Finally made time to sit down and watch the movie, “Precious” (http://tiny.cc/8rl0f). Wow.

Precious is not the kind of movie that you would tell people that you “enjoyed” (and if you would, then I probably wouldn’t want to know you…) but it is the kind of movie that you would say was, “compelling”. Unless you’ve been living under a rock in the middle of the desert, you’ve probably either seen this movie or heard about it. It’s about a young African American girl who grows up in an extremely dysfunctional family (though there are bit-scenes throughout the movie that her family was not an anomaly). For me, it seemed like the point of the story was to show how Precious found her way out of the draining life that she grew up in even with all the odds against her. Some of the reason was because of her tenacity and ability to dream for better no matter what kind of abuse she suffered and some if it was because the right person was in the right place to help her at the right time.

Kind of like the way life works.

I guess I’ve lived long enough now and sat inside of enough rooms with people telling their own horrifying life stories that this movie wasn’t as shocking as many people had portrayed it to be (though M’nique–her mother— did an incredible job of making sure that you hated her by the end of the movie). It’s amazing what some people who you may see everyday at work or ride the bus with or order a Starbucks from may have had the kind of life that would blow your hair back if you only knew. But most often we don’t, we just go through life pretty much focusing on ourselves. There’s nothing the matter with that but just focusing on ourselves does limit our lives.

I could learn something from Precious in the way that she was able to dream and think of good things when she was being abused. Her mind did not turn on her, in many ways it actually befriend her. That piece, the piece of self-love that she was able to hang on to in spite of everything being done to her and said to her about her, is her special gift. The fact that she was able to love her children born of incest and to see their innocence and want the best for them is also a special gift.

I know I’m going to be thinking of this movie for awhile and especially tonight when I fall asleep because my mind likes to work things out before the morning comes, but from where I sit right now Precious gives me great hope for the possibility of man and woman-kind. I think the very end of the movie says it the best….”for every precious girl out there”.