"Precious" - Movie review

 

                                                                                           (Property of LionsGate)

I've talked to many, many people about this movie and I have gotten mostly negative responses from almost every person. Most of the complaints are about the graphic nature, the campy flashbacks and the ending. I think about Art all the time and one thing I know for sure is that not all Art is going to make you happy. Effective Art makes you think, but great Art can actually transform thought. I am an Artist because I am curious. I am constantly trying to figure out ways to solve problems and convey ideas by using alternative solutions, and through this curiosity, I am constantly compelled to think. I thought about all of the aspects of the movie that I enjoyed and they clearly outweighed anything I didn't like.

Literacy is power and it is something we all take for granted. Self love is power and it is something that many spend a lifetime chasing, yet never find. ‘Precious’ is compelling to me because her struggle was reversed. Her educational, sexual and emotional inadequacies were what she desperately yearned for, yet her willingness to not let herself fall victim to her condition lifted her into a space in which she loved herself.

Despite intense pain- she had the capacity to love not only herself, but more importantly, her children. I think ‘Precious’ transcends race, age and creed. It’s a story about hope, wrapped in a fiery blanket of destruction. The beautiful thing about this movie (and Art in general) is that it seems as though we can all look at this film and see ourselves in it. Most of the random and candid thoughts of the human psyche are eerily conveyed and painfully confronted. If nothing else, ‘Precious’ is a social document that has the ability to transform thought and could even provide a platform for change in Hollywood- and possibly America.

-js