“For Precious Girls Everywhere”– A Review of Precious
February 1st, 2009 | Published in General
by Desaree, Racebending.com staff
Precious is a film that my sister and I set out to see this past week not knowing it would be one night that neither of us will ever forget. This film is an adaptation of the novel Push written by American author Sapphire, 2009 recipient of a Fellow Award in Literature from United States Artists, and is poised to make off with more awards this year than I hope to count.
Set in Harlem, New York 1987, Precious tells the tale of an abused 16 year old girl who lives in a mixture of reality and delusions. Claireece Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) lives with her mother (Mo’Nique) in a small dingy apartment where Precious endures daily verbal and physical abuse from her mother who makes it clear she will not tolerate any form of retaliation. Ensuring that her daughter remains in subjection to her, Precious’ mother constantly “reminds” Precious that she is stupid and will amount to nothing. Only the welfare check will help and ironically sends Precious to speak with a social worker (Mariah Carey) who eventually learns the truth about her home life and nearly unspeakable hardships that Precious has had to endure.
Precious is pregnant for the second time by her father. She is trying her best to cope with the life she was born into and mentally escapes to her fantasies during the darkest, secret, and most shameful moments anyone can physically experience. Precious fantasizes about being adored by fans. She is a glamorous superstar posing for the paparazzi always happy, seductive, and perfect. The fact that she envisions this type of fantasy to escape reminded me that the “beautiful” life of glamorous movie stars is something many youths look at during their teen-age years as something to aspire.
Posters from magazines riddle the walls of her bedroom, and when dressing for the day the image she sees in the mirror is a skinny blonde haired-blue eyed white girl, while Precious herself is overweight with dark skin, brown eyes, and black hair. Despite the challenges of living with abuse her narration throughout the movie demonstrates the strength of her true character. Loving support from an alternative school teacher brings out the confidence in Precious to learn how to read and write. She discovers a future through writing and hopes for a college education.
This film is full of disturbing graphic imagery hard for anyone to watch. The main characters come from different backgrounds with the majority being African American. I love to support films that promote main characters of different ethnicities, but that will not be the deciding factor for everyone’s judgment.
How viewers have interacted with abuse in their own lives will determine whether or not they can relate to Precious. Many reviews have focused on the abuse in this film as being too graphic or even outrageous. As someone who has endured similar facets of abuse, I praise this film and the message it sends to people everywhere who have had to live through difficult times struggling to find hope and peace. Before you head out to this film be prepared to take the imagery for what it is. Whether physical, emotional, verbal, or sexual: abuse is common among all races no matter the economic status.
