Writer Says “Precious” Is As Damaging As “Birth Of A Nation”
Writer, Armond White had some very harsh things to say about the movie, “Precious” in an article in the New York Press. He blames Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry.
SHAME ON TYLER PERRY and Oprah Winfrey for signing on as air-quote executive producers of Precious.
Perry and Winfrey naively treat Precious’ exhibition of ghetto tragedy and female disempowerment as if it were raw truth. It helps contrast and highlight their achievements as black American paradigms—self-respect be damned.
He goes on to compare the movie to the “Birth Of A Nation,” the 1915 movie which portrayed Africans Americans as evil and stupid and the KKK as heroes.
Not since The Birth of a Nation has a mainstream movie demeaned the idea of black American life as much as Precious. Full of brazenly racist clichés (Precious steals and eats an entire bucket of fried chicken), it is a sociological horror show. Offering racist hysteria masquerading as social sensitivity, it’s been acclaimed on the international festival circuit that usually disdains movies about black Americans as somehow inartistic and unworthy.
Birth of a Nation glorified the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as a panicky subculture’s solution to social change. Precious hyperbolizes the class misery of our nation’s left-behinds—not the post- Rapture reprobates of Christianity’s last-days theories, but the Obama-era unreachables—including Precious’ Benetton-esque assortment of remedial school classmates. One explanation is that Precious permits a cultural version of that 1960s political controversy “benign neglect”—its agreed-upon selection of the most pathetic racial images and social catastrophes helps to normalize the circumstances of poverty and abandon that will never change or be resolved.You can think: Precious is just how those people are (although Cops and the Jerry Springer and Maury Povich shows offer enough evidence that white folks live low, too).
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johnng20092-9-2010 4:41 pm
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sweetdish_4162-9-2010 10:48 am
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Aquirednubian2-9-2010 8:31 am
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davettalashley11-26-2009 1:31 am
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al-kanemi11-25-2009 8:39 pm
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iiRockMySocks11-25-2009 8:33 pm
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ace4022011-24-2009 10:36 am
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ace4022011-24-2009 10:32 am
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MR_NANASTROKER11-23-2009 4:41 pm
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rochelle121011-23-2009 3:48 pm
« Previous 1 ... 3 4 5well till mrw i will never believe any body born of woman can look down on any one cus u will never take part in anywork of creation done by creator and no matter ur color or ur scholastical attentment nor ur financial statues its make no diffrencs. an am still wondering whether in heaven black and yellow ar nt going to stay together. pls people of God lets look up cus the great judge will judge every one accordingly irrespective of ur color or wht everever u can think of. i love u black,brown, color yelow and white.thanks naija 4 life
The only damage being done is this author. It was certainly written from ignorance, how can someone’s life be damaging and compared to the kkk. How is this TRUE story harmful to the black community? We need to realize that in order to make this better, we need to face our reality, change can only come when we do so. We need to look at the positivity of this girl’s struggles and how she over came it. It sad to say that her own community wasn’t reaching out and helping her. At times it’s a stranger who will treat you better than your own relatives. Notice I did not say family, a family is what you build from love and understanding no matter if it’s a relative, friend or stranger.
What worries me about this article, are the people that are going to read this article without ever seeing the movie or reading the book and they are going to form an opinion based upon these faulty words. I have read the book as well as seeing the movie, and it made me realize that it is time for us to start taking accountability in our community. I totally disagree with the author, she was not saved by white people, she was victimized by her own community and brought from the bowls of hell by her community. That was a major point of the movie. The problem lies in the fact that whenever we are told the truth about what is going on around us, there is a finger that is pointed across the racial lines but we don’t take the time to realize that three fingers are pointed back at us. Another issue I want to bring to the table is that “every woman” no matter how big or small the incident may have been has been a victim of inappropiate sexual contact whether it was a remark or a touch. As a community the criticism needs to stop and action needs to be taken
well here we go again playing the race card this movie was not about race it was about abuse which has been happening for hundreds of years and here we are still sticking our head in the ground .this is not a race problem but a people problem .Wake up and pay attenton to our daughters and sons
WRONG. It’s time for BLACK PEOPLE to stop letting other people define them. NOBODY tells me who I am. NOBODY tells me what to think or what to feel.
It’s a movie about ONE BLACK WOMAN, not ALL black women, so all this jibba-jabba is completely unnecessary and tiresome. Moving right along…
not worthy for oscar…
I watched the movie Precious last night, and no it was not damaging. yall feel that just because they were black that other races dont go through the same thing. ugh just shut up and let “our” people make their money.
I have to agree with Shelby and Dr beat it up (not liking that screen name, though lol)
Blacks should be fed up with constantly being portrayed as low lives who love fried chicken (and drugs) who sleep with their relatives. When are we going to see more positive images in the media. But how soon I forgot that the media is racist, homophobic, and sexist….mainly because the people have allowed it to be that way.
slit_lcka005 …..have you seen Daddy’s Little Girls???
Is it just me or has America become an overly sensitive nation of complainers about the slightest thing. I’m sure the movie Precious wasn’t meant to suggest this is every American American. However you must realize it is someone’s work of art that is expression that person’s feelings. Get some balls America and suck it up!!!
If you value your HEALTH and your Childrens health you need 2 spare 1 hour of your time 2 view something I found very disturbing 2 say the least and it may come in2 fruition on December 31, 2009
Google
CODEX ALEMETARIUS
also visit this website…….healthfreedomUSA.org
I believe they have always been contaminating foods
F*ck The Movie
Read the Book:”Push”
If u seen the movie w/o reading the book than u wasted money because of the obvious: the whole book is never included in the movie.
I think what a lot of you are not seeing or wanting to acknowledge is Precious is real. Precious is as real as real can be. We do not want to even imagine that someone can live a life like this. but they do. What I am hoping is that other women or young ladies who may have been molested come forth and get healing because if they don’t they will continue the vicious cycle. Did I hate her mother, yes, but as you can see from the movie, she was a victim too. In her own twisted mind, she wanted to know why she was not enough to keep him from wanting her daughter. Are they mothers that speak to their children like this, Yes and I have witnessed it from a far and I was totatlly speechless. Everyone does not live in our bubble. Some children are living like Precious. But in the end, she survived it and was beginning to find some peace in her life.