on a revenge mission.

Acrimony was one movie that left me feeling sad, angry and wishing things turned out the opposite way. But then, embedded in this movie are numerous lessons for everyone; the single, married, divorced or separated.

Today, I shared five and hope to hear what you learnt:

Marriage is for the long haul
I may sound archaic but truth is the ‘D’ word is not the best option. Before going into marriage, you must be able to differentiate it from a two weeks vacation with your boyfriend or a 10 year contract agreement. It is for life and no matter how we try to modernize or ‘Faith’ it, we must prepare for the long haul.

Your partner has issues, so do you. You both must be willing and ready to live with each other.

There is no need to throw stones, Melinda and Robert are both responsible for what happened to their marriage, they could have reacted differently. I keep wondering what I would do if I was Melinda, would I have been able to bear all she bore for as long as she did? Would I have made such sacrifices? What if I was Robert, would I have fought for my marriage the way I wanted him to? Or would I back out and move on now that my dreams have come true like he did?

I felt terrible, hurt and angry for what happened to Melinda and even excused her anger, who knows what I would have done if I was in her shoes? But again, I wish things were different.

We must not turn a blind eye to the red flags
So much went wrong while Robert and Melinda were dating, theirs was love at first sight and they were both blinded by their feelings. They made rash decisions and set out their journey on what I consider a faulty foundation, yet they went ahead to build their marriage on it. I still believe they could have done better even after that not-too-good start.

While you are getting blown away and head over heels in love, what about you let God lead you, and you seek guidance from more matured and sound elders? I agree that there is no one-size-fits-all rule for this, but a lot of disaster can be averted when we have closure.

People get tired and it’s easy to give up, let’s not make it easier
Brenda and June, Melinda’s two sisters wearied her out by constantly talking down on her husband and continuously poisoning her mind towards him. Robert wearied Melinda’s faith by his irrational decisions and his crazy dreams that took forever to come to pass and Melinda wearied Robert by her anger, nagging and suspicion. These things sap away the strength to persevere from the best of us and we must be on our guard against them!

But have you noticed that the times when you are closest to giving up is the time you are closest to your miracle? How many of us are willing to hang in there and fight till the end? Let’s be honest o.

Third parties do a great job before marriage, but in marriage, they can be a terrible company when they overstep their boundaries.
Melinda refused to listen to her sisters all those years before she married Robert but unfortunately, she did- after the marriage and that ruined her marriage. They meant the best for her and tried their best to help her, but truth is there are battles that are better left for couples to fight alone.

In marriage, it is two of you against the world! Never forget that!

The issues you neglect now will come after you later
Melinda had serious anger issues which she brought into her marriage, this not only ruined it but her life too.

Both Melinda and Robert were brave and courageous but they harbored little foxes that grew and spoilt their vine. Melinda was a strong woman who fought till she grew tired. She made terrible mistakes but also sacrificed a whole lot.

Robert gave his best too, and though he made his own mistakes, he loved until his love grew cold. He persisted in pursuing his dreams and was relentless but it seemed the odds were against him. Thier love lasted long…but I wish it lasted longer than it did. And it makes me wonder if it was true love in the first place or was it only meant to be temporary? I also think that their character flaws served as channels through which their love leaked away. What do you think?

While I pray your love stands the test, I urge you to be strong enough to walk the talk, and don’t ever forget that it’s for the long haul and I can’t promise that it will be easy.

Finally, I must commend Tyler Perry for a thorough job, though he left a lot of us with mixed feelings and it’s okay. I can’t count how many times I have argued with my friends and heard their own views on this movie, everyone seems to be seeing things from his own perspective and again, it’s okay. Truly he left no stones unturned except that he left our hearts with numerous questions and few answers.

I had to look up the make up artist and costumer for this movie cos they did a great job at depicting the emotions each character was feeling at different stages in the movie especially Taraji (Melinda), she wore it well- anger, rage, bewail, revenge, you name it. Hope y’all noticed her adorable contact lenses #smiles. Everything was on fleek. Kudos to all the cast and crew. You guys rock!

I could go on and on but let me chill here and hear what you are thinking… See you in the comment box below.

Cheers!