Sexual Abuse In The Film Precious

The 2009 film “Precious”, based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire, tells the tragic story of sixteen-year-old Claireece Precious Jones. She is overweight, illiterate and is now pregnant with her second child. Her life at home is a complete nightmare; her mother, Mary, verbally, emotionally and physically abuses her daily. Her father, Carl, molested her on multiple occasions and impregnated her twice then disappeared. Precious was kicked out of public school and took an offer to attend an alternative school where she meets her inspirational teacher Miss Blu Rain. Precious begins to believe in herself and prepare herself for her future. She becomes engaged in class and learns how to read and write; she was called stupid and dummy all her life and

The move Precious (based on the novel “Push” written by Sapphire), depicts the life of a 16 year old girl named Claireece “Precious” Jones. The story is set in Harlem, NY in 1987. Precious has suffered severe abuse throughout her life by both of her parents. She has seemed to have slipped through the cracks of the system from family, the school system, child services, as well as the community as a whole. Her only saving grace is her strong will and her ability to disassociate herself and seek comfort in her own imaginary world.

Mary had been interviewed to the point where she shut down and couldn’t answer anymore questions. She sat in silence when detectives would investigate her, unable to tell them what happened. Mary eventually fell guilty and started her journey to baby jail where she began a sentencing. The other juvenile delinquents and CO’s, or guards, of baby jail mistreated Mary because of the accusations people made. Mary’s back story consisted of murdering a baby and now that’s how people characterized and treated her, like a murderer.

From the time she was a little girl it all starts with her father, a man she should be able to trust, who is sexually abusive towards her. At a very young age she is primed

Next, briefly introduced is the relationship with her grandmother Tootsie. Not much is known about Tootsie other than she cares for Precious’s daughter Mongo who suffers with down syndrome. Looking at the way Tootsie reacts to Mary one can say she does not agree with how she is raising Claireece. (Magness et al, 2009) Unfortunately, her grandmother never reported any abuse or lying that Mary had been doing. Although she tries to inconspicuously let the social worker know there is no food, Tootsie never says anything. This single act could have changed Precious’s life often by not saying anything, we allow problems to continue to happen.

Claireece Precious Jones lives in an impoverished part of New York City with her mother, Mary and her daughter, Mongo. Mary stays in the apartment, smoking cigarettes and watching television while barking orders for Precious to tend to her needs. Their relationship is a deeply troubled one. It is evident that Precious has been physically, emotionally and sexually abused since she was a toddler. It appears that Mary may have experienced similar abuse and is simply repeating all that she has ever known. Mary seems incapable of defending her daughter from being repeatedly

Precious, a movie based on the book Push written by Sapphire, is an interesting movie directed by Lee Daniels. Precious can be easily analyzed using basic motivation and emotion theories in psychology. The movie is about Claireece "Precious" Jones and how she becomes a strong, independent woman after breaking through her curse of physical and sexual abuse which she has endured since she was three months old. At the beginning, Precious is physically and verbally abused by her mother. In addition, Precious was raped by her father multiple times and impregnated twice. After being kicked out of her school because she was pregnant, Precious willingly joins the Each One Teach One alternative school so she can improve her reading and writing

Not only does Mary cause both verbal and physical abuse to her daughter, but she also causes harm to Precious’ new born, specifically when she throws Abdul to the ground. Much of Mary’s discontent towards her daughter stems from Mary’s husband (who is also Precious’ father), Carl, the father of Precious’ two children. Carl sexually abused Precious and Mary is resentful towards her, once saying, “Uppity now cause he give her more childrens than he did me” (Fletcher, 2008). Precious does a good job of concealing her emotions from the abuse in front of her mother and others, often envisioning a happy place where she has a boyfriend and life is seemingly well. Precious does, however, slip when talking to a social worker, Ms. Weiss, and reveals to her being sexually abused.

Towards the end of the movie, Precious looks out the window and sees her dream guy. As her mom walks by, she chooses to walk away from the window. At this point, I believe that she is disengaging from the fantasy world that she had been trying to live in for so many years.

(Bowen, 2000.) Although not much insight is given into the awful relationship Mary had with her late husband, there’s is evident that she resents her daughter. Precious became the target of neglect and abuse due to the fact that, her father raped her and her mother instead of protecting her became jealous of her own daughter. Mary intentionally tries to impair her daughter Precious by constantly demoralizing her by telling her that she is ugly, fat and stupid. Mary is fixed on the idea of hurting her physically, emotionally and psychologically. Mary is a constant remind to Precious of how she will be nothing without her. As a result, she internalizes this tension and many aspects of her life suffers. Precious is performing poorly at school, her physical health is bad as she is overly obese and she is a loner in the sense that she makes no effort to befriend anyone. She is constantly worried about what her mother is going to do to her for the day or she is constantly on edge with her mother, not knowing what to

Although Mary did not always live with abusive families, the main focus in her book were the ones that treated her poorly. From roughly age twelve to her death in 1833, she was a subject to unfortunate treatment while living with the three families mentioned above, the Inghams, the D-s, and the Woods.

Mommie Dearest takes place in an elegant house over the course of Christina Crawford’s (Mara Hobel) life. She undergoes the continuous abuse by her mother Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway), who suffers from many personality disorders. As Christina grows up, things for her only get worse. Men come and go because they can’t put up with Joan for too long. At the beginning, Greg Savitt (Steve Forrest) played a big role in Joan’s acting career. Furthermore, he was able to get her many roles, until he leaves her. Joan’s biggest supporter Carol Ann (Rutanya Alda) also played a big role in her life as well as Christina’s. Christina grows up not only receiving verbal abuse, but physical abuse from her mother as well. Even through acting,

Mama Abusive mother of Precious Mary Johnston, “Mama”, is the mother of Precious. She is extremely overweight and hasn’t let the house in years. She is either abusing Precious, blaming her for her pregnancy, or turning a blind eye to her sexual

In Chapter 5 of the textbook, it states “child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/ or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development of dignity in the context of a responsibility, trust, or power” ( Pg. 130). The movie “Precious”, which is an adaptation of the novel “Push” by Sapphire, touches on every aspect of this definition of child abuse, and although this is a movie, unfortunately it is a reality for 6 million children in America. Any part of this movie at any given time can relate to any aspect of child abuse, but I have chosen specific parts for specific examples.

The film Precious directed by Lee Daniels is a solemn movie dealing with the unfortunate truths of everyday life for some individuals. The film staring Gabourey Sidibe who plays the main character Clarice “Precious” Jones along with co-stars Mariah Carey and Leni Kravitz is based in the Ghetto of Harlem in the year of 1987. Precious is a sixteen year-old illiterate morbidly obese teenager whom has grown up in the Ghetto of Harlem in a dysfunctional family. Her mother Mary verbally and physically abuses her and uses her as her personal servant while her father Carl also abuses her and has impregnated her twice. Early in the movie it is stated that Precious’s first child is named “Mongo” short for Mongoloid and suffers from