PUSH, harder.
I didn’t like the book. I was underwhelmed by it even as an eighth grade student in 2002. I thought it a bootleg version of The Color Purple circa 1989. But as a young, African-American woman and independent filmmaker, I decided that the adaptation of Push by Lee Daniels was too important to miss.
So, on a rainy Saturday, I made my way to a movie theatre in North Philadelphia to watch Precious with the target demographic. They loved it. I did not. I cringed. I cried. I cursed. But even more I was offended. Oh how I was offended. Let me count the ways.
Offense #1
Light, bright or just plain white.
Everyone that aids Precious in her journey to literacy and success is white, light, or ethnically ambiguous. Everyone who harms Precious is dark skin. So, people of African descent can’t do anything of merit without the help of a white person? Yes, light skin people are Black too but these Black actors (Paula Patton, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz) all have a white parent. And let us not forget about the benevolent white principal who stands outside in the rain pleading with Precious to further her education and the compassionate white math teacher that travels from his comfortable home to do his part in the inner city. Even as Precious’ mom begins to better herself she also becomes lighter most likely through skin bleach. I take issue with a film that promises to uplift, demonizing people that look like me and praising the very people who created the society that we are meant to FAIL in. God bless the beautiful people who saw fit to love a fat, black illiterate like Precious. Nothing like some black pain and white sympathy to get Oscar buzz.
Offense #2
Mary, go round.
I’m a stickler for continuity and many of Mary’s actions seemed unwarranted. Who could see it coming? Her mother (Precious’ grandmother) seemed well adjusted, she was attractive in her younger days, and bordering on intelligent. Her responses (especially to Precious) to me seemed unprompted and existed only for shock value. I would have loved to have seen actual character development with Mary. Afterall, we see her everyday and everywhere- black, poor, single, female, mother, hopeless. In reality we do worse than hate Mary, we ignore her. So did Monique do Mary justice by making her an object of hatred and disgust? Or should we sympathize with the Mary(s) in our neighborhood? I’d go for the latter. However, the Oscar will go to…Monique, for her amazing performance as a woman with no redeeming qualities. I propose we add the “Mary” to the list of stereotypes in media. Mary: brutal, undersexed, infuriating Black mother.
Offense #3
Daydreaming, and I’m thinking of my light skin boyfriend
I love me some Lenny Kravitz but what was he doing in the film. Was he an effort to show that all Black men aren’t all lascivious rapists? Or was he a materialization of Precious’ dream guy? And why was he drunk at the party? Why was he in attendance at the party? Some many unanswered questions. Ladies, I need answers.
That’s my beef for now. Remember to watch with a critical eye and more importantly, remember just because Oprah backs it doesn’t mean it’s golden. Deuces!
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So what are ya’ll views on the new Sandra bullock movie …”The Blind Side”?…Thats a story that bothers me and I think its sends more of the wrong msgs to the masses than the characters in push.
Thank you Nikki for your input. Now my heart is even heavier. However, I am one who is taking action by raising my children to love and respect life. I’m reinforcing these innate abilities by being the example. No matter how much we talk, if we are not the examples that Our children see on a daily basis Our children will never listen, hence what we see in society today. This behavior started somewhere and it can subside. Of course every negative has a positive in all things but we can each do Our part in making our living conditions better by starting with Ourselves…
“Nothing like some black pain and white sympathy to get Oscar buzz.”
I completely agree with you. Well, except on the skin color of the “helpers.” I wasn’t bother by that. This movie was highly overrated in my opinion, largely due to the support from Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey which left many thinking this was a Tyler Perry/Oprah Winfrey production. Cue the deception. I went to see this movie expecting so much more. I had not read the book, so I had no expectations on the storyline. I had heard all of the oscar buzz though and was expecting to be thoroughly wowed. I left dissappointed. I hope Monique is not awarded with an Oscar for this performance. I hope she’s not even nominated. It’s insulting to bring up Oscar everytime a black actor “steps outside of the box.” It’s insulting to all of the other great black actors who have been working and honing their craft and delivering top-notch performances only to be ignored by the committee.
I say go see the movie, so you can judge by yourself, but do as Khari said and view it with a critical mindset.
I couldn’t have said this any better. Will Monique and Gabby get Oscar nominations? Yes. Monique did an outstanding job. Unfortunately she had to portray an abusive welfare mother in her first serious movie role just to show off her acting chops. All in all, the characters were good but the overall movie just let me down.
Great insight. I haven’t seen the film. And unfortunately,a few years back, had to put the book down during the first incestuous rape.
And “Nothing like some black pain and white sympathy to get Oscar buzz.” OUCH! But I have to agree.
Sometimes a story is well, just a story. I think it’s time we stopped requiring that every depiction of black America be one that lifts up the race. Sometimes reality is shown in the form of a fictionalized story, which opens the eyes of many and brings about compassion and understanding for not only the Precious’ of the world but anyone who may not be educated, who we might see out on the street and judge, not knowing what they might have gone through just to make it through the day.
I loved the book and I loved the movie because it is real. We should be angry at the booty poppin’ black women on tv, stupid shows like “For the Love of Ray J” which takes the lowest of our race and puts them on tv for entertainment, perpetuating the stereotypes.
Touche! We look so hard to relate every detail to ourselves. The light skin v. dark skin is a perfect example.. Lets embrace the social issues presented involving low income black families..
“Sometimes a story is well, just a story. I think it’s time we stopped requiring that every depiction of black America be one that lifts up the race.”
……Or even speak FOR the race.
Tonya, what a breath of fresh air your comment is amongst a fog of ignorance. Thank you.
thanks for this. one of the things that’s been annoying me is that every time someone criticizes this film it is met with, “THIS DOESN’T REPRESENT BLACK PEOPLE! IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE! EVERYONE SUFFERS ABUSE!” if that’s so, why aren’t there more white movies about abuse? or moreover, why don’t the white movies that focus on abuse get lauded as being “amazing”? why do the only time black people when oscars it’s because they play demeaning or demoralizing roles (hey, halle and denzel! i know y’all did what y’all had to do–no shade!)
i can’t stand lee daniels. he openly admitted to having “color issues” and he knew EXACTLY what he was doing when he cast that movie the way he did. why change a dark skin character to dreads (very clear description) to a biracial woman with straight hair? yes, it’s about talent, but how did anyone else have a chance when he wasn’t looking for them?
It’s like people are letting color get in the way of their enjoyment. We are black yes…we are proud but how about you set that aside and focus on the story of abuse here and how it is all too common in every community. The do have movies about white women getting abused in fact you see less of physical abuse (ie punching) against black women because they always cast us in the sassy roles…So say you dont like the colorism issue but that has nothing to do with the content of the movie. If an actor/tress makes you hate them (Monique) or love them (gabby) then they did a good job. I was going to see with because i read the book not because oprah told me to….also the Oscar thing..lets be honest these award shows base their awards on popularity opposed to talent…therefore I myself do not take them seriously Gabby and the rest of the cast dont need accolades to mark their success.
Touche! We look so hard to relate every detail to ourselves. The light skin v. dark skin is a perfect example.. Lets embrace the social issues presented involving low income black families..
no. maybe i could overlook the “ligt skin v. dark skin” (aka colorism) if lee daniels hadn’t readily admitted to having “color issues” or if a DARK SKIN character with DREADS hadn’t been changed to paula patton.
I read the book before I saw the movie. I felt it was very true to the book. The main complaint of the group of women I attended the movie was, “there was no ending”. Sitcoms and movies have us believing that a problem can be resolved in 30s mins. We should all know that’s not real life. I’m happy that the movie has opened a conversation on alot of issues within our community. Conversations that need to be had. We all may have loved or hated the movie. But at least….. we are talking about it
@anonygrl — Lee Daniels has color issues, and it appears you do too.
Word! @ Natua & Tonya lol. Colorism does go both ways…this is getting interesting!
@tonya: you’re derailing. it is telling that he might every person who was dark-skinned in the book someone light-skinned or biracial. MANY people have comment on this. it annoys me so much when i try to have a discussion with people about the problems black people have and their too busy trying to prove a point behind it. just because you think colorism and self-hate isn’t really doesn’t mean i do or that i’m going to ignore it. derailing a discussion and trying to shut someone up by accusing them of making something up/covering their own issues is a tactic for the small-minded.
“it is telling that he might every person who was dark-skinned in the book someone light-skinned or biracial.”
Have you considered that Paula Patton may have been the actress that was best able to embody Ms. Rain as a character despite skin color?
Thanks for the insightful review of this movie. The content is so gutter and filthy and the manifestation of it in the movie only further aggrandizes the putrid stereotypes created about our community. I feel that as a people we have come far enough intellectually, socially and emotionally to support projects that reveal the truth about who we are and where we are now without constantly highlighting the lower echelon of society. There is so much to explore in terms of genres and black life. Its just disappointing that Oprah is so passionate about backing these types of movies. There are far too many intelligent writers who are doing amazing things with their talents to be over shadowed by this type of nonsense. I would like to see her produce something by a talented contemporary black novelist has something positive, powerful and beautiful to say about black life.
I completely agree with Tonya! Why is it that people felt Mary was a horrible representation of Black women and the Black community? Why can’t the character just be horrible on her own without trying to associate it as some blanket representation of us?
Thank you, thank you, thank you Khari for this insightful critique of Precious! After hearing rave reviews from practically everyone that I know, I thought that I was the only one who wasn’t particularly jazzed about this movie. I felt that you made some really good points. Yes, it did seem interesting how all of the positive characters in the movie were light-skinned. Side note: I’m a little hesitant to believe that Mary used bleaching cream to lighten her skin towards the end of the movie…I thought that it was just some cheap face powder that was a tad too light :)
Khari,
You mentioned that you read the book as an 8th grader which may have changed your perception. I read the book when it came out in 1996. I saw and met Sapphire at the Boston Public Library and she has not deterred from her reasons from writing Push. What you fail to point out is that the writer clearly states that Precious is a composite of some of the students she had during her years as a teacher. The book (and the movie) are first person point of view. If you know anything about POV we are not going to get Mary’s story everything is the way Precious sees it.
The credit you don’t give is that Sapphire (unlike many writers) had been approached by Hollywood directors to make this book into a movie but she refused. She wrote a book that went emotionally to a place where very few go, to go into what that type of abuse can warp someone’s view of the world. Yes, there are people out there who do get abused they way Precious did and Sapphire wrote a story for them. Lee Daniels had to work really hard to get Sapphire to say yes. He has such respect for her that he included her in the title of the movie. As a writer, that RARELY happens.
Also, there are others who are dark-skinned that help Precious out-her classmates include her, for the first time she has friends. If you re-read the book we also get the stories of the classmates.
As a community we need to let go of the dark vs. light skin argument. It continually divides us. What the book and the movie reflect is that Precious is given hope by her own people. Name another movie that does that. Name another movie that has a black director, based on a book by a black writer(who got prime space in New York Times Book Review), has a mainly black cast, has the power to cast an own, PRODUCED (which means that someone put up the money for it to be distributed) by black people. Do you know how hard that is?
Funny, that black people complain no matter what. We rather go out and mindlessly support a comedy but when good art is presented we complain. Lee Daniels has open the gate for other black directors to make good movies.
I suggest you google Sapphire’s interview with Katie Couric.
Tori, I TOTALLY agree with you and thank you for really breaking down the behind the scenes details. I support this movie because it tells of the story of a girl that represents so many in our community. Though it may seem deplorable and offensive to some, it is the truth, and the truth should be told. The truth is that despite of your skin color, circumstances, parents, environment, etc, you can become a better person and turn tragedy into triumph. People will find reasons to dismiss the movie, but I think it is a project that not only respected the writer’s vision and intent, but successfully conveyed the message of hope and perserverance in a world that seems impossible. I think Lee Daniels did a wonderful job and took a risk, but that’s why I like him,. He’s not afraid to show the true colors of human beings; some black people just haven’t come to terms with their own identity yet and take it too personal…
I applaud everyone for their respective comments as this debate is healthy and necessary. The only thing that I would note to Khari as young woman is that “consciousness” as we refer to it in our community is not necessarily picking apart every single depiction of us as a people for political correctness or even a balanced view of who we are as a people. To be conscious is to be aware of who you are and to be unchanged in the face of things that you perceive to be unrealistic portrayals of you. However, you may also want to take in account that there is no mutually exclusive manner in which to be Black . Thus, it would be narrow minded and perhaps even elitist to dismiss this story as one with out merit simply because it does not coincide with your own life experience. It would also be reckless to expect black film makers and artists in general to only create art that we deemed appropriate – as artists they are provocateurs and as such it is there duty to elicit these very debates with their work. Moreover, mainstream society does not ask white filmmakers to compromise their artistic right to produce their vision, why I ask do we as a people continually do so to our artists?
Forgive me if this is redundant. I did not read Push. However, I am told its based on true story. If so, then there are multiple filters of mass American pyschosis through which this story makes its way to the big screen. We, the viewer are then left to do what the author has done here, name instances of egregious characterization, and at the same time dig through these to connect with the humans from whom the story emerges. Its the sort of thing we do when we go back to recover the beauty of early black cinema. It was full of shucking and jiving and at the same time it conveyed the turmoil, joy, and aspirations of African Americans living in a time of viciously explicit racism.
I loved the movie…yes I did cry but as everyone says…I need to read the book as well. I was so hurt that someone went through this. I sat in the cinemea before I left and thanked god for a strong grandma that was there for me and my brothers through thick and thin and I never had to go through something like that. So on today, be thankful and keep praying for others that are going through a struggle similar to this…heart ya!
Let me start by saying that I am a major fan of Clutch and I usually love what I read weekly on this site. However, I do not agree with most of the points made in this review. I know that we all are entitled to our own opinion, but I felt compelled to give my opinion as well. I am so tired of black people bringing up points like light skinned versus dark skinned. It’s amazing to me that something as silly as that jumped out to you while watching this film. That issue never came across my mind. What about all of Precious’s classmates who also helped her along the way? They were not light skinned. They gave her a sense of family and ultimately great friends to her which finally assisted her in gaining confidence and courage to keep moving forward with her schooling. What about the fact that a very dark skinned woman was shown being such a strong and determined young lady no matter what happened to her? You did not even mention that. The hero of the movie was Precious, no one else. Yes she had help along the way but ultimately she made it on her own; she wasn’t saved by the “angelic” light skinned people as you stated. I am sorry but that is straight foolishness and I am sick and tired of us constantly looking for petty stuff like that. It drives me crazy. The major point of the film was seeing a young black woman continuing to push forward through life despite all the obstacles that were in her way. She never, ever gave up and that’s what makes it an amazing story. Instead of addressing the BS that is light skinned vs. dark skinned, let’s really talk about the real issues. There are thousands of young black children who are experiencing the things that Precious addressed on a daily basis. That is the real problem in our society, not some old field Negro vs. house Negro stuff that is talked about in your review. Also, in regards to Mary Jones, how much time did you expect them to delve into her story? The movie was well over two hours anyway. It was clear to me why she was evil so there was no need to go any further with her story. Anyway, my major point is that we are black people are at times can be overly critical of ourselves and we just look for anything to be upset about. The thing that should have upset all of us is seeing the reality before our eyes which is the abuse that is going on in households across America.