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The release of the movie Precious has gotten black folk atwitter. As my fellow Bloghers CE Nordette and Megan have written incredible and honest posts about the movie and Sapphire's book, what I wanted to focus on is what really interests me ( beside the book, which I loved but I'm still on the fence about seeing the movie, which hasn't hit Canada yet) which is the reaction from bloggers.
Part of me is glad to see so many black journalists commenting on the film and the preceding book. I wonder why some journalists have not - outside of being forced to by their bosses at whatever big mainstream publication they work for - really discuss the troubling depictions in the book. From Racialicious:
There are many things overlooked in critiques of Push/Precious, one of which is the frank discussion of incest. As many readers here and at Jezebel pointed out, many of the reviews kind of waltz over the continued sexual abuse by both father and mother. (Something else that is never mentioned is Precious’ horror that her body reacts when she is being raped – something that her father uses as a justification that she “likes” it.) And I wonder why this is being dismissed. Would it have been okay to discuss the incest if the narrator was different, the situation was different? Like this?
Why is the horrific abuse by both Precious's father AND mother glossed over in favor for a focus on the weight of the character and the actor, Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe? who mentions the color of her skin and her features instead of real-life problems that many people have faced?
I think it is because some people are embarrassed of depictions that show the dysfunctions within black populations. Dysfunctions are also present in other communities, but for us, when we see a character that embodies negative stereotypes about black women, stereotypes that are still prevalent in sour societies, we feel that this image on the big screen will enforce those thoughts, not help to erase them.
We worry about what white people will think. And while I can understand that sentiment, in this case people are reacting by 'blaming the messenger.'
Now I understand why non-blacks are hesitant to be too critical, as they know that us uppity black folk will quickly pull the race card on them. And as New York Post writer Armond White writes that seeing the film in a theatre full of white folks made him cringe:
A scene such as the hippopotamus-like teenager climbing a K-2 incline of tenement stairs to present her newborn, incest-bred baby to her unhinged virago matriarch, might have been met howls of skeptical laughter at Harlem’s Magic Johnson theater. Black audiences would surely have seen the comedy in this ludicrous, overloaded situation, whereas too many white film habitués casually enjoy it for the sense of superiority—and relief—it allows them to feel. Some people like being conned.
We, as human beings, are viewing this important, relevant story in three different ways. While I question White's motives, he has some valid points in the film. Here is the first one.
1. Director Lee Daniels is a pimp.
Daniels, like every other business person in the world, is clearly out to make a buck. In a perfect world, we would hope that someone who wants to handle the re-creation of Sapphire's book with some TLC. And from most accounts he stayed relatively close to the novel ( but after the savage butchering of Beloved, I am very cynical about adaptations). I commented on Nordette's post a couple of days ago about an interview I read in the New York Times about Daniels, and I said that it really rubbed me the wrong way. coupled with White's article, I am really having second doubts about his motivation:
"Gabby is comfortable in her body. She may be in a state of denial or on a higher plane than the rest of us, but either way, she breaks your heart in the movie.”
White's argument is that Daniels purposefully played into black stereotypes because that is what mainstream audiences feel comfortable with. They either want the 'feel-good' story where the downtrodden black is 'saved' by the whites (ala Sandra bullock's new move The Blindside) or movies in which they feel shows the 'real pathology' of blacks. Was he saying that this novel should have been adapted? I don't know.
2. The use of light-skinned, more commercially viable
