2009
Directed by Lee Daniels
I have previously expressed in this blog an all consuming disinterest in watching this film, as it seemed like a somewhat manipulative tour of human misery. However, I saw this was available on Amazon Prime, and since me completing this List is an inevitable as the Patriots winning the Superbowl, I decided to take advantage of when I could get this for free. That last comment was an attempt to connect with the heavy male audience I know I have accrued on here.
Precious is a dangerously overweight teenager who is pregnant with her second child. After being kicked out of her school for her pregnancy, she attends an alternative school and bonds with the women she meets there. This movie includes incest, rape, AIDs, developmental disabilities, illiteracy, verbal and physical abuse, and poverty. If they had included starvation I could have completely filled out my misery bingo card, but that is obviously...ahem...not the issue being faced here.
At the time of the release, Oprah was shoving this down all our throats and even she admitted this is not a film to be enjoyed, but to be appreciated. There is no denying that the performances are incredible. I suppose the point is to tell a story about a person who is largely ignored by Americans, that illiteracy is still a huge problem in the United States, and that our welfare and education systems are broken. But after serving up heaping after heaping of tragedies, I think this message gets bit buried, and you're left wondering why you're subjecting yourself to this story in the first place.
Still, I did enjoy Precious' fantasy sequences and like I said, the acting is phenomenal.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Taraji P. Henson wanted to play of the role of Precious, but Lee Daniels turned her down. Oh, honey. Just no.
First Best Picture nominee to be directed by an African American filmmaker.
Over 400 women auditioned for the role of Precious.
'Heavy male audience'?
ReplyDeleteI may be slightly on the upper end of the supposed 'safe' scale of acceptable weight/ height ration, but certainly not heavy..
And, speaking as one of the people you thought you were trying to connect with... the sport reference meant absolutly nothing to me. Honestly .. I've not the slightest idea if you are trying to say there is or isn't a chance of you finishing the list...
And it's not just me being a foreigner.. if you'd made an allusion about 'as much chance as xxxx winning the FA cup, I probably wouldn't have got it either.
Anyway, we are not here to dispute male stereotypes..
I've not seen this. I recorded it from TV a bit ago, and kept it on a disc as one of those films one 'should' watch, but have no enthusiasm what so ever to actually do so. It sits there in my box of 'to watch' films, constantly being flipped past when looking for something.
I mean, it even gets rejected when against (the other day) of a B&W supposed horror film with William Shatner as a 'truly good man' resisting being seduced by a very attractive succubus (did I really spell that correctly) who is after his soul. And made in Esperanto.
I'm still avoiding adding anything that is actually about the subject we are supposed to be talking about aren't I? I guess I should grit my teeth and watch the cursed thing.
Sorry for a rambling post.
This movie! I immediately thought, oh no! Amanda was exposed to that much sadness, but then I was kind of glad someone I knew had seen it.This is an amazing film that I want to protect everyone I know from watching. It was such a real look at poverty and the horror of incest and child abuse. Gabourey Sidibe as Precious was amazing. All the the acting was amazing. I feel about this as I felt about watching The Wire. Very real, very honest and very, very sad.
ReplyDeleteHaha sorry for the unintentional diss Ray. And certainly wasn't meant to be a comment about weight! And I wouldn't if I were you. It's misery porn. But I agree Diana that the acting was very good.
ReplyDeleteHaha as well... no issue, it was a jokey reply to hide the fact I was trying to comment on a film I'd not watched!
ReplyDeleteAnd I did watch 'Incubus', the mentioned William Shatner / Esperanto film, which was ... actuall not bad. Once you'd realised it was really a European style art film, not a horror. But just to put you off it totally .. I kept thinking is was more than a it Bergnanesque. That should scare you enough.