Precious, a movie based on the book Push written by Sapphire, is an interesting movie directed by Lee Daniels. Precious can be easily analyzed using basic motivation and emotion theories in psychology. The movie is about Claireece "Precious" Jones and how she becomes a strong, independent woman after breaking through her curse of physical and sexual abuse which she has endured since she was three months old. At the beginning, Precious is physically and verbally abused by her mother. In addition, Precious was raped by her father multiple times and impregnated twice. After being kicked out of her school because she was pregnant, Precious willingly joins the Each One Teach One alternative school so she can improve her reading and writing skills while, eventually, taking care of her two children. After some guidance from her teacher, Ms. Blu Rain, Precious starts feeling safe and starts to love herself and others around her. A lot of the behaviors in the movie can be easily explained by biological needs, psycho-social needs, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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...
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.... Precious was finally proud of herself for doing well in school. In addition, her friends, her teacher, and her social worker were recognizing her efforts–these were some of her external esteem needs. Finally, at the very end of the movie, it is arguable that that she was self-actualized, even though this stage is never able to be satisfied because as one grows psychologically there are always new opportunities to continue to grow. However, for the time being, she was happy and free from her mother.
Precious is really an inspirational movie. It makes the viewer sympathize and empathize with Precious, the main character. Even though Precious’ story is not common, she is still like every other human being, in regards to her psychology. In my opinion, Precious was a great movie to analysis and connect to psychology, especially, emotional and motivational psychology.
“Excelsior! I’m gonna take all this negativity and use it as fuel and I’m gonna find a silver lining. That’s what I’m gonna do” (Russell, 2013). A silver lining is defined as having optimism or a positive outlook on a situation that might seem gloomy on the outside. Silver Linings Playbook is centered around Pat Solitono Jr, a middle-aged man who just spent eight months in a psychiatric hospital for beating the man whom his wife had an affair with. Pat leaves the hospital determined to accomplish his unrealistic goal of winning his wife back. His motto is “Excelsior” (Russell, 2013) and he uses this to fuel his actions. He believes every negative action can result in a positive action. He also believes he can rise up and be superior over his actions and others to win his wife back. Pat has Bipolar I disorder with manic episodes that can be seen played out in the movie. He himself states, “undiagnosed bipolar with mood swings and weird thinking brought on by stress” (Russell, 2013).
Precious was subject to injustice acts by her very own mother, Mary Lee Johnston, and father, Carl Kenwood Jones who is never seen in the film. She does not know how to live any other way that is not being subject to the cruelty committed by Johnston’s hatred towards her. This is seen in almost every scene that includes she abuses Precious by hurting her with any inanimate object in her way: vases, pans, bottles, etc. She devalues her every opportunity she has in order to keep her own daughter from succeeding since that is exactly how she sees Precious, unsuccessful and worthless.
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.
A psychodynamic theorist meeting with Precious would begin by assessing the strengths and challenges that she experiences through a series of interviews and discussions. Generally, this would include the client 's family, but in this case that would be inappropriate. The clinician would be sure to create a positive bond with the client, in a manner similar to that of person centered therapy. In fact, much of the intervention will be similar to, but more directive than, person centered theory. One method to assist Precious could be using Exploration/Description/Ventilation. The therapist will direct the client to an area of concern, and then help the client explore their thoughts and feelings around this area. This can help Precious to develop
Lee Daniel’s Precious is a movie centered around Precious Jones, a 16-year-old overweight black girl living in Harlem, New York. The movie begins when she is in public school pregnant with her second child by her father. Because Precious is pregnant, the principle recommends an alternative school for her. At home, Precious is a servant to her mother, Mary, who is physically, emotionally, verbally, and sexually abusing her. Mary constantly tells Precious that she is not good enough and that no one will ever want her. At times of distress, Precious tends to dissociate and fantasize about another life where she is a blonde white girl. She wants to be famous and loved by all. Precious arrives at the alternative school hardly knowing how to read or write. She gets placed in a class of girls with a dedicated teacher, Ms. Rain. Ms. Rain asks each student to write in a journal every day, and she will write back to their letters. This is the first time in the movie when Precious feels very
Precious is a 16-year-old African American who is morbidly obese. She suffered sexual abuse from her father, and physical and emotional abuse from her mother. As a result of the sexual abuse she incurred from her father, she contracted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). She has two children, a daughter and son, both conceived from her father. Likely a result of incest, her daughter has Down
Precious is, in every sense, a film that pushes this country to eschew self-congratulation and forces us to really take inventory of how we live and function as a society. The final moments in which Precious escapes from her wrecked home to begin her life on her own, is the best part of the entire film; the hope that is rebirth and new possibilities spring forth like a Phoenix from her ashes. Those Marco systems that failed her as a child will now be her primary sources of support as an adult.
First and foremost, Pearl is a poor victim of circumstance. It’s not Pearls fault that her she was created under one of her mother’s bad choices. It is obvious that
The first concept from the book that I immediately thought of after watching this movie was chapter 4, Behavior and Attitudes. The movie, as a whole, is all about behavior and attitude. Our main character, Rylie, is seen as a “happy girl” by her parents. But when Joy is shut out
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
In "Precious Knowledge" the students gained a lot of experience in leadership and protecting something they help built. The students learned how to come out of their comfort zone. They were exposed to working hard for something that you love. The only negative thing about the movie was how
...amily she finds the true meaning of being brave and saves her family (“Brave”). I like this kind of movie instead of a man being the brave and independent one now the woman is. These are the kind of fairy tales that need to be told so that women do not feel the need to be weak and dependent on other people. If fairy tales slowly become more realistic then I think they are a good thing but teaching women to not be strong or if their not a size 0 and gorgeous, well that in my eyes is not okay.
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
This film really focuses on the characters. Their thoughts, anger, distress, and mistakes become part of your mistakes. This deals with a father’s s priority and how he will achieve that priority by using unethical ways like torturing an innocent man. Bringing up child abduction and torture are
The movie Courageous discusses important issues we face in society today. This movie shows the importance of family, the danger of drugs, and the major importance of Christian values. Courageous causes me to consider how I treat others around me and how I can become a better Christian. I learned that living a life looking out only for myself and pursuing worldly pleasures not only consists of superficial and temporary happiness, but also consists of pain, suffering, emptiness and a longing for something more than what we have.