The relationship between Precious and Mary is an insecure attachment. Throughout the film precious does not seek comfort or help from her mother. Mary fails to have a secure attachment to Precious by not providing a secure base or safe haven. Precious is not easily soothed when distressed, and instead begins to take herself to a fantasy world. Precious after periods of distress in the film just walked away from her mother. In the scene where Precious had yelled at the woman to leave and that she wasn’t interested in an alternative school she tried to tell her mom she didn’t say anything. After walking away from her mom, Mary called her back and ended up chasing Precious upstairs. During the film Precious tends to her own needs and avoids unnecessary interactions with the mother. When Precious acts out at her mother it is after Mary has already verbally abused Precious. To describe the relationship further I would note that it is an Avoidant Insecure Attachment. Precious seeks out the alternative school on her own after a worker visits the apartment trying to speak about it. An influence on the insecure attachment between Precious and Mary could be the potential presence of parental depression. Mary may be depressed and tends to be more intrusive, angry and negative. In the film Precious does not tell Mary why she was kicked out of school, and does not talk about any sincere feelings with Mary before giving birth to Abdul. There was a scene after the birth of Abdul that Precious stood up to her mom and yelled back that she did not steal her man, that her man raped her. This seems to be the first time that Precious directly says that she was raped by her father in front of Mary. Throughout the movie there were glimpses into th... ... middle of paper ... ...down, how her race and sex affect how she is looked at, or how the unconscious is acting through her in situations because of her past. The relationship with Precious and Mary has had a dramatic effect on Precious’ life. Precious’ self confidence, motivation, strength, and emotions have been affected by Mary’s behavior towards Precious. The way that Precious was raised and treated growing up have greatly affected her view on the world and relationships. Even throughout it all Precious was able to create a better attachment with her daughter and even formed an attachment with Ms. Blue at the alternative school. Works Cited Daniels, L., Magness, G., Siegel-Magness, S., Winfrey, O., Heller, T., & Perry, T. (Producers), & Daniels, L. (Director). (2009). Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire (Motion Picture). United States of America: Lions Gate Entertainment.
Precious and her family members are invisible to the larger world because they don’t posses any skill that enables them to make even the slightest difference in the world. The tests that Precious take show her lack of intelligence and only amplify her inferiority to the people around her. When you’re invisible, nobody treats you with respect; in the beginning of the book, everyone treats Precious like worthless trash. Though, later, she becomes visible again through the people she meets at the alternative school, and the birth of her second baby, Abdul.
The movie, Precious (Daniels, et al., 2009), named after its protagonist, tells a story of injustice, abuse, and ultimately resilience. Precious was sexually abused by her father, physically and emotionally abused by her mother, and suffered neglect by both parents (Daniels, et al, 2009). She had two children by her father, one of whom was diagnosed with Down Syndrome (Daniels, et al., 2009). She wasn’t encouraged to be successful in school, but Precious found a way to motivate herself despite this.
Janie who continually finds her being defined by other people rather than by herself never feels loved, either by her parents or by anybody else. Her mother abandoned her shortly after giving birth to her. All she had was her grandmother, Nanny, who protected and looked after her when she was a child. But that was it. She was even unaware that she is black until, at age six, she saw a photograph of herself. Her Nanny who was enslaved most of her lifetime only told her that a woman can only be happy when she marries someone who can provide wealth, property, and security to his wife. Nanny knew nothing about love since she never experienced it. She regarded that matter as unnecessary for her as well as for Janie. And for that reason, when Janie was about to enter her womanhood in searching for that love, Nanny forced her to marry Mr. Logan Killicks, a much older man that can offer Janie the protection and security, plus a sixty-acre potato farm. Although Janie in her heart never approves what her Nanny forced her to do, she did it anyway. She convinced herself that by the time she became Mrs. Killick, she would get that love, which turned out to be wrong.
Mary had very loving and caring parents whose names were Sam and Pasty McLeod. Her father, Sam, often worked on the farm that they owned. Her mother, Pasty delivered and picked white people’s laundry. Mary often got to come along and play with the mother’s daughter. Once, Mary got into a fight with a little white girl who said that Mary couldn’t read at that time in South Carolina, it was illegal to teach a black person. This made Mary mad, and she wanted to do something about it.
As she grew older, she continued to experience sexual, physical and verbal abuse from her mother and father. According to the DSM-5, Precious meets criteria for exposure due to the fact that she was directly experiencing the traumatic events. In my opinion, the most severe trauma Precious experienced was being raped by her father. In the film, we see moments of Precious remembering that traumatic experience but then transforming her thoughts elsewhere. The image becomes a positive moment, one in which she is famous and adored. My interpretation of these flashbacks is dissociative reactions and are not involuntarily reoccurring; it seems more as though she is in control of thinking back to her exposure. Precious struggles when she is asked about her what her home life is like. She tends to avoid the thought and proceeds to redirect the conversation; this demonstrates her efforts to avoid thoughts of her situation. Due to the nature of Precious’ abuse, her cognitions and mood were negatively effected. The fact that Precious was sexually abused by her father at a young age, in addition to her mother constantly putting her down and making her believe that she was at fault, Precious had it set in her mind that it was the truth. Her mother’s verbal abuse also diminished her participation in school resulting in her inability to read and write at age sixteen. The trauma she was exposed to
If a magnificent movie is judged by its ability to leave a message with you long after you’ve seen it, then the movie Precious is one of them. There are various reasons to see the movie Precious. Rarely does a movie upset and inspire you at the same time. It will leave you emotionally. It is a movie set in 1987 Harlem about overweight, uneducated, African American teenager who is a victim of incest. Among other things, it is a story of perseverance and survival. It also gives us a raw look at the connection between abuse and eating problems.
There are many biological needs a person has. These are usually things that drive species to do things in order to survive. Especially, since Precious is pregnant, she must have food, water, oxygen, sleep, and avoidance of pain. At one point in the movie, when Precious’ mother would not give her money to buy food, Precious goes into a restaurant, orders some chicken wings, and runs out without paying. Precious was very hunger and her biological need to have food and water drove her to do this. Precious was always psychically abused by her mother, Mary. However, after giving birth to her second child, she started to defend herself against her mother to avoid pain. These are just s...
Living in the ghetto of New York City: Harlem, the family relied on public assistance and welfare to survive. Precious endures physical, mental, and sexual abuse by both parents regularly. She lives with her mother, and her father allegedly has another family across town.
When you think of the word “poverty” or “poor” what comes to mind? Some think of hunger, minorities, dirty areas, women, and homeless people. What about when you hear the term “abuse”? For most people, abuse means physical; getting beat up or hit. Although abuse can mean getting beat up or hit, there is far more that follows. Abuse can take on many forms like physical, emotional or sexual. The film Precious by Lee Daniels, based on the novel Push by Sapphire, encounters not only the obvious sexual abuse but physical and emotional abuse as well. Precious starts off with Claireece Precious Jones, played by Gabourey Sidibe, at her school in Harlem. She is called to the office because the principal has found out she is pregnant…Again. Kicked out of school, Precious now tries to find an alternative when her principal tells her about “Each One Teach One”, an alternative school. Precious enrolls and goes through a journey with her new teacher, who becomes her closest friend, her newborn son, and her abusive mother. This drama film is brutal, hard-hitting, and very emotional.
In the movie “ Precious “ by Lee Daniels, Gabourey Sidibe plays a sixteen years old, illiterate and overweight girl name Precious, who lives in Harlem, New York. She lives with her mother Mary Jones, who was entropic and abusive to her. The abuse and oppression was so traumatic for Precious, she would often dissociate herself from the situation and pretend to be someone else. Losing track of time, her situation and herself was her coping mechanism; throughout the movie it appeared that she would have these dreaming episodes where she would be another person in a much better situation. Precious become pregnant twice from her biological father, who had abandoned the family and infected both she and her mother with the HIV virus. She suffered long-term physical, emotional, sexual, and verbal abuse from her from her parents; symptoms from her personal oppression were depressive and withdrawn attitude. Often she was very quiet and appeared unengaged and inattentive in class.
Furthermore, Mary’s father was abusive in the family home to both Mary and her mother. A lifelong criminal, who was known to commit violent armed robberies, was not a good influence for Mary. Billy was often out of work, depending on earnings form Betty to sustain the house. It must be noted that there is some question if Billy is actually Mary’s father, given Betty’s profession; chances are great that Billy was just another victimizer in Mary’s lif...
Rose Mary was able to get her family to live with her husband’s parents but the children’s security was now jeopardized. This is because Rose Mary fails to acknowledge the negative acts of sexual abuse committed against her daughter Jeanette by her husband’s brother Stanley. In the book it states, “Mom asked if I was okay. I shrugged and nodded. ‘Well, there you go,’ she said. She said that sexual assault was a crime of perception. ‘If you don’t think you’re hurt, then you aren’t,’ she said. ‘So many women make such a big deal out of these things. But your stronger than that.’ She went back to her crossword puzzle.”(Walls 184). In this unexpected share of dialogue, the collision between perspectives begins and tension builds between Jeanette and Rose Mary Walls. Not only does Rose Mary Walls disregards Jeanette’s feeling and trauma, she sets up her position on sexual abuse for any hypothetical future situations with her other children. The acts within these moments of the memoir demonstrate Rose Mary’s unreasonable and detrimental perception on sexual abuse and ultimately she provides no support for Jeanette and places a harmful neglect on Jeanette’s feelings.. As the narrative progresses, Rose Mary Walls decides to share more of what she believes and her perspective on
As previously stated, her father, Carl, sexually assaulted and raped her a copious amount of times and impregnated her not only once, but twice. The abuse began when she was only three years old and continued until she was fifteen; Precious was pregnant at twelve years old. Child rape occurs every two minutes in the United States and sadly one in three girls will be sexually molested before the age seventeen. Sexual abuse is an atrocious, disgusting and horrendous issue that happens every single day to an immense number of children. “Precious” acknowledges this topic and again, shows the negative effects it has on an individual. Although Precious was a victim of sexual abuse and incest; she wanted more for her and her children’s lives. A child who is the victim of prolonged sexual abuse usually develops low self-esteem, a feeling of worthlessness, an abnormal or distorted view of sex and has a higher risk of committing suicide. On the other hand, Precious did not let her destructive sexual abuse define who she is. “I cried the other day and I felt stupid, but f*ck that day. That’s why god made new days,” she says. Despite her rough past, she is strong enough to continue her life. The director and writer incorporated this issue to increase resilience in children subject to dysfunctional families and to sexual and physical abuse. In children who do not have to contend with those problems, the movie
...infrey, O., Heller, T. & Perry, T. (Producers), & Daniels, L. (Director). (2009). Precious [Motion Picture]. United States: Transmission.
Most people have experienced some form of violence in their family. Many of these dramatic events involve children becoming victims of abuse. In the movie “Precious” an African American sixteen year old female is tormented by her parents. Precious is the victim of several different form of abuse including: sexual, neglect, psychological, and physical. She is pregnant with her second child, both her children biological parent is her own father, who constantly rapes her. Precious’s mother is envious of her daughter because of the sexual relationship he has with his daughter. This creates conflict among them resulting in physical and psychological abuse. Precious escapes from realty by imaging herself as a glamourous star. With the help of her