Turning Around Precious: The Inspiring Tale of an Abused Teen Essay Example

Precious is a film that is emotionally poignant, and is about Claireece ‘Precious’ Jones, an abused and degraded teenage African-American girl. Her life is turned around because of the concern and intervention of a passionate and inspiring teacher. Precious is 16 years old and lives in Harlem. She has not learned to write and read despite her being in the third grade. Due to this, her peer ridicule her and see her as a fat pig and a loser, when they make pig snort sounds as she passes by. After being abused by her father, Precious delivers a mongoloid daughter that her grandmother helps to look after. Soon after, precious discovers that she is pregnant and the school principal insists that she is expelled.

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Even though Precious is not literate enough, her scores in arithmetic are exceptionally good, and she is enrolled in Each One Teach One as an alternative school. Blu Rain, a teacher who has a soft spot for troubled young women takes Precious under her wings to prepare her for GEDs. Blu Rain is a charismatic and beautiful mentor who is an inspiration to her students, especially precious. She advises her seemingly troubled young girls to share their stories with each other and express their feelings and emotions in journals. This psychological technique is very instrumental in helping the girls face their troubles head-on.

In essence, precious is a survivor. She has constantly been verbally abused by her mother, who is an angry and lazy woman who blames Precious for stealing her husband's sexual passion and attention, forces her to eat more so that she becomes heavier, denigrates her mental ability and behavior, and treats her like a slave. She is also physically abused by her so-called father, who impregnates her. Precious uses her wild imagination to ward off feelings of emptiness and depression in her life by escaping into a fantasy world. In her imagination, Precious is anything she wants to be.

The movie is emotional and deeply spiritual. It displays how compassionate, kind, and loving people can be agents of change in the lives of other people. Blu Rain supports socially maladjusted and emotionally damaged girls in her society. To Precious, she becomes a surrogate mother who above all, nurtures her soul with love and believes in her in ways that her real mother never did. Some of the other people that surprise Precious by their compassion and kindness are Ms. Weiss, a welfare worker, and Nurse John. Precious depicts the transformation of a young woman, thanks to care and concern by those who accept her for who she is, see beyond her assumed inabilities, take her into their hearts, and helps her escape a damaged life.

Conclusion

Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, Precious is a film about a withdrawn, depressed, ignorant and poor young girl who is pushed by those who care for her to face her problems despite her circumstances. Precious is pushed to want to be more than the empty shell of a human being that she is. At first, Precious could not imagine a life outside her fantasies. An epitome of a hidden existence, Precious never smiles and rarely talks. She experiences stinging flashbacks of abuse from her mother, a scalding pit of bitterness, and her drug-addict father who is responsible for both her pregnancies. The film’s director tries to invoke the perception that Mary and Precious are living out patterns of exploitation, which could be traced to previous generations. Characters of this film are pushed by situations and circumstances things that they could never imagine. For example, Ms. Weiss, the welfare worker is professionally detached from her cases, but breaks down in the case of Precious and decides to care for her and assist her. The film is a moving and potent experience, with a deep pathology that may linger in many real-world inner-city households. It is a film about the re-birth of a soul, from the ashes of a dysfunctional society.