Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Precious: Gritty Candor or 'Poverty Porn'?

Harlem drama brutally honest, some say manipulative

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 6, 2009 8:52 AM CST
Email

(Newser) – Precious packs a strong emotional punch with its story of an abused, illiterate teen in '80s Harlem, but where some critics see candid greatness, others see "poverty porn."

  • Precious is "a great American film," writes Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times, that finds a believable way to move from "a landscape of despair" to an inspiring ending. Star Gabourey Sidibe makes a fantastic debut and "three other actresses perform so powerfully in the film that Academy voters will be hard-pressed to choose among them."

  • What director Lee Daniels at times "lacks as a craftsman," Scott Foundas writes in the Village Voice, "he makes up for in his willingness to put the lives of abused and defeated black women on the screen with brute-force candor and a lack of sentimentality."
  • But Dana Stevens, writing for Slate, finds that effort to "wring uplift' from a hard-knocks story manipulative. "Daniels' need to shove the reality of Precious' life in our faces, and wave it around till we acknowledge its awfulness, winds up robbing the audience (and, to some extent, the actors) of all agency." Further, in offering up their heroine's misery for the audience's delectation, he's created something uncomfortably close to poverty porn."

Mo'Nique is shown in a scene from Precious.
Mo'Nique is shown in a scene from "Precious."   (AP Photo/Lionsgate, Anne Marie Fox)
Gabourey Sidibe is shown in a scene from Precious.
Gabourey Sidibe is shown in a scene from "Precious."   (AP Photo/Lionsgate, Anne Marie Fox)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Trailer for "Precious: Based On the Novel Push By Sapphire."   (cinetorium)

View larger videos >>
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 8 comments
ErinORiordan
Nov 7, 2009 1:49 AM CST
I read PUSH in college, and if I remember correctly, Sapphire is a lesbian whose personal experiences shaped the exploitive view of heterosexual relationships portrayed in the book.
AllisonMW
Nov 6, 2009 11:06 AM CST
That's what I'm saying! Why not focus on a win??! But I think it's because when directors try (Oprah did work on "The Great Debaters", for example) to focus on something somewhat positive, it is not well-received by the black community for some reason. Like they prefer to see "train wrecks" with hopeless endings.
dawnarun
Nov 6, 2009 7:54 AM CST
Agreed. I wrote a 10 page paper back in college on how poorly mixed race characters are portrayed in media. Always cliche - portrayed as having some internal struggle between a civilized ethnicity (white) and less civilized ethnicity (something else).

 
movie review • Mariah Carey • drama • Gabourey Sidibe • Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire • Precious reviews

More Newser Stories

Next Role for Sidibe: Diet-Pill Peddler?

Stern Was Right: Sidibe Has No Future in Film

Stern Defends Slam: Gabby Going to Be Dead Soon

'Planet-Size' Gabby Sidibe Will Never Work Again: Howard Stern

To Keep Working, Gabby Sidibe Must Lose Weight
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne