Oprah’s Latest Movie Pick Is Shamelessly Liberal
By the time Precious finds out she has HIV, well, the movie is fully in bumper-sticker mode. Honk if you feel sorry for black unwed teen illiterate incest-and-rape victims with AIDS!
But didn’t you already feel sorry for incest victims? For rape victims? For poor people? I did. I didn’t really need a shamelessly manipulative movie to get me to that point and encourage me to feel proud of how enlightened I am to recognize the obvious.
Is Precious effective? It is, sometimes, but just as often it’s the political equivalent of a slasher movie. The attacks on Precious never relent. It’s like the world is set up specifically to terrorize her. Her only respite is her fantasy view of herself, as a celebrated song-and-dance personality who gets to wear fancy clothes on TV, and in several colorful sequences we get a look at this inner life of our heroine the way she so obviously isn’t. These moments are a little bit funny, but mostly they’re sad. That’s unfortunate, because they essentially keep us looking down at Precious as a charity case instead of really understanding her.
The movie is getting a heavy promotional push from Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey, which probably tells you all you need to know. A movie located at the intersection of Sundance and Oprah is likely to mean arty, in a middlebrow way; a grit that’s sentimental; the politics of emotion. It reserves its greatest degree of absurdity for the end, when it starts to imply that everything is going to be all right with Precious because she can now, sort of, read. Because for all its “authenticity,” it’s the phony happy ending that makes it Oprah-worthy.
Shamelessly? Why would there be any shame about this movie? This is the kind of drivel that these people are desperate to indulge in. There is no grounding in reality to be found here – the only way they can satiate their thirst for ‘liberal’ causes is to invent ludicrous fantasies such as this. They understandably love it…..and they are not ashamed of that.
Point at them and laugh….the bunch of ‘tards.
Awww, you spoiled it. And here I thought she might discover that her whole problem was a subculture of dependence and decline and, say, go to some Christian church where she would be taken under the wing of some caring, conservative individuals who would encourage self-discipline and goals.
You mean to tell me it doesn’t blame George Bush by name? THE SHAME!
If doesn’t have some good old Christian bashing with a Benny Hinn type representing a Billy Graham, and a theme of all religions are equally “spiritual” and equally dangerous like Oprah and Rosie, they obviously have failed in their message.
Throw in some pedophile for a priest and the need for legalization of weed, and we could have had an academy award winner here.
I haven’t seen this movie, so for all I know you’re right and it is manipulative. It certainly sounds like it has that potential, at any rate. But you act as though the fact that it’s about a girl who has these life circumstances is inherently manipulative. Some people truly do have awful lives, so why is the mere fact that the character is in these circumstances manipulative? It seems like you object to that before you object to what the movie does with those elements. Also, what’s your issue with the teacher being a lesbian? You don’t think there are any good teachers who are lesbians in loving relationships? There are billions of movies about inspirational teachers, so what’s the big deal if in one of them the teacher is a lesbian?
As I said, I haven’t seen this and I can definitely see the potential for it to be manipulative. But your initial objections are to what the character’s life is like, and that I don’t get.
Fear not. Next week she’s promoting American Carol.
And the following week . . .Carrie Prejean’s new movie. Now THAT is one I’ll watch, How about you guys?
http://www.tmz.com/2009/11/05/carrie-prejean-miss-california-usa-sex-tape-solo-reaction-deny-disgusting/
So brave! So Christian! So steeped in down home American values! She’s a hero! A hero I tell you! And what does she get for her courage? Baseless attacks about her character! I hope every girl in America grows up to be just like Carrie. I really do.
N&T..
OH NO!! You mean Christian woman actually have sex? That IS news! Your right, I hope woman do not follow in those footsteps!
‘Oprah’s Latest Movie Pick Is Shamelessly Liberal’
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And you expected ……….?
This is the leberal wet dream! Every victim rolled into one. I am so sick of everyone glorifying the victims in life. We are all victims at one point or another. The key is to rise up and GET OVER IT! If she dosen’t; well too bad! America offers her all the helps she needs, if she is willing to put in the work. I don’tneed to see another stupid movie about it. This is why I rarely watch movies anymore. They are either too sexual; constantly putting men down, or playing the victim role. Enough already!
“Push” by Sapphire is getting a heavy promotional push from Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey, which probably tells you all you need to know.
Given your audience, I’m sure that’s true. But probably not in any way you’d admit.
Yay Lesbians!
Remember, we have to constantly remind black people that they are perpetual ‘victims’ for life.
@6.,
Since when is masturbating wrong?
I can’t comment on “Precious” but I’m surprised by this article’s criticism of Tyler Perry. The Perry movies that I’ve seen are strongly pro-family values and pro-religious.
For example, in Perry’s most recent one, the heroine is a young woman who, at the beginning of the movie, is a married man’s girlfriend with a drinking problem. During the course of the movie, she returns to the church and becomes involved with a young man with traditional religious values. At the end of the movie, she ditches the married man, marries the religious man, and the newly weds take responsibility for raising her deceased sister’s three children.
There isn’t anything here for a conservative to dislike.
shmoho’s favorite movie is “Triumph of the Will”.
I think the last time I ever attend a movie theater was when I took my son to see “Ghost Busters” back in the ’80s. But “Precious” sounds so intriguing and bold and provacative for a Hollywood production (and recommended by Oprah no less) I may have to goand stand in line! Can’t wait.
“the beautiful, loving teacher turned out to be a lesbian (with of course, a loving, nurturing partner).”
Well, this appears to be an under-developed point, since the Hollywood (& LA Times) lesbians, besides having “a loving, nurturing [??} partner”, have also:
listen to Hildegard von Bingen, who was/is a “vegetarian mystic” -
1) been engaged in a long, long, long term relationship -
2) are vegetarian,
3) rear adopted kids from Moldova or Malawi,
4) spend week-ends marching for whales,
5) run poetry work-shops in inner-city youth at risk,
6) are “golden hearted”),
7) conclude every phrase with the melancholy-tinged wisdom “this is all about after all”, or “war has never solved anything” -
9) painting, pottery and Kumbaya pastel quilts also important activities –
… so, maybe they pull back Precious and inject in it a few of these (and so many other beautiful traits) lesbians exhibit 7/24 -
Re #13/Gary Rosen: [...] shmoho’s favorite movie is “Triumph of the Will”. [...]
Gary, two comments here:
1) mojo has no idea of who Leni Riefenstahl was,
2) actually, while Reifenstahl’s association with Hitler deserves contempt, her work, albeit stylistically dated (I am not a post-expressionism type), is still impressive – actually when FDR saw a montage of her work (done by Bunuel, I think), he was very impressed by the power and determination conveyed by her work -
Best regards -
watch Gran Torino if you want to see a good film.
Gary, two comments here:
1) mojo has no idea of who Leni Riefenstahl was,
If it were true, what difference would it make?
“If it were true, what difference would it make?”
So I guess you’re admitting you have no problem idolizing a Nazi propagandist. BTW, here’s something for you to crow about – Hezbollah pressured a school in Lebanon to drop “The Diary of Anne Frank”.
“he was very impressed by the power and determination conveyed by her work”
I used to be very impressed by the power and determination OJ Simpson showed as a football player.
It was Bush’s fault
But she did ger a free cell phone from the welfare officer.
Liberals love to exploit poor people in this way–for Art of course.
So I guess you’re admitting you have no problem idolizing a Nazi propagandist. BTW, here’s something for you to crow about – Hezbollah pressured a school in Lebanon to drop “The Diary of Anne Frank”.
LOL. I’d like to see how you got to that peculiar observation. You’d have to be a real SFB to get there from what I said.
You should applaud this pic. Perry and Winfrey have risked their reputations to expose the grotesque dysfunction of the black underclass. (Expect a Jackson/Sharpton counter-attack before the Oscars).
By virtue of their talent and ambition, both Perry and Winfrey rose from that abusive underclass… Perry’s films, as mentioned by Commenter Katie, promote religious belief and strong values (in the persona of cigarette-smoking, gun-waving Medea).
What’s not for a conservative to like?
Does anyone know when Oprah and Gayle will “come out” as a couple? There has been quite a bit of talk over the past several years from their gay friends about whether or not the world is ready for a gay Oprah.
instead of focusing on a great movie like precious you should all go back to watching your FAUX NEWS! that’s great OPINUTAINMENT!