Precious Themes

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With a film set in Harlem in the year 1987, it would be unlikely for ‘transgressive’ to be near the top of the list of critiques. However, Precious has managed to achieve this feat through its use of vibrant characters, skillful dialogue and clear themes. The film, based on the novel Push by Sapphire, was directed by Lee Daniels in 2009, and starred many big names such as Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, and introduced Gabourey Sidibe as the title character. The film has no taste for conforming to gender roles, as many of the characters - both primary and secondary - manage to defy stereotypes without the plot needing to revolve around these differences. Secondly, the film has distinct examples of different types of power…show more content…
Precious’ mother has direct power over her daughter. In addition to the blatant forms of physical abuse, Mary’s verbal abuse has a substantial influence on her daughter’s self esteem. This is shown in the beginning of the film when Precious states “But first I wanna be in one of them BET videos. Momma said I can’t dance. Plus, she said who wants to see my big ass dancing anyhow”? Being beautiful and glamorous is clearly something Precious desires, as many of the day dreams she has while disassociating, such as the one while her father is raping her, involve her being a celebrity or being adored in some other fashion. In her book, Feminism Matter: Debates, Theories, Activism, Victoria L. Bromley states that “...if you hold the power, you can set the rules” (Bromley, 5). In this case, Mary holds the power and therefor makes the rules which Precious is expected to obey. Precious struggles internally with the power Mary has over her, but is often unable to fight back due to her dependency on her mother and for fear of violence. This in-balance of power is finally changed during the pivotal scene where Precious arrives home with baby Abdul and finally takes her child and escapes the abusive situation. From this moment on, Precious’ mind set appears to be less controlled by her mother. The viewer can see Precious feeling empowered by herself and her positive influences when she says during a voiceover “Last week, Ms. Rain asked us to write down what we wanna be like. I wrote that I be real skinny, with light skin and long hair...She read it and said I’m beautiful like I am...And I don’t know why, but...I think she right”. In the very opening sequence of the film, a beautiful mysterious woman comes to Precious and hands her a red scarf, before fading away into an almost angelic white light. In one of the final sequences, Precious emerges from the social welfare office and approaches her young

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