Precious is a hard film to watch, but probably not for the reasons you’d think. I’m certain that a most people just felt sorry for the title character of the film when the credits rolled. Those people missed the point. Precious is not a film about pity or empathy, it’s about hope. Hope in the face of absolute destitution. And, if you watch it and can’t see that I think it says more about you than it does about the movie.
But, if you haven’t seen it, Precious is the story of Clarice Precious Jones, a 16 year-old overweight junior high student, pregnant with her second child after being raped at least twice by her own father, who’s constantly physically and mentally abused by her mother and who eventually discovers she’s HIV positive. As horrible as all of that sounds, and it is horrible, that’s not what made it so hard to sit through for me (rest assured though, it turned my stomach). No, the most upsetting thing, for me anyway, came from the other people surrounding Precious. Specifically her teachers.
Of course, it’s a teacher that eventually brings her out of her shell and gets her to realize her potential, but the fact that this girl went this long without any of these adults to see, or maybe just care that this girl needed guidance and help, that’s just pathetic. And, forgetting her personal problems for a second, when you learn that she can’t even read and she’d managed to make it even that far in school means that she had just been constantly bounced up to make her someone elses problem.
I don’t want to turn this into some kind of scathing attack on our school system, and, yes I know it’s a movie and a fictional story, but these things happen today. There are people like this out there, and the school system doesn’t want to deal with them even when their parents are so clearly failing. So, where do they end up? In the welfare line, because the education paid for by every American who earns a paycheck and pays their taxes fails them as well. And it makes me absolutely irate.
This is almost the complete opposite of a film like The Blind Side, which IS based on true events. Yes, an incredible amount of miracles had to happen for Michael Oher to get to where he is, but once people start seeing his talent they’re more than happy to help the Tuohy’s with their goal to see him succeed. But, that’s the problem with that film, it’s only the Tuohy’s motives that get questioned, never anyone elses. And, honestly, they’re the only one’s motivating Oher out of genuine affection (at least at first). He’s someone who can be exploited, he can be used, so, yeah, let’s get him an education. But, Precious has no apparent talent, so she gets pushed to the side, she gets looked over.
All that sounds incredibly harsh, I know, but, like I said, it makes me irate.
One thing Precious does shine a bright light on is the welfare system in this country, especially the attitude people have about it. There’s a lot of examples of people in the film who are solely out to “get their check,” especially Precious’ mother, Mary. There’s one scene in particular where a social worker comes to their tiny apartment and we see Mary become a completely different person, putting on an act so that she can continue to live off the system. She asks Precious at some point “You think you’re too good for the welfare?” and you so badly want her to scream yes. It’s a way of life Precious comes to realize she doesn’t want nor have to accept. She learns that it’s okay to strive for something better, even if you fail.
There’s one other thing I would’ve liked to see the film handle more openly, and it’s more or less a race issue. So, yeah, all of this is going to sound weird coming from a 30 year-old white guy, but deal with it.
There are several scenes where Precious talks about wanting to be light skinned, and one specifically where she imagines herself to be a pretty white girl. It’s something that does get addressed towards the end of the film, and in a pretty good way, too. Precious sees herself in a mirror, and instead of imagining she’s someone else, she just sees herself and decides she’s beautiful the way she is. Nice, yes, but I really would have liked a bigger discussion on it. Did she imagine herself light skinned because she thought that made her more acceptable to the world, or just because it would mean she was someone other than herself? Or, both? Yeah, white boy talking about race issues, weird, like I said…
I haven’t touched on the performances here at all. So, briefly; Mo’Nique is absolutely vile and devastating as the mother. After seeing it, I’d say she’s a lock in the Supporting Actress category. It’s hard enough to play a villain on screen without being too over the top, but to play one that needs to be briefly sympathetic as well, it deserves every bit of attention she’s getting for it. That she had to draw on her own experiences with molestation was heartbreaking to hear. Gabourey Sibide absolutely shines as Precious. It’s amazing to think this is her first acting job. She’s got the misfortune of being nominated against Streep & Bullock, and the Academy often votes based on a performer’s past works in the Lead category, but hopefully this won’t be the last we see of her (though I have a feeling it might be, sadly I don’t know if she’ll be able to shake this role).
Again, Precious is a very difficult film to watch, it’s a movie that will make you feel like you haven’t done enough with your life, because, like Jackie Robinson once said “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” And, let’s be honest, most of us don’t really impact others. We live in an apathetic world, it’s easier to turn a blind eye to people with real problems than it is to try and help them. And many that do help are content to just throw money at a situation instead of really getting involved, instead of educating. To use another quote: “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” So simple, so true, and so very hard to live by.
