Precious Jones Essay

Søren Kolstrup argues that a film title is a paratext and has a very distinctive function – to identify the film. The title is important so that we can talk about the film, promote it, analyze it and research it – in other words, the titles makes the component a whole. At times, a title can guide us to interpret a film, to stress a specific point of view or to give us a resume. A title, be it one word or a phrase, can give us an idea of the content or a connotation to a part of the film by provoking us to know more about the content.

Gardens of the Night is a very suggestive title because it might be referring to the flourishing and heavenly Garden of Eden during Leslie’s childhood which abruptly turns into a dark nightmare. The latter, a

In the film Precious, Claireece Precious Jones is also continuously daydreaming of moments in her life when she can be glamorous and popular, away from the misery she has been living in all her life. The title, Precious, is not only the main protagonist’s name but it might also referring to the way her teacher and the other friends from the alternative school class were treating her – in a precious manner – vis-à-vis the continuous abuse and neglect by her mother and father. This one-word title is imposing, direct and pregnant with meaning. Yelling to the Sky is another suggestive title, and it might be referring to the way Sweetness O’Hara is dealing with anger and rage – it feels as if yelling to the sky is the only option left for her after transitioning from being the victim to being the bully and realizing that she does not fit in this role. The idea of opting the verb yelling and not talking or praying also relates to this anger. The sky element could be a rebellious metaphor towards religion and towards how life can be so unfair to children facing such situations. Beasts of the Southern Wild might be referring to the community living in Bathtub, segregated from the rest of the world – not only they might be referred to as beasts because