Precious, a powerful tale beyond ethnicity 

Precious is a story that in its own uniqueness, results much more common than desirable. It illustrates the drama of an illiterate obese African-American teenage girl with a life marked by psychological and physical abuse by both her father and her mother.

The story brings to the table a list of multiple tribulations many times endured by those at the bottom of the social and economic ladder, in this case, a Harlem broken family where Claireece Precious Jones, is the center of the narrative.

Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, the film exposes the harmful ramifications of rape, incest, physical brutality and verbal abuse; and takes us in a journey through the crude reality faced by unsuspected Aids victims, and the desolation provoked by constant humiliation and the total absence of love and affection.

Debuting as Precious, Gabourey Sidibe delivers a superb performance, taking us in an emotional ride from despair to hope. Sidibe plays the role of a 16-year –old Harlem girl who can't read or write, at the time she is pregnant with her second child by her own father, and whose first one, a daughter with Down syndrome, is also the product of incest. With no social skills at all, Precious struggles to interact with class mates, teachers and social workers, with the ultimate goal of emancipation.

Her mother, Mary, -a resented, hateful woman played by Mo'Nique- is present on Precious life assuring to make it completely miserable through obsessive cruelty, mistreatment, neglect and exploitation: from making her daughter work the shores of the house while pregnant, to taking her welfare checks with no other occupation than watching TV and petting a cat.

Showing the many dark angles of human despicable behavior, the film shows us a Mary that falls in her own hell as she realizes her man has substituted her with her own daughter while she –in a mixture of ignorance and emotional disturbance- neglects to stop the abuse, hoping he’d go back to her.

Despite the moments of profound pain and misery, Precious creates a fantasy world where she escapes to while being sexually assaulted. In that sphere of happiness, sometimes she is blond, sometimes she is herself in diva clothes; she has a light skinned boyfriend, is seen walking down a red carpet and performing in a center stage.

The classroom becomes a great, warm place for Precious, as it provides her the opportunity to develop talents she didn’t know she possessed. Passed the challenge to articulate a sentence, through daily short essays and tales, Precious learns the importance and relief that comes with expressing human emotions and feelings, to the point that her first catharsis in life, happens right there, between those walls, in front of her teacher and her class mates.

The school scenes are also the comic accent needed to balance the profound deprivation of this thought provoking film by director Lee Daniels, which has already been in festivals, received awards, a standing ovation at Cannes, and has earned an early Oscar buzz.

This disturbing but uplifting drama, produced by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, also includes the amazing performances of Paula Patton, Mariah Carey and Sherri Shepherd. 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire,' has been released in limited theaters before expanding nationwide in the following weeks.

Although some scenes are not easy to watch, the story line of this powerful tale does move your heart, while it also educates and raises awareness about the daily drama faced by hundreds of families that survive within the prevailing social disparities, beyond ethnicity. It is as well, a reality check for those that for any reason have lost hope, mainly, because it reminds us that all individuals deserve a second chance, that we all need to be loved and accepted, that we all want to be ‘precious’ in our own world, in own mind in our own way.