middle class

Horton Hear a Who topped the box office for the second straight weekend, but Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns came in a close second.

Ho-hum: Another Perry film, another twenty-million dollar opening weekend. A decade ago, Perry was living out of his car, struggling to raise enough money to keep his plays up and running on the so-called "chitlin' circuit." Today, he's sitting atop an entertainment empire that spans theater and film, publishing and television. Yet if you aren't in his target demographic - black and middle-class, and maybe with a relative who reminds you just a little bit of Madea, his most memorable creation - then odds are you don't know a thing about him; indeed, your first Perry encounter won't happen come next summer, when he'll play the head of Starfleet Academy in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek revival.