Mabel "Maea" Simmons is a fictional character created by writer/director Tyler Perry. Based on Perry's mother and aunt, Madea is an aggressive, grey haired, ghetto, bespectacled matriarch. She will argue with anyone and has a penchant for her unique pronunciation and enunciation of words as reflected in her tag line, "I oughta purnch you in da face!" She is part of a large family, with many children and grandchildren. Her name is spelled variously as "Mabel" and "Mable," probably in order to confuse government authorities and others when applying for jobs, getting credit cards, etc. In the films, she is portrayed by Tyler Perry himself.