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Movie review-precious _A Review of Precious_ Analyzing Crises, Trauma, and the Path to Recovery

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The review focuses on the traumatic life of the main character, Precious (Gabourey Sidibe), highlighting: Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse: Precious is a victim of severe domestic violence and sexual abuse at the hands of her mother, Mary (Mo’Nique), and her father. The father's repeated rape has resulted in two pregnancies by age 16. Her mother, who is actively harsh and abusive, pushes her frustrations onto Precious. Neglect and Exploitation: Mary, who relies on welfare funds, forces Precious to stay in welfare school to secure the money. Precious is also burdened with all the house chores while her mother remains home all day. This highlights neglect and exploitation within the family unit. Trauma and Coping: The cumulative trauma leads Precious to develop unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as bottling up her experiences and using substances (implied or directly mentioned as an unhealthy relief strategy). The review notes that Precious feels conditioned not to speak about the abuse. Personal Response and Recommendations The final section shifts to a personal reflection on how the author would handle such a situation, suggesting healthy steps to manage the crisis: Avoidance of Drugs: Avoiding substance use as a coping mechanism, noting that drugs provide a false and short-lived relief. Confrontation and Communication: Seeking to confront the situation and talking to trusted figures like the school principal, counselor, or social worker, describing talking as "cathartic" and healing. Seeking Asylum: Seeking help from welfare communities, domestic violence shelters, or other resources to escape the abusive home environment.

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Movie Review-Precious




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Movie Review-Precious

Crises types and effects

The movie Precious is a black-American drama produced by Lee Daniels in 2009. It
features various crises types, mainly through the main characters Gabourey Sidibe (as
Precious) and her mother Mo’Nique (as Mary). One of the crises visible in this movie is
domestic violence. Throughout the movie, Precious is posted a victim of domestic violence
mainly manifested by her parents. Her mother, Mary who is actively harsh towards her. She
pushes her frustrations to her daughter, painting her as the reason for all her troubles. For
instance, at 6:30-6:40, Mary throws an object hitting Precious at the back of her head too
insensitive of her feelings. On passing out, she pours cold water on her to wake her (6:48). At
only 16, Precious is already pregnant with her father’s second child. Her father has severally
raped her, and turned her to her sexual toy. The whole experience is traumatizing, mainly
because it’s done at home, by her parents who should protect and create her safe haven (6:48-
7 13:00-14). She’s conditioned not to speak about it, and believes her mom would kill her for
it. She takes all house chores, despite her mother being remaining at home the whole day.
They squarely rely on the welfare fund and pushes her daughter to stay in the welfare school
to secure her the welfare money. Consequently, other forms of crises (poverty, food shortage
sets in (22.50-23.03; 38:00-39).

Illiteracy, rejection and esteem issues are also other forms of crises. Precious cannot
read even simple words as “At” or “Day” (37:30). Being black, overweight and victims of
insults and physical abuse all steal her self-esteem. She’s bullied at school and teased around
the neighborhood by boys because of her figure (3:00; 20:35-20:40). She feels down and says
“Sometimes I wish I was dead” (19:43) and “No one ever held my hand like that before”
(52:00) signifying the rejection load she endures. Home, which should be her safe haven is
the worst of tormentors. She also has her first child with downs syndrome, and her second
infected with HIV, which adds to her load of crises. She’s wishes she was white/fair, slim,
beautiful and lovable (22:00), which signifies her low esteem.

As seen above the effects of these crises are adverse. For instance, sexual abuse lead to
early pregnancy, which subjects Precious to teen parenthood. This denies her normal
childhood and teenage experiences, such as having a boyfriend etc. It also negatively affects
her education. She does not concentrate in class, affected by loss of self-worth (conditioned
to believe she’s a dummy and a bitch) and now twice out of school for pregnancy issues. The

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November 19, 2025
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