Centro Studi Pallai
A Look at Hollywood’s Relationship with Black Pain
I first heard about precious, the screen adaptation of author sapphire’s push, several months ago when overhearing a conversation between my mother and sister about the oscar buzz actress/comedienne mo’nique has received for her performance in the film.
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Since then, i (and every other african-american with a monitor and modem) have been inundated with myriad forms of precious propaganda. apparently, not only is precious a searing indictment on slavery, poverty, racism, education, america, politics, prison, the newspaper industry, kool-aid, the black woman in the popeye’s commercials, diddy, and diddy’s teeth, i actually am precious (who knew?)
Yet, despite its critical acclaim and the fact that the movie addresses a few of my favorite talking points, i replied “nah. not at all“ when a friend asked last week if i planned to see it.
Here’s why
1. Between ordering each season of the wire on netflix last winter so my girlfriend could catch up, brick city, cnn’s black in america 2, good hair, american violet, and Derrion Albert, i’ve already filled my yearly, “who cares if Harris is president. we (black people) are still f*cked.” viewing limit.
Because of this, watching any more black poverty p*rn this year will force me to dip into the yearly quota i’ve already set for 2025
2. The whole “white, or much lighter skinned people save undesirable darkies from themselves” movie motif became tired to me by the second half of dangerous minds. that was 14 years ago
Basically, i’m not going to spend my money to support Tyler Perry’s odd obsession with casting colorism, even if said colorism results in a lesbian Paula Patton.
3. Liberal white people seem to like it a bit too much
This, btw, is the same reason i can’t really mess with trader joes, american apparel, or lupe fiasco
4. “Poor black women abused” just isn’t entertaining to me
You know, a part of me feels like a hypocrite for watching (and enjoying) season 4 of the wire or a movie like Antwone Fisher, which both deal with many of the same issues (poverty, sexual abuse, neglect) turning me away from precious.
thing is, while that type of content is always tough to watch, it is, for lack of a better term, easier for me to view if the main party being abused isn’t a black woman. For whatever reason, black women getting abused on screen completely disintegrates the fourth wall and makes me feel like i’m watching a snuff film starring my nieces.
Anyway, that’s enough about me. Falks, how do you feel about the precious phenomenon?
have any of you seen or plan on seeing it? if not, why?
Also, do you think am i being too harsh with my assessment (especially since i haven’t seen it), and am i the only one who finds it harder to stomach a movie when black women are getting abused?