Jezebel 
Enter your username and password.
New York, 8:57 AM
Tue Dec 1
67 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
tips@jezebel.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Anna Holmes
Email | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Dodai Stewart
Email | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor:
Tracie Egan
Email | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Anna North
Email | Twitter
Sadie Stein
Email | Twitter
Reporter:
Irin Carmon
Email | Twitter
Editorial Assistant:
Margaret Hartmann
Email | Twitter
Contributors:
Rich Juzwiak
Email | Twitter
Latoya Peterson
Email
Jenna Sauers
Email
Lizzie Skurnick
Email
Interns:
Katy Kelleher
Twitter
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/16/09
So what? #precious
11/16/09
Whenever advocates like this write an op-ed or speak publicly about a project ...I admire them and understand why they want to comment, and why should would give the commentary.
I have a hard time believing anyone would find this abuse or a mother like Mary unimaginable. Is it really hidden, or is it ignored because it's too depressing to think about, especially because often enough there is no happy ending or clear solution?
Not when kids are supposedly cognitively underdeveloped by age four simply because they live in low-income families and school districts, even families that aren't necessarily abusive or blatantly neglectful. Not when social workers seem to be ill-equipped or poorly trained to distinguish between what a family needs, or what a child might need (i.e. to get the hell away from insane parents). Not when runaways are undocumented, and don't want to be found. Not when their parents don't give a shit whether they come home or not and probably won't question whether or not there's anything that might make their kids a good reason to leave.
The author says says so herself...we don't really have a model for dealing with someone shaped by intergenerational poverty, family violence or dysfunction, and the comparison she gives between poorer girls and middle-class girls from stable communities seems vague too; I get it, she points to the lack of institutional/FAMILIAL support poorer girls have compared to middle-class peers. So what are we talking about?
Behavior? Parenting styles/background?
Is funding or social service cuts the problem? Laws that treat sex workers as criminals instead of victims? Reflexive use of incarceration? Weak training among those in a position to deal with abuse (social workers, maybe law enforcement or teachers)? Lack of oversights to protect teens in juvenile (not necessarily detention) facilities? Plain old incompetence, indifference or unpreparedness of social services or law enforcement to deal with most of these cases?
(Sometimes it seems that between political correctness, DNC wishy-washiness on sexual health, and a culture where plenty of Republicans condemn welfare mothers but don't give a shit about their officials living in a religious/macho "traditional values" la-la land, any hope of a real, productive discussion of family planning or parenting is moot, at least in academia or policymaking.)
Is there any country in a the world that can deal with runaways, budding juvenile delinquency (not just drug-dealing or prostitution...violent crime), abusive and "vulnerable" families AFTER abuse or dysfunction has been established (and probably gone on for years, undetected)? Any society where government has a sure-fire method to provide institutional stand-ins for dysfunctional parents?
I'm aware that if poverty or lack of education ARE parts of the problem (today's at-risk kids, tomorrow's struggling, possibly abusive parents)--the solution goes deeper than family welfare services. Her op-ed highlights social inequality.
Was it really better before welfare-to-work? (I know...there's an entire population of people who are neither working or on welfare, and have been left behind by any symbolic "progress.") Is that the only place the blame rests--government neglect?
I read an interview with Sapphire, who based Clarice on girls she knew as a teacher. I agree that teachers, social workers, government, and "outsiders" can be a lifeline. But how much can people do to change a person's life if their peers or their families undermine what little the "outsider" who cares can offer? #precious
11/16/09
11/16/09
Just FYI, that's not that amazing at all. Indie movies in smaller screens often have higher per-screen averages than the big blockbuster on thousands of screens. It happens every week. #precious
11/16/09
The book is important to me, and the film was very different (mostly to its detriment) but I still loved it. I cried just to see the character I love get the attention she so deserves.
That, I believe, is the most important thing: making invisible girls like Precious visible. Opening our eyes.
That said, my biggest objection to the film is the casting of Paula Patton. Sure, she is stunningly beautiful and a good actor. But the Blu Rain character in the novel is not some light-skinned savior who does it all for Precious while Percious sits mute. Precious let's go of some of her self-hatred by coming to admire someone with dark skin and dreds. There is no pivotal moment where a beatiful teacher cries, "I love you!!" but rather the main arc in which Precious comes to love herself. It's her own triumph, not her teacher's. #precious
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
We walked out of the theatre so incredibly disappointed. While the acting by Mo'Nique is superb, we really felt the rest of the movie was subpar at best. Precious deals with the worst hell, I'm not debating that, but the actually movie itself was a shell of what I thought it could really be. The bond between Precious and her teacher seemed incredibly empty, the story seemed very jumpy and seemed to quit a storyline before it finished it, and I have to admit that I didn't like the way they did the escapism scenes. And why is Mariah being focused on so much? She was in the movie for a total of about six minutes.
With that said, I'm glad it's causing people to look at issues like these more closely. If it succeeds in helping even one person then the movie is a success.
But the movie itself? A bit overrated.
PS, I think I'm one of the four people in the rest of the universe that thinks this. Oh well. #precious
11/16/09
I don't recall any escapist scenes in the book that mirror what I saw in the preview (the music video stuff), although I may be forgetting. I assume that was done by the director/screenplay writer? #precious
11/16/09
And yeah, Blu Rain is not at all what I expected. But maybe I've seen too many 'teacher motivates student' movies but neither the character or actress were all that powerful. #precious
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
I am glad that this film has done well. I will be curious to see how it's received in Sacramento, where I live. Spring Awakening is playing here at the moment. I had already seen it on Broadway but took a group of people because I loved it so much. The theater was, like, half full. On a Saturday. An article in the Sac Bee asked "is Sacramento ready for a play like this?" It's embarrassing.
Obviously totally different pieces of art/entertainment, but both deal with uncomfortable subjects. I don't understand why some people are so adverse to these things being put out there.
Precious is only playing in one theater for one day, that I can tell, here. Just gives me more reason to want to leave. #precious
11/16/09
HELLO. 10 out of 10 for observation. It is a fictional movie. It is not real life. It is not even a documentary. Gah! I find it so irritating when people criticize a film in these terms. #precious
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
Sorry. Couldn't resist. Just love your avatar name.
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09