The protagonist in the movie Precious manifested many of the major issues that
adolescents go through. For one, she had low self-esteem. In her words, Precious described herself as an “ugly black grease, need to be wiped away” (Daniels, 2009). On her first day in Ms. Rain’s class, she didn’t think that she was good at anything when her teacher at her previous school knew very well that she was very good in math.
It could be assumed that her low self-esteem was caused by the way her mother
treated her. Her mother constantly beat her, treated her like a slave, and forced her to eat. Her mother said demeaning words to her and belittled her. As Precious surmised, “Momma said I can't dance. Plus, she said who wants to see my big ass dancing, anyhow?” (Daniels, 2009). These effects coincided with the findings of Briere & Rickards (2007), which indicated that emotional and sexual maltreatments – especially when it involved emotional abuse from the mother – led to the development of disturbed self-capacities.
Precious was also being raped by her father to the point that she just accepted it and no longer questioned it. She even tried to hide it from Mrs. Weiss, the social worker. In a way, she had become sexually dysfunctional (Survivors of Incest Anonymous, 2007), which was one of the common effects of being a victim of sexual abuse. As well, Precious could be considered as possibly suffering from some form of anxiety or depression in that she hardly smiled. She always seemed to be sulking and frowning and didn’t associate much with other kids. For example, she would always be seated at the back of the class and hardly interacted with her classmates. This, too, were among the effects of child maltreatment (Briere & Conte, 1991). On the other hand, she also had the tendency to become aggressive in that she would suddenly hit people who irritated her.
As Laser, Nicotera & Jenson (2010) indicated, the developmental risk factors for adolescents included a history of physical abuse, low socio-economic status, a difficult temperament, and a history of sexual abuse, all of which existed for Precious. Moreover, they asserted that the family microsystem risk factors for adolescents included parents not being emotionally present, personality differences with parents, lack of attached parental role, and severe marital/partner discord (Laser et al., 2010). As well, Laser et al. (2010) claimed that the school microsystem risk factors included the difficulty in making or keeping friends, being bullied by peers, and social isolation. All of these, too, existed in Precious’ environment.
As a result, Precious almost had no relationship with the people around her. She had no friends and her mother obviously hated her and was just using her in order to get welfare money. Her father was also around only to abuse her sexually. Although her grandmother was a kind woman, Precious could not spend as much time with her grandmother as her grandmother was afraid of her mother. Also, although her teachers in her old school recognized that Precious was a good student, they had to kick her out for becoming pregnant. As well, even the kids on the street called her names and bullied her, mainly because of her appearance. She was mostly prejudged and discriminated against because of her appearance, particularly because of her obesity.
The events and turning points that brought about change in Precious started when she joined Miss Rain’s class. In this class, Miss Rain made Precious feel appreciated and valued just by being herself. Miss Rain did not judge her nor any of the other students. Miss Rain created an inclusive environment in her class, which made Precious get a sense of belonging, which she never experienced previously. She was able to form friendships with her classmates with whom she felt accepted. She also learned to develop her reading and writing skills for she knew that she wouldn’t be judged, reprimanded, and ridiculed for any mistakes she might make. For once, Precious had a support system, not only in Miss Rain and her classmates but also in Mrs. Weiss and even in the male nurse who helped her out when she gave birth to her second child.
Moreover, it helped that Precious was regularly writing in the journal, which Miss Rain read and responded to. It helped Precious to have someone to finally talk to about what she was going through, which somehow helped lift her burdens, especially when she used to not have anyone to share her problems with and was forced to carry her troubles on her own.
According to Laser et al. (2010), protective factors within the family and school microsystems provide support for adolescent functioning. However, since Precious did not have the family to provide that support, only her school (new school) was able to provide protective factors such as the sense of belonging at school, the enjoyment of school, the sense of being needed at school, school friendships, and social networking (Laser et al., 2010), which led to the good changes and the healing in Precious’ life.
Finally, the one-on-one session Precious had with her mother towards the end of the movie helped her realize that her problems with her mother and her father and the way they treated her were not her fault. This helped her find the strength to carry on and take care of herself and her children even without her mother.
When comparing Precious’ character at the beginning of the movie to the way she turned out in the end, it would be noticed that she had undergone major changes for the better. From the girl who had no confidence and faith in herself and who let her mother and father push her around and treat her however way they liked, she became a strong and confident girl who had the strength of will to stand her ground and not let others mistreat her. From the girl who didn’t think she was good at anything, she became a girl who was eager to learn, who believed that she had a bright future ahead of her, and who looked forward to the day when she could also teach her children. From the girl who never felt love and who had only negative conceptions about love, she became a girl who basked in the love and acceptance that her teachers and friends gave her and who vowed to give her children the love that she never felt from her parents.
References
Briere, J. & Conte, J. (1993). Self-reported amnesia for abuse in adults molested as children.
Journal of Traumatic Stress, 6 (1), 21-31.
Briere, J. & Rickards, S. (2007, June). Self-awareness, affect regulation, and relatedness:
Differential sequels of childhood versus adult victimization experiences. The Chicago
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195 (6), 497-503.
Daniels, L. (Director). (2009). Precious [Motion picture]. United States: Lionsgate.
Laser, J. A., Nicotera, N. & Jenson, J. M. (2010). Working with adolescents: A guide for
practitioners. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Survivors of Incest Anonymous. (2007). The effects of child sexual abuse on the adult
survivor. Retrieved from http://www.siawso.org/Default.aspx?pageId=5143.
