Whatever you go and do this month, I urge you to see this movie. See it twice, three times, four. The superficial details such as the lead character's appearance in this movie and social status as well as the harrowing ones -she has been raped by her dad and gets beaten by her mum mostly every day, could either make you go and see the movie or put you off for now or completely.
The thing of it is when you see Precious, something draws you in. You don't think -well I can hardly complain since her life is worse than mine, in fact you are in exactly the same boat with her; I felt after the movie ended, that there is a possibility of hope, not because there's hope for Precious so there's hope for me but because it takes your strength of character to lead you to that bit of hope. Be it small, there's a chance of hope. It takes a long time but you can make it.
And that's the very human quality to this movie.
Another is in the character of Precious. She changes. One of the changes is that she goes from saying she wishes she was white and thin to black and thin. At the very least she embraces her skin. And this from a girl who's been abused since she was a baby. She's got the traits of other girls, the longing to be special but she has strength. She has the strength for surviving and for moving on. She can chuckle as she sees boys intimidate her whilst wishing they would leave her the hell alone and after her mother verbally and physically abuses her, she is sensitive but she is never senseless. I love it when I see that in people. Most people that I encounter, surprsingly, have no remorse.
Another change in Precious lies in her confidence. I think that in this case that comes from two things, her getting an education and her teacher. The teacher gives Precious hope because she listens to Precious. She's a very humanitarian woman. As Precious' confidence grows, she can talk to people, her mother, she can learn about people, again her mother and her social worker and she evolves, her anger once coming out of her in shouting and in the physical, is now more controlled.
She has become informed and she has been given a chance. She learns and earns her self worth. It's that quality that I thought of as she walks down the street with her two kids knowing she has HIV, her two kids born out of rape and incest and seeing her mother's betrayal and walking away from her, with all these problems and yet she has knowledge and THAT is what the movie ends with.
To be honest and to articulate that honesty respectfully and to learn more is probably the best thing in the world.
Movies have a lot to give but the characters in Precious are so, so layered. Even her mother, her pain at losing herself and then later more, is rich to watch. Rich because that's a human. These are all humans who make mistakes and sometimes the mistakes as so very inhumane as they are, are part of this human being.
Then there's the vibrant direction. We're not sitting in on a two hour therapy session you know! There's some beautiful imagery, in my opinion done well and without cliche because I felt the director understood Gabby Sidibe's portrayal of Precious. Underneath, a soul like others; alive. So these scenes in particular are not contrived.
The message at the end of the movie is "For Precious Girls Everywhere." And that's all us human beings. We can move on. And if we have to write and if that's the boat that takes us to the other side in the author of the book's words, then that is it, that's one way. That is a power.
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