Precious tells the story of Clareece ‘Precious’ Jones, a teenager living in 1980s Harlem. Black, obese, living off welfare and repeatedly abused by her parents (sexually by her father, by whom she is pregnant and already has 1 child, and verbally and physically by her mother), Precious dreams of a better life and an escape from her misery. Hope comes in the form of Ms Rain, a teacher on the Each One Teach One remedial education course that Precious is enrolled on. It’s here, in a supportive all-female environment, that Precious finds some solace, builds some meaningful relationships, develops her confidence and broadens her horizons. Just as things are looking up for Precious, however, life throws her another devastating blow and her past comes back to haunt her.
Precious is a fantastic triumph for director Lee Daniels. Gabourey Sidibe shines as Precious, playing the role with a cool aloofness that shows the extent to which Precious has withdrawn into herself; she’s almost like a machine operating on the bare minimum amounts of love, support and respect that a human needs. Had Precious been fiery and prone to retaliation, although we would root for her all the same, this effect would’ve been lost and the result would have been something far more clichéd and predictable. Precious is real, and in the real world people in her position rarely get the chance to fight back, they wait for opportunities and, if they can muster the strength, slowly change their lives for the better against all the odds. Precious’ insularity is reflected in the way she uses fantasy as a form of escape in situations where self-preservation demands she be removed from herself (for example when she’s being abused, when she’s bored and frustrated at school, or when she’s experiencing moments of self-loathing and doubt). In these scenes, Precious imagines herself in a BET music video or as an actress on TV, living a life of glamour and luxury. This device works really well in the film and manages to inject some humour into the proceedings without detracting from the gravity of the story.
Equally fantastic, but for quite different reasons, is Mo’Nique playing Precious’ frightening mother Mary (the irony of the name surely can’t be lost). Mary is, how can I say this, the devil incarnate. I’ve read quite a few reviews that like to view her as more human towards the end of the film but for me she just never quite manages to lift herself up from the bowels of hell for even a teensy bit of redemption (no, not even in that scene with the social worker). While it’s easy to target Mary as the sole reason for Precious’ misery and overlook the damage done by her (absent) sexually abusive father, her sustained presence throughout the film and some truly shocking scenes make it difficult for us not to latch on to her as a hate figure. And rightly so with Mo’Nique’s powerful performance; her verbal and physical violence toward Precious (“I shoulda aborted yo’ ass!”) and her volatility make for uncomfortable viewing to say the least.
Mariah Carey also makes an unlikely appearance (and I stress it’s an appearance, although given all the press attention you’d be forgiven for thinking she was the leading lady) as Precious’ social worker. She’s competent in the role but I think the media has overreacted to her abilities and it’s a shame that so many column inches have been given over to her au naturel look (complete with a light dusting of upper lip hair) rather than the brilliant performances of the other actors. Still if it attracts attention to this gem of a film then I’m all for it. Definitely one of my films of the year.