Lee Daniels’ film Precious is dark, harrowing, and transformative, all those things it has been hyped up to be. It’s definitely worth people’s money, and a movie I will see again, not so much because it was extraordinary but because I must be cursed by the movie gods who made sure that when I saw Precious, the theater and my fellow moviegoers would be far more depressing than whatever tragedy was playing out on the screen.

 

I knew that Precious was only going to open in select cities over the weekend but I didn’t think that would mean the film would only be playing in five theaters in Los Angeles, the nearest theater more than 45 miles away from my home near Long Beach. Nor could I have imagined that the film would sell out damn near everywhere but at the most low budget theater in LA. I tried my hardest to avoid stepping foot in the Magic Johnson Theater but after driving to two theaters only to be told I would have to wait over three hours for the next showtime, I was desperate.

 

I knew I should have took my ass home when the lady at the ticket counter said there were 50 seats left for the next showtime. Fifty seats available, but sold out around the rest of the city? A sign. The last time I went to the Magic Johnson theater was to see Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Girl (blame it on Idris Elba). When I walked into the theater it was pitch black and the previews had yet to start. The seats and floor were filthy, tight, and anything but comfortable. That was over two years ago, and little has improved. I heard Magic doesn’t own the theater anymore, but I still want to send him an angry letter.

 

An aside here, any time I’ve seen a TP movie in the past I’m usually surrounded by people who talk back at the screen, clap whenever they approve of something, and sometimes entertain me more than the film. But most of the time I get annoyed by these antics because I’m one of those quacks who think dialogue should only occur in the film, not in the audience. However, after my experience this weekend I want to go back and thank every person who I once thought was annoying, because at least they never made me to want to shoot myself in a theater.

 

Without giving too much of the storyline away for those who haven’t read the novel, the subject matter is bleak. Precious is verbally and sexually abused; she is illiterate, still in middle school at the age of 16, pregnant with her second child by her father, and morbidly obese. Funny stuff right? No, but you would have thought so by the laughter that filled the theater during the entire movie.

 

Every time Precious’ mother, played by Mo’Nique, hit that girl, or called her a bitch, motherfucker, or motherfuckin’ fat bitch, the majority of the people around me laughed. I spent the entire movie wondering what could possibly be funny about a child being demoralized like Precious was. The laughter bothered me entirely too much. On top of that, there was a teenager* who thought it was appropriate to hold a photo shoot throughout the film. Baby girl snapped pictures of her self so much I wanted to call T-Mobil and tell them to kill themselves. Needless to say, as emotionally uncomfortable as I was, I was also physically uncomfortable because I felt trapped and unable to escape that dammed theater. I honestly can’t say if Precious was as bad as I thought it was because of my environment or because of what was onscreen, which means I have to see it again, somewhere else.

 

Stylistically, the film was amiss. Daniels had excellent material to work with but like other films that are based on novels, they often aren’t as great on screen as it is to those who are familiar with the original work. I recognize that some of Daniels’ technique may have been used to give the audience a break from the horrific material, but some scenes were unnecessary.

 

Every time Daniels introduced a gut wrenching scene, he must have believed we couldn’t handle it because he would cut to another distracting scene that didn’t fit.  At one point we see food being fried while Precious is getting raped by her father, and it doesn’t make sense. I was never able to be in the moment or feel as sad as I thought I was going to. I expected to feel like I did when I read the book back in high school – sick, tearful – but every time I got ready to cry, Daniels would reveal Precious’ daydreams, which did not occur in the book as they do in the film, and everything would suddenly turn bright. These daydreams were all bizarre, glitz and glam – the total opposite of the darkness prior to it. Some people will appreciate these breaks, but I didn’t.

 

The only thing that makes up for these missteps is the incredible acting. Gabourey Sidibe holds her own in her first role. And as it’s already been said, Mo’Nique is brilliant.  Ironically, the most riveting scene of the film didn’t take place as it does in the novel but I understand why Daniel’s included it because Mo’Nique is tremendously raw as she explains why she allowed the abuse in her home – it is all that stuff Oscar voters love.

 

If Precious deserves accolade for anything, it would have to be how it is bound to get people talking about various forms of abuse which are often tucked away, ridden with shame, in many families. Although fictitious, Precious’ story is layered with so much tragedy and honesty that I can’t help but imagine that people will think if she can tell her story, and survive it, so can they.

 

As I exited the theater, I could hear the annoying lady in front of me, whose seat hit my knees every time she cackled, tell the woman next to her that she too had been abused as a child. I left as she said that she was once beat with an extension cord.

 

* No one under the age of 18 should see this movie. I saw far too many young folk in the theater and no child is equipped to handle this material.

Tags: Lee Daniels, Magic Johnson Theater, Mo'Nique, Precious, Push