History Film / MadeaGoesToJail

* AdaptationDyeJob: Donna and Candace sport pretty wild hair colors while working the streets. Donna's crown and top layers are bleached blonde with brownish locks while Candace wears a fiery red wig.

* CloudCuckoolander: Brown. Just... sigh... Brown. Bless your heart.

* {{Determinator}} / BadassPreacher: Helen doesn't play! Her fiery attitude rivals Candace's easily from their first minute in introduction. Played quite saucier than a {{Good Shepherd}}, especially since she leaves her Bible at home, fraternizes easily with women on the streets, and tells Josh straight that he must be fully committed to help out a junkie.
** She also makes it a habit of making sure girls like Candace and Donna use clean needles if they're going to use drugs.

* KarmaHoudini: Although Madea's charges were trumped up, she still committed a real, potentially life-threatening felony that got her arrested in the first place, and resisted arrest when the police came for her. There's even a scene where she pulls an ''assault rifle'' on a group of unarmed party goers. By the end of the film not only does she get out of jail scot-free, but she becomes a media darling with celebrities admonishing the "broken" legal system for arresting an "innocent" woman.

* NiceGuy: It becomes a flaw for Josh. He tries so hard to help Donna to the point it's causing his relationship with his fiancee Linda to be strained.

** Considering the HateDom for Tyler Perry movies, however, the only reason there aren't more tropers defending the victim of Madea's crime is likely that they just haven't seen the movie to complain about it.

* NeverMyFault: Lampshaded. One woman in jail blames her father for her actions and who she is was. Madea calls her out on it and tells her to stop blaming her father for her actions.

* BerserkButton: Madea already has about a hundred of them, but three that show up in this movie are: Don't throw any parties when she's not home, don't tell her you just need some "me time" if you're Cora, and don't park in her favorite space at the grocery store.

* AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame: Some people only know this as the movie that inspired the notorious [[Film/TheOogielovesInTheBigBalloonAdventure Oogieloves]]. The creator got the idea from seeing a showing of this movie where people were interacting with the film.

* AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame: Some people only know this as the movie that inspired The Oogieloves. The creator got the idea from seeing a showing of this movie where people were interacting with the film.

* BrawnHilda: Played nearly straight with Big Sal, minus a foreign accent, and bonus point as the actress is [[AmericanGladiators Hellga]]. Looks, on the other hand, could go either way.

* Threat Backfire: [[spoiler: Although Linda warned him to keep his mouth shut or she'll tell the head A.D.A. that he cheated on his bar exam to get his job, Chuck tells Josh that Linda falsified Candace's file to get her sent to prison and away from him.]]

* BerserkButton: Madea already has about a hundred of them, but three that show up in this movie are: Don't throw any parties when she's not home, don't tell her you just need some "me time", and don't park in her favorite space.

''Madea Goes to Jail'' is a 2009 film by TylerPerry reprising his role as Madea, the don't-mess-with-me matriarch who finds herself in jail after one too many entanglements with the law. Meanwhile, in the B-plot to the movie, a prostitute named Candace (Keshia Knight Pulliam) fatefully encounters Josh (Derek Luke), her best friend from college who now works as an assistant district attorney. Sympathizing with her plight, Josh endears himself to get to the bottom of how she ended up on the streets in an effort to relieve his guilt about his success. As the details unfold, {{The Reveal}} leads Candice back to the man truly meant for her and helps to get her off of the streets. With the help of her friend Donna (Vanessa Ferlitto), and Helen (Viola Davis), a serious {{Determinator}} of the Church, justice is eventually done.

Tropes follow below.

* BerserkButton: Madea already has about a hundred of them, but two that show up in this movie are: Don't tell her you just need some "me time", and don't park in her favorite space.

* BerserkButton: Madea has about a hundred of them, but two that show up in this movie are: Don't tell her you just need some "me time", and don't park in her favorite space.

* ActingForTwo: Tyler Perry, who reprises his simultaneous roles as Brian, Madea, and Joe.

* AxCrazy: Tee Tee, who killed fifteen men before she got sent to prison.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Tee Tee, Madea's sugary sweet cell mate, who presents her with brownies as a "welcoming gift", has murdered at least fifteen men and claims to be the first female serial killer. Madea is, noticeably, freaked out when she learns this two minutes after meeting her.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Joe pretend to be a fraglie man so the police would leave him alone, as he's the passenger and they were after the driver... you got it after the car chase. Once he's out of the range, Joe drops the oxygen tank and cane before making a run for it while Madea is left dealing with the cop.

** AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame: Some people only know this as the movie that inspired The Oogieloves. The creator got the idea from seeing a showing of this movie where people were interacting with the film.

** Opinion on Madea's so-called innocence was actually divided, with a number of people, including Whoopi Goldberg on TheView, trying to get others to realize that Madea had in fact committed the crimes she was arrested for.