How to deal with a worst-case scenario.
There’s an old joke from a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip that had an indelible impression on me as a child. Calvin, this wildly imaginative but completely friendless little kid, is beat up cruelly and unnecessarily by the schoolyard bully, Moe. Walking away with fresh bruises and clothes torn, Calvin remarks, “I no longer care about being accepted. I’ll settle for being ignored.” This movie, directed by Lee Daniels (Monster’s Ball) and introducing Gabourney Sidibe in the title role as Clarice “Precious” Jones reminded me of that strip.
There’s an iconic image of the sixteen-year-old, twice pregnant (from her father), morbidly obese Precious that has been imprinted on my mind. There she is in the back of the classroom, never talking, never moving, and never showing emotion. The frown on her face is set in stone. It is a portrait of a person completely shut down. She no longer trusts people. That happens when your mother, played here by Mo’Nique, has a habit of throwing large objects at the back of your head and angrily declaring that she should have had an abortion.
Precious is based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire. The story follows in the vein of such movies as ‘Good Will Hunting’ and ‘The 40-Year Old Virgin’ in which a community of people kindly attempt to break down the psychological barriers of a person with a history of abuse, trauma, or simply humiliation. Here, a group of government workers (a teacher, social worker, and a special literacy program) push Precious out of her cocoon. Another movie that came out last year, The Blind Side, is perhaps the privatized suburban version of this story and a comparison of the two would probably be a good idea for an article on welfare policy.
What distinguishes Precious’ situation from all those other movies though is just how fubar her situation is. I mean Will Hunting at least was a genius and Steve Carell had a toy collection that was worth thousands. Precious can’t even read. She’s so far down in the hole that it made me stop and wonder just where would one begin. In one scene a nurse in the hospital has to explain to her what a fruit cup is. She remarks that she likes McDonalds more. Like the earthquake in Haiti, that's what she’s like. But don’t get me wrong. This movie isn’t a pity parade. In fact, Lee Daniels inserts as much jokes, inspiring characters, and fantasies as there are harrowing details. The casting itself is enough to see the movie. This a serious drama played perfectly by a group of comedians and pop stars. Among them are Mo’Nique (I’m pretty sure this is her first serious role), Lenny Kravitz, and Mariah Carey.
Watching Mo’Nique in this movie as this character completely stunned me. She transformed herself into one of the ugliest people, physically and mentally, I’ve seen in a movie. If anything else it is a very brave performance. It must take a lot of courage to self-deprecate one self so completely and convincingly. I hope she wins the Oscar just so she can go on the stage in front of everybody, look beautiful, tell jokes and remind people that she is nothing like this character.
Kravitz and Carey for their part are also unrecognizable. Kravitz is wearing a hairnet and Carey has absolutely no makeup. It would be distracting if they didn’t both have serious acting chops. Then again all Carey really had to do was react honestly to what Mo’Nique was doing. Looking appalled to the point of disbelief may very well have been an easy thing to do.
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