Saturday, March 6, 2010

#687. The Movie "Precious"


"I'll get you my precious, and your little dog too!" so said the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz. Michael Vick would have found this declaration of intent somewhat tardy, for he had already engaged in getting many a dog.

"You cannot reach them. We tried once, yes, precious. I tried once; but you cannot reach them. Only shapes to see, perhaps, not to touch. No precious! All dead." So said Gollum in Lord of the Rings, desiring the return of his ring, the one ring to rule them all.

Notice the word in the two quotes, an adjective denoting something special and important. Precious. Oddly, this is also the title of a 2009 film that is up for an Academy Award:
In 1987, obese, illiterate, black 16-year-old Claireece Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) lives in Harlem with her dysfunctional mother, Mary (Mo'Nique). She has been impregnated twice by her father, Carl, and suffers long term physical, mental and sexual abuse from her unemployed mother. The family resides in a Section 8 tenement and subsists on welfare. Her first child, known only as "Mongo" (short for "Mongoloid"), has Down syndrome and is being cared for by Precious's grandmother.

Following the discovery of Precious's second pregnancy, she is suspended from school. Her junior high school principal arranges to have her attend an alternative school, which she hopes can help Precious change her life's direction. Precious finds a way out of her traumatic daily existence through imagination and fantasy. While she is being raped by her father, she looks at the ceiling and imagines herself in a music video shoot in which she is the superstar and the focus of attention. While looking in photograph albums, she imagines the pictures talking to her. When she looks in the mirror, she sees a pretty, white, thin, blonde girl. In her mind there is another world where she is loved and appreciated.

Precious is a film that does for Black people what Big Love did for Mormons (makes them look incredibly bad).

A writer at Newsone.com noticed that the film Precious oozed with Disingenuous White Liberal sentimentality, writing:
I hought “Precious” was a bad movie that was meant for white people to feel pity for poor Black girls. The main character is in no way representative of the Black community. She is an extremely overwieght, illiterate girl who is raped by her father, has two children, one with Down Syndrome from her dad and has AIDS. While illiteracy, obesity and AIDS are a problem in the Black community, it seems like they only play pity parts in the movie.Despite what Barbara Bush may think overweight, illiterate, teenage mother, incest victims with AIDS are not “everywhere.” The movie is clearly directed at the Oscar voters who vote for movies with mentally disabled people or holocaust victims by getting the “pity” vote.
Illiteracy is a horrible problem in the Black community. AIDS and other sexual transmitted virus do plague the Black community in ways that the CDC finds baffling and Boise State administrators find unworthy of discussing. Obesity is an even worse problem, that no amount of Richard Simmons exercising can remedy. Passing on seconds is frowned upon in the Black community:

There's no denying that obesity is a serious health issue in the country, and it's a particularly big problem for African-American women, more than half of whom are considered overweight.

Now, one commentator suggests that one reason black women are overweight is that the brothers like it that way. That is to say that the culture rewards women for a little extra padding.
However, Precious, which might win an Academy Award for Best Picture, isn't viewed as overwhelmingly positive by the members of the Black intelligentsia:

“Precious” has avoided that kind of backlash, but “people are suspicious of narratives that don’t put us in the best light,” Professor Neal said. The roots of that suspicion, he said, can be found in a long history of negative images in popular culture that helped keep black people in their place by reinforcing the notion of their inferiority.

Professor Neal was among dozens of black people interviewed about their perspectives on “Precious.” Perhaps the most provocative salvo against the movie was fired by Armond White, the chief film critic of The New York Press and the chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle.

“Not since ‘The Birth of a Nation’ has a mainstream movie demeaned the idea of black American life as much as ‘Precious,’ ” Mr. White wrote in his review. “Full of brazenly racist clichés (Precious steals and eats an entire bucket of fried chicken), it is a sociological horror show.”

Stuff Black People Don't Like includes Precious, a movie that seems destined to win the 2010 Academy Award for Best Picture, to the delight of White Liberals everywhere. Somewhere, Gollum is smiling, for nothing makes people more happy than seeing a fictional account of an obese Black individual being cared for; just ask Michael Oher. Perhaps Precious is a film that will soon become part of the dreaded Hate Fact category.


13 comments:

Anonymous said...

SBPDL,

I can't speak for all black people, just most of them. I have no intention on seeing the movie for two reasons:

1. I'm not a gay man
2. Despite my race I'm not into fat chicks.

-Black guy

Anonymous said...

Black Guy,

Good for you not wanting to see the movie. My opinion is that you're doing nothing for us blacks, that is meaningful. Actually I think you're quite stupid and have no life. A name like Black Guy backs up my response. So you do yourself a favor and get a job besides this one. And gay means happy, being homosexual is having strong affection for guys. People like you need to get educated and think before you post things.

Anonymous said...

The reason why a movie like "Precious" (aka The Notorious P.I.G.) strikes such a sour-breathed chord with Blacks is because deep down, it clearly puts a more edible, crispy and trans-fatty laden coating over the real dark, gamey meat of the realistic conversation they do NOT want to have.

The "pity" response is clearly used to mask the acknowledgment of the absolute reality of a wayward and sociopathic culture which breeds dysfunction at a teenage ejaculatory rate. Any attempts at shining a light on a realistic solution, for example, responsibility, assimilation and creating a civil society, are shouted down and hand-in-faced.

Would a tale about an morbidly overweight, depressed, welfare riding, womb-soaked, Asian female in NYC be plausible?

Exactly.

Anonymous said...

I don't think I'll see the movie but partial honesty in the usually dreadfully dishonest movie industry cannot hurt. I think blacks should be honored by the attention they are getting. Maybe a few will wake up.

Anonymous said...

I don;t appreciate living in a society where the only way to get people to "wake up" is through movies. Social workers get paid worse than restaurant servers, yet this movie makes its millions and earns oscars? I realize life sucks, I don't agree with making a movie that reminds me so. This movie is right up there with Passions of the Christ. Stop bringing it to the cinema

Anna Renee said...

Why do you people comment under Anonymous? Why not step up to the mike without the mask? Speak your thoughts and let us see your face while you do? Dayum, cowards!!

Anonymous said...

Oh God... did anyone watch The Oscars last night? They showed the scene from "Precious" where she steals the box of fried chicken, as part of the Best Adaptive Screen Play category.

Sometimes, SBPDL amazes me with insightful commentary, before the event happens! To funny...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/movies/21precious.html

“Not since ‘The Birth of a Nation’ has a mainstream movie demeaned the idea of black American life as much as ‘Precious,’ ” Mr. White wrote in his review. “Full of brazenly racist clichés (Precious steals and eats an entire bucket of fried chicken), it is a sociological horror show.”


Obviously, Black people don't read this site, or else they'd find ample evidence for Black peoples love of fried chicken! Hell, they'll walk over the dead for it!

Anonymous said...

Anna Renee,

I can't speak all of those who post under anonymous, but I can speak for myself. It's just not that serious to go through the hassle to do otherwise.

-Black guy

Anonymous said...

I pretty much think that this movie represents ALL of African American's troubles in one girl.
There are African's who are fat, who are pregnant, who are raped, who are on welfare, who are abused, and who are illeterate. I think the makers of this movie were just trying to send a message about how bad some people's lives really are. I don't think that it's saying that there are a whole lot of young black girls out there like Precious, but it's saying that people are under some of the same circumstances.
Blacks have had SO many of those rise to the top movies. What is the problem with having ONE movie about blacks that shows something bad?

Anonymous said...

Maybe people post under anonymous because they don't have any other profile? "Stand up to the MIC and let us see your face". Its the internet, unless you want to come to my state and let me give you my opinions then shut the fuck up and I'll post on anonymous.

How about this, e-mail me at steve256@live.com

Also, this whole blog is nothing but a person who is a hater, who hates himself and needs to complain.

Things White People Don't Like is going to be my blog, but it'll probably end up on here too because it'll be seen as racist.

Stuff Black People Don't Like said...

Last Anon,

The person behind this blog might be one of the most self-absorbed narcissistic people on the planet, actually.

He is anything but a "hater"... don't go dipping in the hater-aid that quickly dude.

About you blog... no, I'd probably like it. I don't believe in racism. It is a nebulous word that has no real meaning anymore nor does it bother me to called such.

This website is just an aggregate of stories of Black people from across the country.

Again, you don't like "hate facts" (read that entry)...

50 percent of white women don't have the herp, like Black women do.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/03/genital_herpes_infection_hold.html

AIDS doesn't exist among white people (save Homosexuals), but Blacks for some reason (Precious' fictional baby included) can't seem to listen to the CDC.

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/resources/factsheets/aa.htm

I really tire of insipid posts about "racism" and "ignorance"... by the way, the point of this post is about the movie "Precious"...

I can't wait to see the actress who played Precious become a sex symbol and star opposite Hugh Grant in the next romantic comedy, "My Night With Divine"..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1471976/Hugh-Grant-on-prostitute-charge.html

Anonymous said...

I didn't think the movie Precious was a portrayal of "black life"...being obese, dark and all that. I believe we see ourselves more monolithic that other races see us based on some of the feedback. What happens in the movie happens to all people. I didn't hear white people saying how the "Bastard of Carolina" was a portrayal of white life.

I did not enjoy Precious, but because I thought it wasn't layered enough, where did the fatehr come from, where was he? How did he have such a sick mind and what issues was the mother dealing with to allow it? The grandmother shows up, but offers little to the film.

Those are the questions that should have been answered through this film if we want to understand molestation and make any attempts of addressing the issue...But not because I thought it stereotyped blacks seeing how no one in hollywood looks like Gabby, therefore how can she be the "norm". Such more so, they had to spend more time trying to find "Precious" because a 300+ lb black girl did not exist in pool of actors.

Anonymous said...

But didja like the book??