Written by Michelle Arrington
With the anticipation of the movie Precious coming out, I forced myself to read the novel Push on which the movie is based. A friend/soror of mine, Talika, mentioned to me on several occasions that the book was really good and so I took a leap of faith, because truthfully I usually don't read novels like that, and read the book. I enjoyed it. It was a hard read because of the subject matter that it deals with - sexual abuse, incest, physical, emotional and mental abuse, poverty, illiteracy, etc. Although it is fiction and at times exaggerated, the stories told in the book are someone else's reality. After reading the book, I felt prepared to see the movie.
On 11/15/09, I went to the movies with a friend/soror, Alison Brock, and she too had read the book and we both went into the theatre with a mentality of seriousness based on the central theme of the book. What occurred in the movie theatre with the other patrons truly, truly disturbed both of us. From the beginning to the end of the movie, there was consistent laughter as if we were watching a comedy.
At first I was annoyed by how many people had not read the book and were shocked at the scenes and language. Now, I don't read every book that is made into a movie, so I'm not knocking people who don't either, but did you not read a preview, scan an article review, something to let you know what the movie was about? Secondly, several people thought that it was wise to bring children into the movie theatre. Lastly, the constant snickering, laughing out loud, and jokes about the physical and sexual abuse of the movie, deeply disturbed and saddened me. I do recall a few (literally meaning 3) light moments in the movie, in the classroom with the other students, so I had to do an assessment to make sure that I wasn't tripping.
There was laughter when Monique's character ran up the stairs to beat her child, and when the character was sexually pleasuring herself and then called her child to come in the room to finish her off. There was laughter & excitement when 2 children begin to fight. There was laughter when at the end Monique explained why she let the sexual abuse proceed and her thought on her child stealing her man. All of these scenes were extremely dark and disturbing to me. And these were grown people laughing.
And so it led me to believe a few things about the black community and our problems:
1. We need to seek MENTAL help for our issues and our constant silence on things that affect our lives, and that are destroying our people and our communities. It is okay to admit you have a problem and to seek professional help for that problem.
2. We need to understand that although prevalent in our community, sexual abuse, incest, physical violence - these things are not humorous or to be taken lightly. My God, where is our sense of decency and decorum. Why are we not disturbed by violence anymore? Since when did it become funny? While Precious was a movie, the young woman who was gang raped last month while 20 people stood around watching, was Reality. The mother who just got arrested this week because she sold her 5 year old into prostitution, is Reality. WAKE UP people.
3. It is our lack of apathy and our refusal to discuss these issues that allows the immaturity on the seriousness of these issues to remain constant in our communities. Have we become so de-sensitized to violence and sexual abuse that now we find laughter because we are so uncomfortable with dealing with it?
These are just my 2 cents because I was truly disturbed by what I witnessed and heard. Hopefully, the same people laughing will garner the confidence to address the demons inside of them that allows them to think this movie and the subject matter was funny. Hopefully, it will inspire them to mentor a young person who needs help. I heard the star of the movie, Gabrielle Sibdeau, say this morning on an interview that she hopes this movie will serve as a psychological tool in our communities to help others discuss these issues and to start dealing with them.
Or maybe the audience I was watching it with, will just hope it wins an MTV Moon Man Award for best comedy.
-Keep Up!
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10 comments:
Okay...I definitely understand where you're coming from...
But then when you look at the film and how it's presented...its MONIQUE..I did find myself hearing certain lines...especially the ones she right before she ran up the stairs and thought to myself...SHE WOULD SAY THIS ON STAGE IN HER STAND UP...and silently thought it was kinda funny...because I heard her say it as MONIQUE the comedian...and then too...Precious...I don't know how they described her in the book...but she was sort of laughable...in a sense that they made her very APE like (appearance as well as the way she HIT people...she came down on people's head like an APE) The movie had a level of UNREALISTICNESS to it...it was laid on ENTIRELY too thick...and just the way it was told...the story wasn't fleshed out enough...themes were presented but were NEVER connected...it was just a lot of things HANGING HANGING HANGING...
I'm a mature...ACTIVE thinker and listener...so I didn't laugh like the others...however if I would have saw this at a point in my life when I was a more PASSIVE thinker...and I was unable to differentiate what was SUPPOSED to be serious from what could be mistaken as comedy...I would have DEFINITELY laughed throughout the movie......
I hear what you're saying and agree that it's ridiculous/horrible for people to have been laughing during those serious scenes, but I suspect it was an inappropriate reaction to being caught off guard and feeling really uncomfortable as opposed to people actually thinking it was funny. Sometimes when people are shocked and don't know what else to do, they laugh as a way of making themselves feel more comfortable in the situation. I'm not saying it's right, just that I wonder if for some of the viewers the laughter was less "this is actually funny" and more "this is so horrible that I can't handle it so I have to make light of it." I can't imagine people actually thinking that sort of thing is humorous. Or maybe that's just me wanting to believe society hasn't degraded quite that much.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents. (and the reason I will only watch serious movies in certain parts of town. The peanut gallery can be really unsettling at times)
@pcraighu: You made a good point at the end when you said you are now a more active thinker and listener...maybe that is where Michelle would like to see the rest of our race. If we can get more of us beng active thinkers and listeners, then maybe more people would understand what was going on not only in the movie, but in the world in general.
@Mossteph: I understand where you are coming from when you say sometimes people react differently when they are uncomfortable in a situation. I am guilty of doing just that. When things are serious, sometimes I smile...and I can't help it. But I never laugh. I think it is a difference between extreme laughter and smiling of embarrassment.
And our society is in a bad shape.
At the end of the day, this was just a movie...but I think that Michelle has a point when she says that maybe we don't take things that are going on in our community serious anymore. How could people stand around and watch that girl get ganged banged. And fighting in schools is a lunch time special now.
Overall, what I got most out of the reaction from the audience, is that there was a little bit of ignorance in the air...which is why we are the way we are as a people. We always create some type of excuse for why black people do the things they do...but if that had been another race, and a movie about their people on such a serious matter, I a confident their reaction would not have been the same.
We must wake up and wake our people up!
Just stumbled across your blog and before my comment I thought I should formerly say hello....sooo "Hey girl" **wavin' and cheesin' really hard** Okay now back to business.
I somewhat agree with pcraighu in the sense that the story was laying it on pretty thick. It didn't really allow the viewer to get deeply involved in the emotions of the characters. I didn't understand why they never again brought up the fact that she was molested by her mother as well as her father, especially in the end when her mother explains why she let the father abuse her.
However, I did not find one thing funny about that movie. There were people in the theater who attempted to laugh at certain moments and people glared at them so hard they shut up.
All and all I felt it was poorly written, and due to that, I think people just didn't attach enough emotion to the characters. I assume that is what leads to laughter, at least I hope so.
I've been a fan of the book since high school (a good 10 yrs ago). I was so happy and anxious to see the movie. I waited 5 hours just to see it!
I was disturbed and sickened as the audience laughed as well. I mean I was sick to my stomach...none of it was funny even the lighter scenes.
This post was so well-written.
Thanks you.
P.S Most of the people who were laughing were very young and it really concerns me.
The same thing happened when my friend Nicole and I saw the film in Georgetown, DC.
We both read the book before seeing it, so we expected a somewhat somber audience with a triumphant story at the end.
Not only did the audience treat the film like a comedy, but there was a group of teenagers who gave a running commentary on their predictions about what would happen.
I think the use of a comedienne, Monique, although she did an excellent job with the role, may have distracted some, along with the mature content of the film.
Some people just weren't ready .
Okay people....here it is. I'm gonna tell you what I thought while I was watching this movie. I'm a middle-aged white male and was actually worried that this movie might be too sad and depressing to watch. Instead it was like the black version of "Mommie Dearest". You're all probably too young to remember that one but that one WAS a true story. And it was hysterical! It wasn't supposed to be. Same here with "Precious" but I walked out of there wondering if it was meant to be funny. How can you not laugh when the mother has a cigarette hanging out of her mouth while she's holding the new baby and then just drops him? The mother made me laugh through the whole movie! It was like watching slapstick. You didn't laugh during the spanish movie scenes? "Eat you whore". haha I'll tell ya....this movie was hysterical....and I obviously am not the only one who felt that way. Bottom line is this movie was not well-made. If it was based on a sad book, why did so many laugh? Do you get my point? Don't blame us, the laughing audience, blame the ones who made it this way.
this movie was so real. and funny. and sad. just like life. it's useful to remember that even in our darkness days as people that we still must be able to laugh, to have some joy in the sorrow. just like this movie. just like life. at times i was laughing through the tears. like during the big fight scene between the mother and precious. it was heartbreaking, but funny. and if and when we experience these seemingly at odd emotions, what do we do? i think we realize that we are human and that's the way it is. life is bittersweet.
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