Is that correct Claireece?”
“ Are you pregnant again?”
“What happened Claireece?”
-Claireece looks at her blankly-
Claireece: “ I had sex Ms. Lichenstein.”
This happens once more when the social worker visits her house and Precious has the opportunity to expose her mother for who she is, but when she is asked if everything is okay, she tells them everything is fine, once again suppressing her feelings and displaying suitable emotion for the public.
In conclusion, the sociological concept of self and interaction is strongly tied to the movie ‘Precious’. The things endured by Precious really represent the hardships of many women who are in similar situations and feel like there is no escape. The journey Precious took from identifying herself in a negative image and having poor interactions with others to becoming
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a strong confident woman ready to take on the world, becoming a better person and becoming a great mother for her children, is very inspiring. It shows that even though your early socialization has a huge impact on your life, you can’t allow it to control the way you see yourself. It is a movie that can be studied and analyzed to see how someone can transform from having negative self-views and negative interactions to become positive in every aspect. It was particularly helpful to me because even though I did not go through the same struggles, I have had to overcome my own problems and find myself just like she did. The movie Precious, Based on the Novel "Push" by Ramona Lofton, is a movie that portrays the horrible life of the main character Claireece ‘Precious’ Jones, her family and her environment in Harlem, New York City. Essentially the movie focuses on Precious’ struggles within herself and the world she was brought into and ultimately her triumph over this. That is something many people can relate to which may be why it have been deemed the highest grossing picture to open in fewer than 100 theaters. The fact that Precious had so many problems with truly identifying herself and interacting with others showed how important socialization is and good example of explaining self and interaction. The ‘self’ is described as our real, personal and distinct identity that different and separate from everyone else. Through analysis of the film I have realized the connection and comprehension of the terms nature vs nurture, socialization and agents of socialization, Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self, Goffman’s Dramaturgy & Impression Management and feeling rules & emotion work. The movie, Precious, takes place in 1987 in Harlem, New York.
Claireece ‘Precious’ Jones is a sixteen year old African American, illiterate and obese girl who lives with her abusive mother, Mary, who is unemployed and neglectful. Claireece has gone through tremendous sexual abuse including being raped by her own biological father several times from she was only three years old that has resulted in her bearing one child and another on the way. This resulted in her having severe hatred for herself, her race and taking a toll on the socialization process of interacting with others, Her family completely survives off welfare and her mother comes up with all types of plans to get as much money as she can from the government because she is lazy and had selfish motives. Precious was no longer able to attend high school upon her second pregnancy so she was forced to enroll in an alternative school where she began to be lead by her inspirational new lesbian teacher, Miss Blu Rain. Precious often escapes her reality through daydreams wishing of fame, fortune and being loved. Eventually, she gets her life together and triumphs over all the tribulations in her
life. “Nature is all that a man brings into the world, nurture is every influence that affects him after his birth” – Francis Galton. Nature vs. nurture is a debate on whether the psychological attributes of a child was based on their genetics or based on how they were raised. I agree with the nurture side of the debate when it comes to Precious’ socialization. The way that she behaved was directly related to the behavior of her mother and the experience of being raped by her father. She was very uncomfortable with herself and lacked the skills necessary to make friends or have a relationship. Even though genetics may have had a part to play in the way she was, I believe the way she interacted with others was directly related to the way that she was raised and what she saw around her. Socialization is how we learn to interact and understand social expectations. The agents of socialization include family, school, peers and the mass media. Family is the most important agent in socialization and the agent that Precious is lacking in the most. The family provides us with our first belief system and we are completely dependent on them as a child. Precious’ could not read or write and the way that she spoke involved terrible grammar and incorrect vocabulary, things she directly learned from living with her illiterate mother. When she was a child and her father would rape her, her mother did not protect her nor defend, making Precious feel like there was nothing wrong with what was happening, totally corrupting the socialization process of a normal child. The way that Precious behaved was directly based on what was instilled in her as a child. She began to steal on days when there was no food at home showing even more what a big influence family has on how we behave outside of the home. The next agent of socialization in Precious’ life was the school. She had always gone to school in the ghetto known as Harlem, New York. For all the years Precious had been in school, she was still unable to read, write or form a proper sentence. Her school was portrayed as one in which the teachers either do not care about the students or the students are so horrible and disruptive that the teacher feels intimidated and simply gives up on those children. The number of students who were not interested in learning greatly outnumbered the ones that were trying to learn. Other than the school system failing to teach life skills and pass on knowledge, it was also failing in helping to develop her social skills. Firstly because they all made fun of her weight and how black she was, but also because the only way she learned to get a point across was by shouting and being vulgar. She failed to learn the socialization school is supposed to provide to teach us basic interaction and obey authority. However it is seen that when she begins going to the alternative school with fewer people and a much more assistive teacher, she begins to learn to read and write and is on the track to completing her GED. This showed that she was not unable to learn or stupid, she just was not socialized in an environment that was conducive to learning. Thirdly, the influence of our peers as an agent of socialization. In the beginning, Precious didn’t have any friends from her high school as no one wanted to be her friend and she did not have the confidence to try to make any. So the socialization children and teens develop from having peers around them did not really apply to her. However, being around those peers only taught her to be disrespectful and didn’t teach her any valuable skills. Luckily when she enters the alternative school, after a while she begins to make friends who begin to support her and offer companionship in the hard times. The last agent of socialization that relates to Precious was the mass media. In those days, mostly only white people were on the television and it only promoted her self-hate. It made her fantasize about being white and famous at every chance she had and did not help in positive socialization at all. The only thing her mother really did was watch white people on TV all day long and this is why Precious saw life that way. The way Precious views herself is strongly ties into the concept called Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self. This concept states that the view we have of ourselves develops based on our perception of others’ evaluation of us. This is the sociological concept that states firstly that we imagine how we appear to others, we will imagine how we appear/are perceived by others, secondly, that we develop our self-identity through the judgment of others, thirdly we change our behavior based on how we feel we are being perceived. We basically see ourselves how others see us. Her own mother constantly called her a fat ass, a bitch and a whore. These words that were all filled with negative connotations made her begin to have a negative view of herself. Her mother taught her that she was worthless and stupid and that she would never be anything in life and so Precious was on the track to do just that. “Psychologists, practitioners and programme organizers agree that achieving a ‘positive’ sense of identity is a core goal. It is an important prerequisite for developing the resilience that enables a child or young person to meet the challenges of growing up, especially for children living in adverse environments.” (Woodhead & Oates, 2008 p.12). That is a goal Precious’ mother should have wanted her to achieve but instead her mother did the opposite. Her mother accused her of trying to steal her “man” by having sex with him even though she had never given her consent, making it rape. She was taught that only white people could advance in life and that no matter what she was doomed. At this time, advancement was beginning to happen and negative connotations were somewhat being lifted from African Americans. According to the Handbook of self and identity, by Mark Leary and June Tangney “Individuals no longer differentially ascribe negative characteristics to ethnic groups but continue to associate positive attributes to a greater extent to whites than to blacks “Gaertner & McLaughin, 1983 p.15). These things lead Precious to truly believe that she was all these terrible things leading to her being afraid to express herself and to feel like she had no place in the world. Just because her mother saw her that way, did not mean that everyone else did it is hard overcome those thoughts when they have been so deeply instilled. This concept goes hand in hand with the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Goffman’s Dramaturgy & Impression Management was developed by sociologist Erving Goffman. It brings forth the idea that life is like a continuous play in which people are the actors. Goffman believed that anything we do, we are actually playing some type role on the stage of life. This is particularly important in the movie when it comes to her mother, Mary. As I described earlier, she was a horrible mother who abused her daughter, allowed her to be sexually molested and treated her like a slave when they were alone. This was her ‘true role’ in the privacy of her home. However, there is a point in the movie where the social worker comes to visit the house to evaluate if they should keep receiving welfare. Mary becomes a totally different person, portraying herself as the ideal mother who is trying to find employment but is unsuccessful even though the truth is that she hasn’t even attempted to find work. She completely switches her role due to this social setting and it shows perfectly that the world really is just a stage and people will present the best version of themselves when they need to. Even Precious’’ first child who has down syndrome is shown to be caressed and loved by Mary even though as the social worker leaves, she treats the baby like an animal again. After fighting Precious and her newborn, even throwing a television set intended to crush them, she goes to the counselor Precious has been talking to, Ms. Weiss, and puts on a real performance of how sorry she is and the love that she claims to have for Precious. She was truly the perfect social con artist. Feeling rules are norms that are socially constructed about the way that we express ourselves and display emotions. Emotion work refers to how people evoke, suppress, and manage their feelings to create a display of emotion that the public sees. Emotion work is shown when Precious constantly has to suppress her anger and resent towards her mother, constantly taking her verbal abuse without retaliating in order too have somewhere to live. It is seen several times in the film where her mother will order her to do something simply because she doesn’t want to do it herself, but Precious has to keep her feelings, sometimes out of fear and other times to keep the peace. In this extract from the movie, you can see that it seems like she is unbothered by the severity of her situation even though later in the movie we see that it has taken a huge toll on her. However feeling rules didn’t permit her to disclose what had actually happened to her and how it made her feel. Principal: “You’re sixteen. You’re still in Junior high school and youre pregnant you’re your second child. Is that correct Claireece?” “ Are you pregnant again?” “What happened Claireece?” -Claireece looks at her blankly- Claireece: “ I had sex Ms. Lichenstein.” This happens once more when the social worker visits her house and Precious has the opportunity to expose her mother for who she is, but when she is asked if everything is okay, she tells them everything is fine, once again suppressing her feelings and displaying suitable emotion for the public. In conclusion, the sociological concept of self and interaction is strongly tied to the movie ‘Precious’. The things endured by Precious really represent the hardships of many women who are in similar situations and feel like there is no escape. The journey Precious took from identifying herself in a negative image and having poor interactions with others to becoming a strong confident woman ready to take on the world, becoming a better person and becoming a great mother for her children, is very inspiring. It shows that even though your early socialization has a huge impact on your life, you can’t allow it to control the way you see yourself. It is a movie that can be studied and analyzed to see how someone can transform from having negative self-views and negative interactions to become positive in every aspect. It was particularly helpful to me because even though I did not go through the same struggles, I have had to overcome my own problems and find myself just like she did. Early childhood in Focus 3 (2008)- Martin Woodhead and John Oates. Handbook of self and identity (2005) – Mark Leary and June Price Tangn Early childhood in Focus 3 (2008)- Martin Woodhead and John Oates. Handbook of self and identity (2005) – Mark Leary and June Price
The crisis event in the movie precious is rather obscure at first. At first look you think that the crisis event is that precious is kicked out of school sent to an alternative school because she's pregnant, however I disagree. I believe the true crisis event occurred after precious had her child and went home to her mother’s apartment. Up to that point, precious had never asked for help from anyone regarding her home life or the abuse that was taking place. When precious’s returned home from the hospital with her baby and was attacked by her mother, she ran away to the only place she knew to go that was safe, her school.
While she might think that her plans are working, they only lead her down a path of destruction. She lands in a boarding house, when child services find her, she goes to jail, becomes pregnant by a man who she believed was rich. Also she becomes sentenced to 15 years in prison, over a street fight with a former friend she double crossed. In the end, she is still serving time and was freed by the warden to go to her mother’s funeral. To only discover that her two sisters were adopted by the man she once loved, her sister is with the man who impregnated her, and the younger sister has become just like her. She wants to warn her sister, but she realizes if she is just like her there is no use in giving her advice. She just decides that her sister must figure it out by
This book is about a girl name Ellen Foster who is ten years old. Her mother committed suicide by over dosing on her medication. When Ellen tried to go look for help for her mother her father stopped her. He told them that if she looked for helped he would kill them both. After her mother died she was left under her fathers custody. Her father was a drunk. He would physically and mentally abuse her. Ellen was forced to pay bills, go grocery shopping, cook for herself, and do everything else for herself. Ellen couldn't take it any more so she ran away her friends house. Starletta and her parents lived in a small cabin with one small bathroom. One day at school a teacher found a bruise on Ellen's arm. She sends Ellen to live with Julia the school's art teacher. Julia had a husband named Roy. They were both hippies. Julia and Roy cared a lot about Ellen. After Ellen turned 11 years old she was forced to go live with her grandmother. Ellen didn't want to leave Julia and Roy but her grandmother had won custody. Her grandmother was a cruel old lady. Ellen spends the summer with her grandmother. Living with her makes her very unhappy. Since her grandmother owns farmland she forces Ellen to work on the field with her black servants. Ellen meets a black woman named Mavis. Mavis and her become good friends. Mavis would talk about how she knew Ellen's mother and how much Ellen resembled her mother. Her grandmother didn't think the same. She thought that Ellen resembled her father. She also hated that man. Her grandmother would often compare her with her father. Her grandmother would torture her because she wanted revenge from her father. Her grandmother also blames her for the death of her mother. While Ellen was staying with her grandmother her father died. When her father died she didn't feel sad because she had always fantasized about killing her father. Ellen just felt a distant sadness. Ellen cried just a little bit. Her grandmother was furious because Ellen showed some emotions. She told her to never cry again. After that Ellen becomes scarred for a long time. One day her uncle Rudolph bought the flag that had been on Ellen's father's casket. Her grandmother turns him away. Later that day she burned the flag.
The film Precious focuses on Clarice “Precious” Jones, a girl whose life is far from ordinary. At sixteen years old, Precious finds herself pregnant with her second child, both of which belong to her father. Although he’s no longer in the picture, Precious experiences daily abuse from her mother, who thinks nothing of her. Regardless of her past, Precious is eager to give her children a better life than she had. After meeting Ms. Rein, her alternative school teacher, Precious finally gets the love and support that she’s been hoping for her whole life. Precious’ life may have had a different path had she received proper treatment earlier in life. Even though Precious is in the adolescent stage of her life, she can still benefit from treatment;
The story of “Precious” provides an excellent example of how a person can become lost in the system, and also how one can begin to turn things around by utilizing available resources. Precious’s mother, Mary, has been taking advantage of Precious to help her manipulate the system so Mary can continue to receive welfare benefits. Precious ultimately meets with the social worker, Mrs. Weiss, who begins to help her move forward in life. It is my understanding that Precious initially met with Mrs. Weiss for welfare benefits, but this relationship seemed to change as the movie progressed. I was admittedly taken aback by the conditions of the office in which Mrs. Weiss worked, how she interacted with Precious initially,
Recovering from an identity crisis that lasted most of her childhood, Janie realizes who she wants to be with the help of a pear tree, but her grandmother disapproves of her dissimilar feelings and forces her to cast away her horizon. With no parents there to raise her, Janie loses her sense of identity. She spends her childhood under the care of her grandma and the white people Nanny works for, and as a result, she spends all of her time playing with the Washburn’s four children. Janie does not realize that she is different from them until she turns six. When she sees a photograph of herself for the first time, she refuses to recognize her darker skin color. To compensate for her lack of self, she goes by the nickname “Alphabet” because she has so many different names. Both her connection to the Washburn family and her biracial ethnicity isolate her from the black and white communities. African-American children mock her for her nice clothes; vulnerable and frail, Jani...
This book shows the struggles that the main character, Precious Jones, has to go through after she was raped by her father twice. Not only is she raped, but her mother does nothing about it and just wants her to live with what ha...
The 2009 film “Precious”, based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire, tells the tragic story of sixteen-year-old Claireece Precious Jones; an overweight, illiterate who is now pregnant with her second child. Her life at home is a complete nightmare; her mother, Mary, verbally, emotionally and physically abuses her daily. Her father, Carl, molested her on multiple occasions and impregnated her twice then disappeared. Precious was kicked out of public school and took an offer to attend an alternative school where she meets her inspirational teacher Miss Blu Rain. Precious begins to believe in herself and prepares herself for her future. She becomes engaged in class and learns how to read and write; she was called stupid and dummy all her life and
.... 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.
Tracy in Se7en can be used as an example as a member of society who believes there is much more crime taking place in the unnamed city than their actually is because she questions Somerset of whether or not it’s a safe city one morning when they met for coffee and states that she, “Hates this city” because she believes it truly is a terrible place full of crime and uncertainty.
By choosing this path in life, because of his relationship with his brother, Ponyboy is able to come of age. In another sense, the main protagonist Lily Owens, from the Secret Life of Bees, lives with the horrific realization that she unintentionally killed her mother years and years ago. Now fourteen, Lily lives with an abusive father who treats her with harsh punishments. Since Lily’s father, T. Ray, does not believe in girls going to college, she believes that she is destined to go to beauty school. However, when Lily tells her teacher, Mrs Henry about her ambition to go into beauty school, her teacher retorts, to Lily’s surprise, "’Please, Lily, you are insulting your fine intelligence. Do you have any idea how smart you are? You could be a professor or a writer with actual books to your credit. Beauty school. Please.’ It took me a month to get over the shock of having life possibilities.’ [...] I planned to be a professor and a writer of actual books” (Kidd 15). Because
A breathtaking saga of a young girl’s tragic memories of her childhood. As with Ellen, Gibbons’ parents both died before she was twelve-years-old, forming the family. basis of the plot and themes of this novel. The fond memories she possessed of her mother and the harsh ones of her father are reflected in the thoughts and actions of Ellen. The simplistic and humble attitude that both Gibbons and Ellen epitomizes in the novel is portrayed through diction and dialogue.
Also, the film revealed women empowerment and how superior they can be compared to men. While demonstrating sexual objectification, empowerment, there was also sexual exploitation of the women, shown through the film. Throughout this essay, gender based issues that were associated with the film character will be demonstrated while connecting to the real world and popular culture.
Lily’s difficult childhood made her isolated, but despite not having friends in school, she was always writing about how she felt about people and life. She demonstrates both intelligence and knowledge. In school, she is “commended about how smart she was and how she will become a professor or a writer by Mrs. Henry” (16). Most of the kids in her
Women and men have evolved for many years now, whether it is style, personality or religious beliefs there is always room for change. Although the women's' movement was arguably very successful, there are very many young women who still have personal and emotional problems brought up because of society. Lispector depicts these problems through her character in her short story "Preciousness" by describing the adolescent emotional growing pains ...