SPOILER ALERT

I know some of you reading this may have already seen the film Precious: Based On The Novel Push by Sapphire. There are so many articles to read about the film. Some are affirming ,  others filled with critique and anger. Yet, there is limited discussion of how audiences reacted to the film. I went to see the film last Wednesday, the film had already been out in NYC for 5 days. My homegirl Jen and I went together and caught the 5:45pm screening in Times Square. The theater was huge and 98% sold out! We sat in the 3rd row from the front of the screen. The majority of people in the audience were youth of Color.

***Trigger Warning***
The young couple that was seated next to me were troubling. I looked over at them about 15 minutes into the film and the young woman had allowed her male partner to insert his hand underneath her shirt and fondle her. This continued during the entire duration of the film. I wondered to myself: “does she not see the fact that her partner wants to touch her in a sexual way while watching a film about molestation bring up a red flag for her?”

I bring this encounter up because I wondered what messages she got about creating and building relationships to have her engage in such an activity. My homegirl Jen told me after the film that they had taken up 3 seats together prior to the film started and were engaging in heavy petting with the lights up. I’m not initially opposed to such activity, yet I do think that if that’s an activity you wish to engage in, as Jen said, try to sit in the back in a dark corner. Aside from that, their conversations were along the lines of “it’s so gross she doesn’t shave her armpits.” Now, it was not until after I started to write this did I take a step back and hold myself accountable for assuming she had provided consent to her partner to touch her in such a way.

I did not ask her if she was all right, needed help, or wanted someone to notice them for safety purposes. I assumed, just as the principal in the film did, that the young woman was at fault. I realized that I did go off of the social queues they were sending; yet my initial reaction was one of disbelief and blame of their activities. I am trying to unlearn what I was socialized to believe, and there is so much to unlearn. I have to admit that it saddens me that it took me several days of conversing about the film until I came to this space.

One thing the couple next to me did not share were the communal gasps that were heard at various times during the film.  There are about four scenes that immediately come to mind where the entire audience shared a gasp for fear of what was going to occur or the outcome. At the most violent scenes gasps occurred. I have to admit, to some extent; I was relieved this was the response of the audience. Part of me was anxious that the response to the violence in the film would be met with judgment or affirmation of the violence because in this country violence against women of Color of any age is normalized (see my review of Jennifer’s Body).

Yet, there was laughter at inappropriate times. At one point during the film Jen leaned over to me and asked “Why are people laughing?” and I responded: “They are uncomfortable.” The uncomfortable laughter was a hallmark characteristic among audience members. This laughter-as-a-way-to-cope with the images and narrative of violence and sexual abuse told me, as an educator, that youth are starving for real conversations about abuse. I’m not just talking the “good touch, bad touch” or the “dating violence” curriculums that are out there. I mean real conversations on a regular basis (not just on special occasions) about how violence affects each of us.  I also think a conversation from a sex-positive perspective is essential and must include a discussion of everyone’s sexual rights.

Now, one of the main critiques I have heard is about the cast that was selected and how colorism plays a role in the film as well. I found it fascinating that youth in the theater did not know the difference between Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, or Alicia Keys (who is not even in the film or on the soundtrack). Youth at the screening I attended thought Paula Patton was Alicia Keys. They did not say it once but multiple times. A friend of mine went to a screening in Harlem on opening night and said that when Paula Patton was on screen, audience members argued about whether it was Patton or Carey. This puts a new spin on those arguments of colorism in the film. There’s no mention of how youth of Color have conflated all of the lighter skinned characters with the White one and read them in the same way. Patton’s character was written as a dark skinned Black lesbian and Carey’s character a White woman. The youth in the audience confused their characters. What does this say about colorism among communities of Color? I think it says a lot.

Sidebar: I don’t think many of the youth in the audience even recognized Kimberly Russell  who plays Katherine, the partner of Blue Rain. When I saw her I was too happy to see her employed because I hadn’t really seen her since Head of the Class .

Now, one of the reasons I don’t identify as a “feminist” today, but rather a radical woman of Color, is because of how feminisms have excluded men, men of Color, working class men, men with disabilities, transgender men, and the list goes on. I value and find a gendered lens extremely useful, yet I wonder what the goal was for including Nurse Brown, performed by Lenny Kravitz, as a character? Kravitz’s character was completely made up for the film and does not exist in the book. What does it say that there was a desire/need/decision made that a light skinned man of Color had to be present in the story of a young Black women? What does this say about the coping and healing of young women of Color? How is her story of healing used to confirm some men of Color?

Aside from Precious’ son Abdul, the only other Black men in the film are those who harass Precious at school, on the streets of Harlem, and her father that rapes her. I do not include Jermaine in this lineup because my understanding is that Jermaine’s gender identity is female, sexual orientation is lesbian, and Jermaine’s gender expression is what our society would label stereotypically “masculine.” What does it mean that we can’t have a story of survival and healing among young women of Color without including men?

One aspect I really did not enjoy about the film is that it erased the stories of all the other young women Precious meets in her pre-GED class. We do not see the communal healing that takes place among all the young women of Color through the space they create with one another. Because of that there was laughing when the character Rhonda, performed by Chyna Layne, was introduced. Audience members laughed at her accent. I’m on the Danny Hoch  wagon when it comes to accents: “Accents aren’t funny, people are funny.” Don’t get me wrong, Rhonda did say some funny things, but prior to those humorous statements, laughs came from the audience as she introduces herself. We don’t really get to hear her story of surviving incest, or the stories of the other survivors. Instead there were anti-immigration comments directed towards Rhonda by Consuelo, performed by Angelic Zambrana. We never are told what Consuelo’s challenges are and we are given the impression that she is a sex worker but nothing beyond her choice in attire. In a way, I see this as the silencing of their testimonios, the silencing of the communal healing. And yes, I write that knowing that the film is called Precious for a reason; the focus is on her character. This was such a drastic difference from book to film for me it was tremendously distracting.

There is so much to deconstruct and evaluate.

These are just a handful of the things that came up for me as I witnessed the film. I know so much more will come up for me in the future. For now, this is what I’m working with. For those of you who also saw the film what were some of the audience reactions? What were some of yours?

Did you miss the interview author Sapphire did with Katie Couric? If so check it out below. At the 20 minute mark Sapphire discusses colorism and whiteness, cast selection, and representations of abuse.