Precious

Imagine growing up in a living hell of abuse and victimization. Raped repeatedly by your father, resulting in two incestuous children. Verbally abused and physically assaulted by your mother, practically 24/7.

You live in poverty, an African American on welfare in Harlem in the 1980s. Because of the violence and neglect in your home, you are practically illiterate, and are also morbidly obese. When you find out you’re pregnant for a second time by your father, there are times you wish you were dead.

But somehow, deep within you, there is a deep capacity for survival and perseverance. You find a caring mentor, who helps you begin to build a new life, beyond abuse and degradation.

This is the story told in “Precious,” a film based on the novel “Push.”



I saw the film yesterday and was very much moved.