that said, i want to clarify some things. first, i don’t think i stated or implied that winfrey and perry wrote the screenplay. what i was suggesting, however, is that the makers of the film possibly re-shot some scenes to pay homage to their financial backers.

second, in the book, precious’ mother’s name is mary johnston. and according to the wiki entry on ‘precious’ they list her as mary johnston; on imdb, they simply list her as mary. since she never married precious’ father, i decided to use what i thought was her maiden name. if she calls herself mary jones in the movie, i’m sorry. i must have missed it. i didn’t take notes and had to work off of memory and the internet.

third, i understand that nurse john didn’t mack to ms. rain and/or her babe until later. maybe my sentence was poorly written. i thought my using the phrase “later cashes in…” conveyed that he didn’t ask for the hook up at precious’ bedside.

perhaps the bobby brown comment was picky of me. but i just think films that endeavor to be good should be accurate, unless one has real reason not to be. besides, filmmakers use music to mark the time period (think ‘forrest gump’). i also just thought the song was a weirdly bad choice.

the book does indicate time period. there’s the farrakhan element removed from the film version, and at least two mentions of ed koch, ny mayor from 78-89, in the book. in fact, i believe there’s a mention of him wanting to shut down a hospital or some other building in harlem. i think those things are really important. harlem circa ‘87 is a lot different than the gentrified harlem we have now–heading to sylvia’s was probably not on the ny tourist’s list of things to do–and i think the filmmakers could’ve worked harder at establishing the setting and time.

regarding your take of colorism in the film, i have to disagree. in the book, ms. weiss was white, ms. rain was dark skinned, and nurse john was puerto rican and an insignificant character. in the film, all the good people are light skinned. even precious’ children are light, despite the fact that both precious and her father are dark (not saying it can’t happen, i’m just trying to make a point). i found such casting moves deliberate and irresponsible. further, the movie challenges precious’ opinion of lgbt folks, why not challenge her assumptions about light-skinned people by not making such casting decisions?

i understand that there will be major differences b/w books and their film versions. however, in this case i think we lost much of the power of the novel by trying to tell a different story on screen. alex’s post (http://www.blackyouthproject.com/blog/2009/11/precious-pathologies/#more-3482) does a great job of articulating this point.

finally, i’m not blaming winfrey and perry for the failures of the movie. if anything, i question their reasons for wanting this movie to be produced, and i think it has to do with how they view the lives of black women. i really do.

sorry this comment was so long, but i wanted to make sure i addressed all of your issues with my post.

@sheryl: thanks so much for your comment. it’s so necessary to this conversation. like qbg said, it’s imperative that we think of societal forces and the way they both help create and fail girls like precious. we must continue to have this conversation. i will write a precious follow up blog next week, and include your thoughts there. thank you.

also, here’s a conversation you may be interested in: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=178029692367&id=2614893&ref=share

As for Marih Carey’s character, Ms. Weiss-her race was identified on the book. The ligther-complexioned characters in the movie were as such to play on Precious’ view of race and color, along with societies.

However, I am not surprised that people are blaming Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry for each difference between the book and the movie. They were not the Directors of the Writers that adapted the book into a Screenplay.

The book did not go into great detail about the Regan Era. Afterall, it wasn about the era, it was about the lives of these people, particularly the life of Precious. The book was written and based off the real-life events, which the author was made aware of when she was a teacher in Harlem during the 80’s. I think it is important to understand that alot of detail was not placed into the what era these events occurred because these issues are still happening…

Thank you Sheryl for drawing our attention to the nearly non-existent commentary on the structural forces that set up and circumscribe the lives of precious and her mother. I’ve been trying to think of any film that has successfully depicted the way structural forces impact folks lives, let alone sets out to dismantle them.

I hadn’t thought about this but a comment on another blog post about the film brought up that at the end of the film we see precious walking away with her two babies and there’s no discussion of how hard its gonna be with no structural support for her to raise those kids and most likely in the early 90’s, die of AIDS. WHo will take care of her kids then? Will they be put into the system (that the film can’t even really begin to address?)

Sheryl, I’d love to keep thinking about this. Particularly in light of Shaniya Davis’ tragic death.

The film did not really address the above, but maybe the conversations that pursue, will.

So, that was Oprah on the wall. I wasn’t for sure.

Also, on another unrelated point. I like that I know most of the people commenting on this piece. Just thought I would say that.