Anybody else find the movie, Precious, racist?

Moving to the Movies, TV and Theater discussion forum.

Wasn't the novel it's based on written by an African-American? I doubt she meant to write a story that was racist against black people.

I did read the script, but have chosen not to watch the movie. I had a hard time reading it as it was. It's just too sad and tragic, and honestly, pisses me off. I hate child abusers.

I never met any African-Americans who were anything like how they were portrayed in this movie. I'm sure there are some nasty people, like they show in the movie, but they represent, probably, less than 1/1000 individuals.

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This seems a strange criticism to me. Are The Godfather and Goodfellas racist in their portrayal of Italians? Is Bound homophobic because the lesbians at the heart of the tale are criminals?

This is something that seems to me "statistical judgment" namely, that any portrayal that does not fit statistical norms are inherently negative, at the very least false in some way. But story-telling is about the edges, about the exceptional in some way. Even Death of a Salesman is about a man whose desire for the American Dream is so much more passionate than most, despite the seemingly relentless ordinary nature of his life.

Most Germans during WWII were not conmen who saved Jews from the Holocaust. Does that fact make Schindler's List a bad movie? I rather doubt that many mental health professionals are cruel incompetents and/or serial cannibals, yet Silence of the Lambs doesn't come across to me as prejudiced against them. I had an argument with someone when The Color Purple came out (not a film I particularly enjoyed, for reasons I'll not discuss now) about whether it was prejudiced against black men. I said at the time that the main black male character--while not a nice or good man--still came across as more than a stereotype (seeing his father, the way he himself kowtowed to the white mailman, his change of heart late in life, etc.).

Does the race of the characters make any difference to the story?

The novel was written by a black woman, the adapted screenplay was written by a black man, and the film was directed by a black man. Harlem, the New York City suburb where the story takes place, is a predominantly African-American hub and has been since the 1920s. The area as a whole also suffers from crime and poverty.

That being said, though, those are not the reasons I do not believe the film was racist. It's a story about a girl, and while her race does affect her story some ("I wish I was a blond white girl"), her race never defined her person or her trials.

The racist question was brought up to the people in the film, and they've all said "no, it isn't".

The way I see it, is is a movie about people who are black. It is not a movie about what being black is like or a documentary, although I am sure stories like this have happened in reality, and have happened to people who are black (and have happened to people who are not black). I don't see racism.

I didn't like the movie because of the way it was shot. Too many jerks and starts at the scene splits, so to me, it didn't feel cohesive. The content, however, was heartbreaking. I seriously feel sorry for the little girl playing Precious' daughter because of the way the actors around her had to treat her in the brief scenes she was in. I hope she understood that they weren't really upset with her (especially Monique).

It is the way it is... when you consider the whole thing was touched from inside out by African-Americans, it would be hard to say that they're racist against African-Americans.

I thought it was a good movie. Will I own it? No because it was just too sad and depressing for me to ever really want to watch it again.

Hi. I think maybe you don't realize that people are harder on their race, generally speaking. The same is true for any people, because when the bad mood (or whatever) strikes, you have a tendency to lash out at those closest to you.

One day on a temp job I had lunch with all white women. One woman was complaining about the grade her daughter was given in school, and said that what her daughter knows is what she herself was taught. "What's good enough for me is good enough for my daughter," she exclaimed. I asked her, "What about wanting your children to do better than you?" Others at lunch said, "Yeah." The bad mother ignored us all. She didn't care if it meant her daughter never advanced, and her silence meant she didn't want her daughter to accomplish more than she did.

People, all people, can be terrible to those 'closest' to them.

I don't think the movie was racist.

Smileycat said:

Hi. I think maybe you don't realize that people are harder on their race, generally speaking. The same is true for any people, because when the bad mood (or whatever) strikes, you have a tendency to lash out at those closest to you.

One day on a temp job I had lunch with all white women. One woman was complaining about the grade her daughter was given in school, and said that what her daughter knows is what she herself was taught. "What's good enough for me is good enough for my daughter," she exclaimed. I asked her, "What about wanting your children to do better than you?" Others at lunch said, "Yeah." The bad mother ignored us all. She didn't care if it meant her daughter never advanced, and her silence meant she didn't want her daughter to accomplish more than she did.

People, all people, can be terrible to those 'closest' to them.

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I'm not going to comment on the movie, but I agree with this wholeheartedly. You can most certainly discriminate against others like yourself.

Would it have made a difference if the characters had all been white? Would that not too be racist?

Or if they had been Mexican, or Italian, or Irish?

It didn't strike me as racist at all. And technically, I'm pretty certain that the money her mother got was money to help pay for her daughter (who was still a minor) and the granddaughter she had "custody" of. The story also took place years ago and I'm fairly certain that the three year rule is a relatively new one (and probably varies by state). I certainly knew a few people growing up who were living on welfare and had been for years.

Anyway, nothing about it struck me as racist. If anything, it was showing that Precious was going to overcome everything she had been through and be the one to get away from that lifestyle. She didn't want to get on welfare and the only reason she did is because her mother forced her to.

samson'sseed said:

The story was endorsed by Oprah Wimpfrey.

Nevertheless, I found it nauseating and racist.

Oprah is so rich and out of touch that she doesn't even realize how racist and untrue the story was. If feeds into racist myths about welfare that are just not true at all.

For example the movie makes it seem like black women can live on welfare in perpetuity, when in fact, there is a 3 year lifetime limit on receiving federal welfare.

For many years I worked in black neighborhoods in the projects soliciting and collecting on newspaper subscriptions in and around welfare projects. I never met any African-Americans who were anything like how they were portrayed in this movie. I'm sure there are some nasty people, like they show in the movie, but they represent, probably, less than 1/1000 individuals.

I didn't like the movie, mainly for the above-mentioned lack of realism, but it was also boring.

The acting was good; the story sucked.

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Well, the movie took place in the eighties, when people COULD receive welfare for years, so I'd call that historically accurate rather than racist

The character of Precious's mother is certainly not typical. Most villains in movies are not typical. That said, if you showed up at her door to collect money, I don't think she would flip the evil switch and throw a TV down the staircase at you...abusive families are way too common in EVERY community, and just because it isn't easy to see from the outside doesn't mean it isn't going on.

Precious' mother is scary similar to someone I know (who isn't black, btw), so there are people like that out there. In this case, the person has medical issues that contribute to the condition, but that doesn't make the person any nicer or less dangerous.

Apparent Sapphire based her novel on real people and real circumstances.