Precious Just The Way You Are

Film <Precious>

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“Shocking!”

This is the first word that popped out in my head when watching a movie <Precious>(2009). This film is about a black 16-years-old girl, called ‘Precious’. Everything around her was not friendly. She is a mother of two children after raped by her own father. She is overweight, illiterate, and abused. The worst character is Precious’s mother, Mary. She was sticking herself into a couch and watching TV all day without any effort to find a job. The government’s subsidies were the only income. Meanwhile, Precious had been going through Mary’s constant abuse and gaslighting such as not letting her go to school and making her do all chores. The pathetic part was that Mary blamed Precious for stealing her husband’s love from her.

The protagonist was forced to drop out of the school because of her second pregnancy. Fortunately, the principal introduced her to an alternative school, Each One Teach One. Precious met a teacher, Ms.Rain and other friends, underprivileged and illiterate as well. There, for the first time, she felt belonging to a community. With Ms.Rain’s devotion and support, Precious could read and write her own story. Quite frankly,  this film is not pleasant to watch. But there are many points to keep you thinking; the dark side of black people’s lives , the power of literacy, and the importance of self-love, etc. Everyone including Precious deserves respect from others, even from themselves. I strongly recommend this film especially to teachers, who could be another Ms. Rain.

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 Precious, you’re a mother of two children. I believe you’re strong enough to stand on your feet. The only way not to let the past mistakes erode you is not to regret the past. Let bygones be bygones. Now you know how to read and write, above all, you can discern what’s wrong about your mother. With my conviction, your mother does not love you. It could not be love. It’s abuse. She manipulates you and blocks every single possibility for you to be yourself. You are different from your mother. I will always root for you!