By Linda Winsh-Bolard
This is dark film about people and matters we do not want to see.
Claireece Precious Jones who goes by “Precious” ( Gabourey Sidibe)is very large, black, poor 16 years old girl pregnant with her second child in while still a student in Harlem public school. She never speaks in her classes, gets good grades and remains illiterate.
Precious is discharged (a nice term for kicking her out)from the school due to “behavioral problems” and sent to participate in a “innovative” teaching program designed for special cases (the ones the public school system does not want to deal with).
Precious takes the challenge and it, eventually, changes her life.
It’s miracle of will; hers, her teacher’s and her social worker’s because life dealt Precious an ugly hand: she lives with her unemployed, abusive Mother who relies on welfare to survive. Precious is part of her income, because she, and her kids, is eligible for food stamps and benefits. Mommy “undear” unwillingly gives precious a chance to escape when a social worker Mrs. Wise and her new teacher come to her life.
Precious has learned to hide behind silence. We can understand that having seen the images from her home. But in her inner life Precious speak clearly, dances and is admired.
Her daily life passes in fear, attempts to survive and effort to become literate.
Precious is more of a symbol than a real person. Utterly believable in her misery, trapped in abusive surroundings that drag her down mentally as well as physically, she is doomed by her circumstances and the society indifference (I kept thinking about the “pulling one self by strap’s” advocated by so many Republicans, Precious so well demonstrate how ignorant such sound bites are) she is doomed. It’s not the overburdened social system that helps her, indeed when she is homeless there is no shelter for her and her 3 days old infant, it’s two remarkable women. Underpaid, overworked, unknown women who do what they can with their limited resources touched by the pain the must witness every day.
The new comer Sidibie is utterly convincing as Precious. The loneliness, misery and shame she portrays are touching. She understands perfectly the protective cloak of silent invisibility that Precious wears. She also beautifully conveys her longing for better options. In a touching scene Precious is getting ready for school and while we see her as she really looks, she sees in her mirror a white, blue eyed, blond beauty. There is poignant little moment when Precious is trying to guess what ‘color is Mrs. Wise”, another when she watches at Ms. Rain at her home. Yet another when nurse John (Lenny Krawitz) turns out to be male.
Mariah Carey as Mrs. Wise is one of the few stars who are able to shed their stardom to become solid actresses; it is rare and lovely to see her as a plain, quiet social worker.
The new teacher Ms. Rain (Paula Patton) is pretty, firm and able. Together they open a whole world for all of us.
I doubt that Ms. Rain’s classroom would be quiet or easy to handle, just as I doubt that there are many, if any, social workers able to spend so much time with one of their cases (the other social worker who visits Precious’ home to asses her situation and never even guesses that her daughter is living elsewhere is more realistic portrait), but these two women show us what might be possible.
As the wicked mother Mary, Mo’Nique is excellent. Her pivotal scene when she admits her fears and loneliness is amazing. This is not an easy part, however natural she makes Mary to be.
These actresses make us want to know them regardless their situation. It a great talent to achieve this given the set and circumstances. Not small achievement for the director Lee Daniels either. To make this talent to play so well is a great art. Daniels worked with screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher to transform the novel Push by Sapphire to film screen; the dream sequences are their addition to the novel. It’s believable addition because we all dream and it seems natural for Precious to escape her reality by dreaming.
I kept thinking how much of human potential our society wastes having reserved most option for the very privileged. What pity, what shame.
