I have not stopped thinking about Precious since I saw it almost a week ago. This is a movie that unleashed many emotions many that have been hard to articulate properly. Here are some of the things I’ve been pondering (more on the film’s content to come tomorrow.)
Could this film win the Best Picture Oscar? Now, I’m no Oscar expert but this film has basically won every award at the film festivals it has been a part of since the premiere at Sundance last January. It wins audience and critics awards. It gets standing ovations. (It was however shut out of the Gotham nominations) It seems that lots of folks (at least those who go to film festivals) love the film. The film rolls out this weekend in Atlanta, Chicago, NY and LA and will then expand in the coming weeks.
The question is, can Precious become this year’s Slumdog Millionaire? It’s the same type of hopeful movie that can make people feel good about themselves when things around them are still pretty shitty. But keep in mind Slumdog was about kids from another country. What they went through is something we can’t, and don’t imagine happening here.
But Precious is about US. It is about this country. It is about people here left behind. Even though it is based on the novel by Sapphire and set in 1987 NYC, it still feels real and present. That’s why it is breaking hearts everywhere. You look at Precious and see Hurricane Katrina all over again. You look at Precious and you see things you don’t necessarily want to see but need to see.
We might be a year into this Obama experiment but the reality of women’s lives – of women who could be like Precious have not changed.
This is not an easy movie to watch. And that’s one of my big concerns. It hammers at you and then it hammers again. It may end hopeful, but it is a tough and brutal slog. You need to come in with the right mind set and I am just wondering if the Oprah watching minions are going to take the leap to see this film. Are they (we) ready to confront the racism and classism and abuse that happens here every day? I just don’t know.
This film needs women to see it to be successful. I think it will even harder to get men in the door because of the Oprah endorsement. Oprah = women. This is not a slam dunk by any means.
Let’s also remember that the writer (Geoffrey Fletcher) and director (Lee Daniels) of this film are men. That still so bothers me. It wouldn’t bother me as much if the film’s roll out had not become the Lee Daniels show. So much of the press has been about him (especially the NY Times Magazine piece called the Audacity of Precious which should have been called the “Audacity of Lee Daniels.”) Granted, the film would not have gotten made without his vision and fortitude, so congrats to him. But in lots of the press he comes of as this Svengali-like character who orchestrated these women into his perfect picture. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I wonder what the whole roll out would be like with a female director. He got the chance to direct because he secured the financing and got Sapphire to trust him. That’s a big deal, especially for someone with only one awful film Shadowboxer under his belt. The good news is that the press folks have realized that Gabourey Sidibe is a secret weapon for them and now she is doing some great press.
The thing about Precious that is important to note is the conversation that it has created and will hopefully create in all over the country in the coming weeks. This is a movie about an obese, black, illiterate, abused, pregnant young woman who refuses to count herself out even though many people have already written her off. The fact that this is getting a mainstream release and is also seriously in the Oscar hunt makes me hopeful for a business where so much of the talk is usually about how much money the latest crapfest made the previous weekend. So while Precious’ story is a hopeful tale for all of us, the fact that Precious even exists is a hopeful tale for the movie business.
I can’t wait to see Precious. Yes, Lee Daniels has a HUGE ego, not uncommon for a male director. One way to look at it is an African American telling a story about an African American, thus sparing us the from the delusional inspirational tales of white teachers going to ghetto to teach their students self esteem through dance, singing – you know what I mean. On the flip side, if women were allowed to tell their own stories about their own experiences, it wouldn’t matter that this film was made by a man. He would just be one more voice, in a sea of voices. But we are not allowed to tell our story, unless it’s filtered through a male viewpoint. Women aren’t an audience, right, that’s what they keep telling us.
The book knocked me over when I read it. It was the 90’s, I was living in Brooklyn and I remember forgetting to get off the train the day after I read it. The book left me stunned for days.
As for males adapting for screen and directing (and probably most other positions that aren’t hair/m/u wardrobe and scripty) it’s more likely to get an Oscar nom…unlike Monster, I bet the director of this film will get the nom- he is a man after all and men get nominated for directing films.
Maybe he’ll even win.
There is a female director out there that could have done as good if not a better job, I know it. Did anyone look? I doubt it.
If he wins it will be a triumph for AA directors, but, the AA female directors…? Maybe in 20 years.
Great post, Melissa – I didn’t know all that about the writer. I am really excited to see the film next week!
The film critic Armond White abhorred this film. Not sure what to think, I’ll see it for myself and decide. I do think that African American films suffer from the same problem that women’s films do, in that they are rewarded when they play to stereotypes. Films that transcend those stereotypes or show a more accurate portrait of life as it is, don’t do as well, since they’re not embraced by the powers that be.
Gina,
sadly, the story is not just a stereotype. There are so many very similar, too real, real life stories like that unfolding in a neighborhood not too far from you.
The critique might not want to know this story, he may not like how in your face it is, but, it’s a part of this American life you wont hear about on NPR. This film is a public service.
Anyone who has volunteered at a shelter can attest to that.
I’m just thrilled that so many people seem interested in a movie starring a Black woman! We’re always told that white people won’t see movies that don’t have a white lead and men won’t see movies that star women, and I think this movie will prove those people wrong.
Also, Lee Daniels is an out gay man. It would have been fabulous to have a woman-oriented movie directed by a woman, but he’s still not exactly the status quo!