This movie starts by introducing Claireece “Precious” Jones, a very miserable 16 year old living in urban Harlem who fantasizes about being “normal”. Her mother, Mary played by Mo’Nique, has a daily routine of watching TV, smoking cigarettes and cruelly oppressing her daughter by treating her like a slave, telling Precious that she wishes she would have abort her, and repeatedly telling her that she is nothing. The psychological abuse and manipulation is only underlying to the physical and sexual abuse that this character has endured, Precious is pregnant again for the second time by her father and is on the verge of being kicked out of school. It is not a single isolated incident, as we have learned in class, but a pattern of psychologically
…show more content…
Her mother is hostile and threatened by the visit, but Precious says her “heart felt warm” and the movie then offers hope to its viewers. The teacher at her new school, Blue Rain, who prepares young women for their GEDs, is played by beautiful Paula Patton who does an excellent job of being the nurturing and caring adult that Precious needs to survive. Precious’ classmates add a little lighthearted humor to an otherwise emotionally draining movie. The welfare counselor at the Advancement House, played by Mariah Carey, hears the bitter truth about Precious’ first child birth “on the kitchen floor while mom kicked me in the head” and that her father gave her two babies. After she has her baby, Precious comes home to an even more enraged mother and decides to leave, her new teacher helps her to find a place to live and they spend Christmas together “like on TV”. She finally learns to accept love for what it is and not associated with beating and making her feel worthless. Her breakthrough follows shortly after she finds out she is HIV positive while living in a half way house and continuing her …show more content…
I have to believe that she recognized her mother’s disparity when she poured her heart out and begged her to come home, admitting that she was always jealous of the attention Precious got from her father while also blaming her for his departure. Precious stands up to her mother with the strength that she has gained from her relationships at her new school, she says “I never knew what you were until this day” and then continues to take her young and handicapped daughter, newborn baby boy and says, “You aren’t going to see me anymore”. In my reflection of her situation, it seems that this family dysfunction and pathology may have stemmed from both parents growing up with childhood deprivations or abuse and that the father-daughter incest pattern may best be described as “possessive-passive” from the text in Chapter 7. Although the father is an absent character in this movie, the flashbacks and repercussions tell me that the dynamics of this type of abuse comes from reliance on intimidation and physical force to maintain submission and that both wife and daughter are possessions. The mother feels powerless to this domination and helpless to stop the abuse because she may have learned from her own childhood that this is the way men behave, and Precious
Her mother is hostile and threatened by the visit, but Precious says her “heart felt warm” and the movie then offers hope to its viewers. The teacher at her new school, Blue Rain, who prepares young women for their GEDs, is played by beautiful Paula Patton who does an excellent job of being the nurturing and caring adult that Precious needs to survive. Precious’ classmates add a little lighthearted humor to an otherwise emotionally draining movie. The welfare counselor at the Advancement House, played by Mariah Carey, hears the bitter truth about Precious’ first child birth “on the kitchen floor while mom kicked me in the head” and that her father gave her two babies. After she has her baby, Precious comes home to an even more enraged mother and decides to leave, her new teacher helps her to find a place to live and they spend Christmas together “like on TV”. She finally learns to accept love for what it is and not associated with beating and making her feel worthless. Her breakthrough follows shortly after she finds out she is HIV positive while living in a half way house and continuing her …show more content…
I have to believe that she recognized her mother’s disparity when she poured her heart out and begged her to come home, admitting that she was always jealous of the attention Precious got from her father while also blaming her for his departure. Precious stands up to her mother with the strength that she has gained from her relationships at her new school, she says “I never knew what you were until this day” and then continues to take her young and handicapped daughter, newborn baby boy and says, “You aren’t going to see me anymore”. In my reflection of her situation, it seems that this family dysfunction and pathology may have stemmed from both parents growing up with childhood deprivations or abuse and that the father-daughter incest pattern may best be described as “possessive-passive” from the text in Chapter 7. Although the father is an absent character in this movie, the flashbacks and repercussions tell me that the dynamics of this type of abuse comes from reliance on intimidation and physical force to maintain submission and that both wife and daughter are possessions. The mother feels powerless to this domination and helpless to stop the abuse because she may have learned from her own childhood that this is the way men behave, and Precious