Precious: Not a Ghetto Freak Show

The buzz is at a fever pitch for this movie and for good reason. At least a couple Oscar nominations are guaranteed for this amazingly painful and compelling tale of adversity and ultimately survival.

Based on the 1996 award-winning novel Push by Sapphire, the story, set in 1987 Harlem, follows the tortured and dark life of Clarisse Precious Jones. The obese, illiterate, and pregnant (for the second time by her AIDS infected father) 16-year-old somehow still gets up every morning and makes her way to school, even when her abusive and clearly mentally ill mother thinks she would be better served spending her time at the welfare office.

Director Lee Daniels takes on the challenge of bringing this blistering story, with the help of screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher, to the screen. Author Sapphire reports that she initially turned him down when he approached her about making the book into a film, but changed her mind after she saw his 2005 directorial debut “Shadowboxer”

Daniels is no stranger to bringing less than attractive, and more often than not, challenging allegories to audience’s attention. Over the last ten years he has tackled issue of racism, pedophilia, and assassins engaged in pseudo incestuous relationships; so one could easily concede that Push was a natural fit in his portfolio.

An Official Selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and winner of three awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, “Precious” stars Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, and Lenny Kravitz.



Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, in the role of Precious, has everyone talking. Mostly about how different she is from the character that she so convincingly plays. Discovered during an open audition, Sidibe embodies every inch of Precious. Her face seems to easily transform into this blank, but painful mask that barely hides the despair that hangs over her on a daily basis. But it is her three hundred pound body that makes her a target of street hoods and her predatory father. Sexually abused since age three, and pregnant for the first time at 12, it seems the bigger she gets the more her humanity is disregarded. She copes the only way she knows how by constructing fantasy worlds where she is adored by “light-skinned boyfriends” and gets to walk red carpets in beautiful dresses, where she is the center of attention. Daniels uses these fantasy sequences liberally, and at times preemptively, as if trying to shield the audience from what must be experienced if they are to truly connect with the pain and degradation that Precious endures.



The primary architect of that pain is her mother Mary Jones. A shoe in for more than a few awards lists; comedian Mo’Nique is devastating as Mary. Her fans use to her big girl sass and playfulness will find none of it in this boa constrictor tight performance. Mary is cruel with a marksmen precision. Reminding Precious everyday that she is useless and will never be more than the “dumb, fat bitch” that lumbers around their dilapidated kitchen and waits on her mother hand and foot. Her performance also reminds the audience that everyone that has a uterus doesn’t necessarily make a good mother. Mary reeks of pain, which she desperately transfers on to Precious in every encounter. You want to look away, but Mo’nique presents this damaged woman in such a compelling manner that you can’t take your eyes off of her. When Precious brings her newborn son home from the hospital, the audience rightfully dreads what Mary will do once she gets her hands on the baby, because Mo’Nique has artfully convinced us she is capable of anything. For those cinephiles interested in seeing where Mo’Nique first showed potential for compelling characters, check her out in “Shadowboxer”, as the now ironically named Precious.

Of the three major actors, Paula Patton’s performance is the weakest. Her Blue Rain is lifeless, stilted, and unconvincing. Which is a shame since her role as a teacher (who happens to be a lesbian) who goes above and beyond to save this girl is not one we have seen on screen before. By the time Precious is dumping her every thought into her journal you can’t help but wonder how we are supposed to believe she learned anything, and ultimately transformed, as a result of her relationship with this anemic version of Ms. Rain?

Much has been made of Mariah Carey’s diva-free performance as Precious’s social worker Mrs. Weiss. For all those still holding a grudge because of Glitter, I think here is where she makes full restitution. Mariah is believable and accessible. In many ways she is the surrogate voice of the audience, expressing disbelief and outrage at the indignities that has been Precious’s life, and does of fine job of asking the hard questions.

Precious finally meets her light-skinned knight in the form of Nurse John, played by Lenny Kravitz, when she is rushed to the hospital to give birth (her first child was born on her mother’s dirty kitchen floor). Nurse John does the subtle work of convincing Precious, whose world is populated with mostly women, that you can have a grown man in your life that understands boundaries, doesn’t want anything from you and will treat you with respect.

Believe it or not, there are some light moments in this sea of darkness. Precious’s spirited and equally lost classmates, with standouts Xosha Roquemore as diva rapper Joan and Chyna Layne as the wise Jamaican dance hall queen Rhonda, provides the laughter and friendship, however tenuous, that Precious is in desperate need of.

Many cultural critics have come down hard on this little film, especially around the issue of whether putting these long held stereotypes on screen really helps educate mainstream audiences or just validates for them who they believe black people are. I think they are barking up the wrong tree on this one. The performances here are fine tuned and realistic. Daniels and his actors have done the work to make these characters compelling, if not sympathetic. Ask twenty social workers if they have at least one Mary Jones on their case load and 20 Preciouses and they will answer with a resounding, YES! Just because it is difficult to watch doesn’t make it not true. To reduce “Precious” to some ghetto freak show is to do it a disservice - because it has more gravitas than that.

Michelle