Precious Winning Movie

“Precious“

Vaughnetta Young

University of Maryland

Professor Bryan Brown

August 31, 2014

ANALYSIS OF THE MOVIE PRECIOUS

1. Description of the film

The movie “Precious” is based on the novel Push by Sapphire, written in 1996. The book as well as the movie were based on a life of an overweight, black poverty-stricken female played by Gaborey Sidibe (Claireece “Precious” Jones), the movie was directed by Lee Daniel and released on November 6, 2009 (Morris W. 2009).

Precious, with her mother, lives in a 2-bedroom tenement in the grim slums of Bronx, New York, in 1987. As a baby, Precious’s drug-using father decides that Precious was more sexually appealing than her mother, Mary (Mo’Nique Imes-Jackson) (Morris W. 2009). When this occurred, the overwhelming horror of physical and sexual abuse from both her father and mother starts. At a young age, Precious felt the cruel taunts of others (peers and adults alike) that made her feel worthless in every area of her life (Morris W. 2009).

Precious gets pregnant for the second time by her father. Once the school learns about this pregnancy, she is suspended from school. Precious was in junior high school (9th grade even though she should have been in the 12th grade), when she was deemed illiterate. Precious’s principal arranged for her to attend an alternative school so she could obtain her General Education Development (G.E.D) Certificate (Morris W. 2009).

While in this alternative school, Precious learns how to read and started to show progress in her education with the help of Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), who showed her and the other students they were worthy to be loved and helped them to love themselves first. She also meets with the school’s social worker, Ms. Weis (Mariah Carey), in who Precious confides about her current abusive situation. While at school, Precious goes into labor, is rushed to the hospital, gives birth to her second child, and names him Abdul. A male nursing assistant shows...