Will you be seeing the film, Precious?
I’m mulling over the reasons for my own reluctance to embrace Lee Daniels’ new movie and its enthusiastic supporters, so I ask this question without judgment as a way to initiate dialogue.
Buoyed by the moral validation of Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, Precious will surely have a strong impact at the box office when it opens nationwide this month. More favorable reviews appear every day and the Oscar rumors have begun. Then again, one Slate reviewer calls it “uncomfortably close to poverty porn.”
I began reading Sapphire’s Push – the novel on which the film is based – in the bookstore when it was first published in 1996. After about an hour, I left the book on the shelf. Even as I rationalized that I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to process the story of sexual abuse, urban poverty and emotional neglect, I was disappointed in my inability (unwillingness?) to take it in.
I don’t often shy away from the sorrow and suffering that are at the root of many (but not all) African-American literary representations – Frederick Douglass, Native Son, The Color Purple, and The Bluest Eye among others. I poured over the Pulitzer prize-winning Washington Post series Rosa Lee: A Mother and Her Family in Urban America, bending back pages in Leon Dash’s account that completely transformed my view of multi-generational black poverty and substance abuse. But in the interest of full disclosure, I’ll acknowledge that I am also a huge fan of Percival Everett’s satirical novel, Erasure, which many consider to be a critique of Push and the urban lit genre’s “verisimilitude.”
So I don’t know. At this point I’m not making any plans to see the film, but maybe I’ll change my mind. Maybe my mind needs changing. Mostly, though, I’m curious about what our expectations are when it comes how black life is represented through art. On Twitter, I was reminded of this prophetic quote from Zora Neale Hurston: The average, struggling, non-morbid Negro is the best kept secret in America. And yet the perceptive @lindywasp offers this insight: It’s always hard to share layers when we know it will be definitive for most. I will see it though. Can’t critique blindly.
Your thoughts?
And while we’re on the subject, what other overlooked, independent films might serve as viewing alternatives to Precious?
Posted by susan on November 8, 2009 at 9:52 PM
Claudia,
I confess I had the same reservations about Push but my girls were huge fans so finally I broke down and read it and I enjoyed it. When I heard about the film and learned that Perry was involved, I was worried how poorly the work might be translated. I’m undecided about seeing the film.
To make matters worse, that fool Juan Williams wrote a scathing critique of the book and in usual Williams fashion, he got it wrong. He called the book gangster lit. Clearly, he didn’t read it. Just because the book is about urban poor doesn’t mean it glorifies violence, bling and the thug life. That’s not what Push is.
Can’t black literature be diverse? Do we have to pigeon-hole our art, too? Williams says so many idiotic things you wonder if he remembers he’s black. The way he carries on about how we have lost our way you’d think he’s left his place among us to avoid the collective demise that the rest of us are apparently giving ourselves over to. Someone needs to bring him back to reality.
Here’s the link:
Juan Williams
Posted by Claudia on November 8, 2009 at 10:09 PM
Hi Susan, I appreciate your comment and I think highly of your book reviews, so maybe I need to sit down with Push again, whether or not I see the movie. After all, I’d like to think I’ve matured somewhat since 1996, LOL. Maybe I can handle it now.
And Juan Williams…sigh…since when did he become an expert of new trends in black literature?
Posted by susan on November 8, 2009 at 10:42 PM
Claudia,
Push isn’t a great American novel and I don’t think that was the author’s aim. I think she wanted to tell a story, to give voice to those who otherwise are not heard and she wanted it written in a way that those who could relate could relate to it in print. And she accomplished that.
You and I work with similar populations. We know up close what it means for others, who like us, have felt invisible but you and I have our voices and we use them. Sapphire gave a lot of readers a voice and for that the work has merit. It’s not Erasure but I argue they aren’t in competition.
Williams deserves far more criticism and rejection. He disrespects the author, readers and the women who identify with Precious because he fails to see why she matters. He fails to understand her story is worth telling.
Posted by Rich Watson on November 8, 2009 at 10:55 PM
Well, I’m a film geek in general and an Oscar geek in particular so on that basis alone I’m gonna see it, because it’s looking very much like it’ll get nominated for Best Picture. I agree that black lit – indeed, black pop culture in general – needs to be diverse. One thing about the success of this film that has amazed me is how it speaks to so many different people. And unlike past Oscar contenders like THE COLOR PURPLE, BELOVED and DREAMGIRLS, this is a black film with a black director at the helm, not to mention an independent film. That’s significant, I think.
As for viewing alternatives, might I suggest these for starters:
– EVE’S BAYOU. Family drama with a young female protagonist, without the apocalyptic levels of gloom and misery.
- DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST. independent film with an artsy sensibility, without the Oprah endorsement to sell it to mainstream America.
- PASSING STRANGE. Period-piece coming-of-age story, only as a rock opera.
- THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES. You-go-girl female-bonding story based on a book, only with Queen Latifah.
- COOLEY HIGH. Teenagers in the ghetto, but as a comedy.
Posted by Claudia on November 9, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Thanks for these suggestions, Rich! I’ve been hearing really good things about Passing Strange – need to go check that out.
Posted by Zetta Elliott on November 9, 2009 at 8:20 AM
I’m going to see it this week for the same reason I saw Good Hair–can’t critique what you haven’t seen…and my former students keep asking me what I thought, which suggests they’re worried/ambivalent, too… and the book had enough problems so will the film succeed where the book failed? I thought the novel needed better editing, but the white appetite for black dysfunction is stronger than ever these days as Everett tries to point out in Erasure (Sapphire got a half million dollar advance for Push, right?). And Oprah and Tyler Perry are hardly the critical minds we need to tell a story like this with restraint…
Posted by Claudia on November 9, 2009 at 9:01 AM
Half million dollar advance. Really? Wow.
The argument that you can’t critique what you haven’t seen is, at this point, the only thing that might get me in the theater. I don’t want to put my head in the sand. On the other hand, I could just read your review Zetta, and call it a day (smile).
Layers, restraint, nuance…. these really resonate with me, and get to the heart of my concerns, I think.
Posted by Kayanna on November 10, 2009 at 11:32 PM
Hi,
I am going to pass on the movie. I don’t want to be depressed. I read the book years ago and I think I liked it but, I want happy stories right now. I too would like black literature to be more diverse.
Posted by Claudia on November 13, 2009 at 3:59 PM
Thanks for your comment, Kayanna! Carleen Brice just published a great, even-handed review of the film that is worth a read: “Impressions of Precious” I’d love to hear if it changes your mind; it definitely has me thinking twice.
Posted by exquistiely black on November 11, 2009 at 11:19 AM
I struggle with my feelings about this movie. Like, you, didn’t read the book, but reviews from friends, mirror the comment about it needing better editing. Diversity is fine, we have, live and can tell different stories – only, I’m not seeing evidence of this diversity in the movies. I don’t think anyone would argue that our images fit nicely into one or two categorizes – total dysfunction/abuse or buffoonery. I may have to see the movie so that I can critique, yet the other side of me wishes that I . . . we, could send a message to Hollywood that we want to see different stories, by taking a pass on this one.
Posted by Claudia on November 13, 2009 at 3:57 PM
Hey Exquisitely Black, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate hearing your thoughts and I, too, am trying to figure out how we can send that message about real diversity to Hollywood. I really want to do more to support the black independent films that get small buzz but not national attention.
Posted by Edi on November 12, 2009 at 12:03 PM
I don’t know much of anything about the film industry, exactly what producers and promoters do. I do know that the film was finished way before Perry and Winfrey became involved. They saw the movie and they wanted it to reach a larger audience. So, they decided to back? promote? produce? the film. The movie was first release about a year ago and the original title was “Push” however, a sci-fi film with the same title came out at the same time!
Will I see it? I probably will because there hasn’t been a decent movie in the theaters for quite some time. I used to go to the movies weekly, however I haven’t been in several months. If Perry had actually been involved in this movie, I probably wouldn’t go. I’m not a fan.
Posted by Claudia on November 13, 2009 at 3:54 PM
I feel the same way about Perry as you do, Edi. It actually does matter to me that Perry didn’t get involved until after the movie was made.
Posted by conseula on November 12, 2009 at 6:56 PM
Once again, you’ve written the post I’ve been drafting in my head for the last few days. I haven’t read Push for all the reasons you cited (I don’t think I’d be able to get Everett out of my head as I read the book) and Tyler PErry and Oprah Winfrey being involved with the project really doesn’t recommend it. I’m also really wary of “black” films or films that “deal with race” that have a lot of Oscar-buzz swirling around them. “Crash,” for instance was god-awful and makes me wonder if people review movies and hand out awards live in the same racialized America that I do. All that said, I feel like I have to see it. I feel like it’s part of my job to have something to say about it.
Posted by Claudia on November 13, 2009 at 3:53 PM
LOL, Consuela! I hope you’ll still write your post. And definitely make sure to check out Carleen’s review. I think she may have convinced me to buy a ticket:
“Impressions of Precious”
Posted by CC on November 14, 2009 at 7:16 PM
We just discussed the book at my book club last weekend. We have never had such a lively, loud discussion. Whereas, I thought that we were going to have a tearful afternoon talking about abuse–we ending up talking about what is real or not real in terms of black portrayals in film and television.
There seemed to be a scathing critique by many of Tyler Perry and his theme of problematic black women–the bitch or the abused woman who only the blue collar man can save or the woman who is the butt of the joke (with Medea)– so in that way I think that Precious should fall in line with his other films. I was not sure that I was going to see the movie, but now after talking about the image that Tyler Perry is attempting to sell about black people, I think that it needs to be seen.
I do agree that some ways it is poverty porn.
Posted by Tori on November 16, 2009 at 11:18 AM
To everyone who has reservations about this movie (and the book) don’t. I read Push when it first came out. I had just graduated from Emerson College and received a BFA in Writing and Literature. After so many years reading, literary fiction Push was a breath of fresh air. It is so well-written and Sapphire paints a bleak picture but what she does is show that Precious is brought back up by her own people (very few people point this out). It is not poverty porn, her saviour is not a white person, it is black people. People she encounters doing small acts of kindness. I had the chance to meet and see Sapphire speak about Push at the Boston Public Library. She said that the character of Precious is a mesh of all the women she encountered when she was teaching a GED class. All the women who were living in these horrific situations but came to class eager to learn. Women who had slipped through the cracks. Push has been so influential that many social work degree programs have it for required reading.
As a writer, I am so proud of Sapphire because ever since her book came out she was constantly approached by people who wanted to make it into a movie. She turned them down. In an interview with Katie Couric she said that Push was her baby and she felt that many of those who had approached her would either exploit Precious or not fully go there emotionally. Lee Daniels had to prove to her that he was capable of taking Push in a direction that would illuminate the book. She turned him down twice and only said yes once she saw his work. Lee Daniels will probably be the first black person to ever win an Oscar for Best Director. He is a talented storyteller.
Watch Sapphire’s interview with Katie Couric. I think when you hear her talk about her book, her own sexual abuse, and the women who have inspired the character Precious you will rush out and see the film (or even better purchase and read the book). We as black people are so ready to rush out a see a comedy but when we are being portrayed honestly and very artistically we stay home or don’t go to the bookstore. Then, we complain about the lack of good black literature or movies. By you staying home you show the producers and publishers there is no audience and thus the crap and mediocre films and books thrive.
My mentor Kim McLarin (an amazing writer) always vents her frustration because she is one of the few black writers who write literary fiction, she writes about the black experience yet not many black people pick up her books. All art can’t depict us black folks in a favorable light, we are human and thus the good and bad don’t escape our experience as a people. As the saying goes; Art imitates life. The story of Precious Jones is proof that the human spirit can be triumphant in even the most bleak circumstances. The movie (and book) is a message of hope.
Posted by donnaa on November 20, 2009 at 5:24 PM
The movie “Precious” will be a wonderful movie for all of the black community to see. I do believe it will give us continual solutions about unity and how to make it better forever and ever. This is a milestone that will give impowerment to us spiritually. You guys do know that even back in slavery our ancestors were the most spiritual race in the world. Our ancestors not matter what, it was their uncompromising spirit that keep them rollin’ up in here, all the way to where we are at now. This is the very reason way precious will inspire us to keep being all that we disire to be no matter what. We have all expericenced abuse, negativity, hate, weather we witnessed it, wrote papers about it, heard about it. We know it in one form or another. Its where we come from, its what our ancestors made freedom with. Take a good look at O. Winfrey and T. Perry, check out where they came from, they didn’t let it determine their destiny, now did they… ? NO they didn’t!
What good actresses
Posted by Some Thoughts on ‘The Princess and The Frog’ « The Bottom of Heaven on December 18, 2009 at 9:48 PM
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