Precious is such a powerful film that it was hard to cry while I watched, but later the same day, and the next day, I remembered part of the story and lost it. I listen to the soundtrack and think of specific scenes. I have read many reviews of the film and found this to be the most disturbing:
“Here’s the unforgivable problem: while some have labeled Precious as inspirational and uplifting, it isn’t. As a matter of fact, the message it delivers is that even if you work hard and struggle, it probably won’t do you any good. When the movie ends, Precious has escaped her mother but is doomed to die from AIDS. Or if the AIDS doesn’t kill her, the diabetes probably will. Either way, Precious is doomed. She attends school and tries to learn, but she could’ve remained illiterate and stupid since she’s still screwed. Education without any opportunity for application is useless. Barely anything changes for Precious, and the events of the movie only worsen her life. This is not a source of inspiration. The only worthwhile message it imparts is that one should be more upbeat despite life’s challenges.”
These words upset me on a profound level. Education is not a means to an end. I do not need a piece of paper from a college to be who I want to be. I know who I am, and that includes my pain, laughter, and the curiosity to never stop learning. Every day is a chance to apply what I learn, and its not different for you, or Precious. A college-and-career bound life ends the same way as a poor black obese girl’s life in Harlem. Doom is in the eye of the beholder. Yet to read this film merely as a call to be upbeat in the face of life’s struggles is an example of a different, but also sad, illiteracy. This film is about the endurance of senseless horror, and the courage to push back. I reconcile the memory of my mother’s abuse with how I choose to live today.
Clareece ‘Precious’ Jones: Some folks has a lot of things around them that shines for other peoples. I think that maybe some of them was in tunnels. And in that tunnel, the only light they had, was inside of them. And then long after they escape that tunnel, they still be shining for everybody else.
Nice review 3rdarm, nocturnal 3rdarm.
read the book – its much more powerful and not as hopeless as that review. (haven’t seen the movie yet but the book is so disturbing, months after reading it – i am still haunted by some of the scenes) you are able to see her educational progress more clearly and how she internalizes it.
reading the book now, thanks for the recommendation