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The racialized image of the “welfare queen” is a cultural remnant from the 80s that persists to this day. And it is an image that Americans continue to buy into despite plenty of evidence that suggests otherwise. My problem with Mary’s character isn’t so much that she does so many horrible things—it’s that she’s portrayed as doing them without any reason whatsoever.
While nothing would excuse being silently complicit while your daughter’s father repeatedly sexually abuses her, I can’t for a moment believe that anyone would do so without a conscience, or without any context in their larger environment. While Daniels should be commended for a brave commentary on the near impossibility of overcoming extreme adversity, he should also be aware of the archaic racialized images that his film references. Thankfully, the performances are disarming and original enough that viewers can become engaged in the story for almost long enough to overlook those flaws. And by the end of the movie, Precious goes through a rebirth of sorts, one that takes her from the cruel existence of the solitary life she leads in her mother’s house to a world of independence and self-worth, surrounded by friends who become a loving, supportive surrogate family. Precious transforms from a woman who believes that she can only be beautiful by fantasizing about having blonde hair and fair skin, to one who, like any adolescent, is becoming comfortable in her own reality.
Juell Stewart is a writer and activist in Brooklyn, New York.
