Movie Review Precious

1.Critique the main characters behavior in terms of resilience and recover as described in class
Resilience in my own words is defined as working with your current environment and
progressing despite the adversity ones environment provides. Precious was able to cope with the
sexual and physical abuse from both her mom and stepfather. Precious also dealt with being
kicked out of school, abuse from neighbors and was forced to leave her mothers house. The
traumatic experiences Precious had to deal with allowed her to cope by creating a fantasy world.
Her fantasy world made her feel loved, cared for and admired by others. As a current counselor
in training it was her coping mechanism that allowed her to continue to persist in her
dysfunctional environment.
I wrestled with the question of whether or not Precious should have stolen the chicken. After
much thought and applying the knowledge I have regarding systems, community resources I
believe Precious had no other choice. She needed to meet her basic needs, legal or not, it was a
matter of survival. As an immigrant who crossed the border illegally I feel that I too had no
choice of waiting ten years for my parents and I to come the US legally. My parents needed to
provide my siblings and I with the basic needs and we broke certain laws. It is a life experience
such as crossing the border illegally that allows me to not judge anyone. As humans we all do the
best we can with the resources and environments we are provided with.
Throughout the movie Precious demonstrated her resilience. She did this by not falling into the
flea, flight or fight response as a result of what life throw at her. She was able to recover and
began to become sustainable. With adequate resources, skills, and information it is easier to
become optimistic which usually results in confidence and competency. I dont believe Precious

would have been able to recover and be resilient without the help of her professor and her
professor would have probably not been as supportive of Precious if Precious would have not
provided her with her trust. As time progressed, her professor read Precious journal, this allowed
the professor to genuinely care for Precious. Although I am not familiar with the code of ethics
of professors I assume allowing one of your students to stay at your house is probably against
their code. When Precious trusted her professor enough to be honest in her journal it allowed for
her professor to build a bond with Precious. The bond was what allowed Precious to transition
into the sustainability phase.
2.Critique the surrounding culture in terms of postmodernism and disenfranchisement
Individuals who believe postmodernism see their reality as they construct it. For example, in the
movie Precious she created a world in her head that allowed her to feel normal. Unfortunately
the world she lived in made her feel as if she was less then because she was overweight, African
American and a teenage mother. She also came from generational poverty; all of the things listed
above allowed others to view Precious from an asset deficit. In school she was viewed as a bad
example for having a child, She was asked to leave, even though public education is supposed to
be a right for everyone. Other African Americans found Precious to be an easy target due to her
weight
3.Discuss the situational failures the main character encounters and how they addressed them.
What efforts were dysfunctional? Functional?
One of the situational failures Precious encounters is with the educational system. As a result of
having her second child she was practically forced to enroll in an alternative school. Precious had
been attempting to attend school after giving birth to her first child, which leads me to believe

that she wanted to obtain an education. Despite her willingness to obtain an education she was
denied that right. I dont believe her efforts were either dysfunctional or functional, since it all
turned out for the best. By Precious going to the alternative school she was able to create a
support system she did not had at her previous school.
Her determination to have her second child was admirable. Her second child provided her with a
sense of purpose and with the drive to advocate for herself. Some of the barriers she encounters
was the criticism from her peers at school to keep the baby when they found out the father of her
child was Precious stepfather. When Precious communicated to her mother that the child she was
carrying was her stepfathers, her mother kicked her out of her house. Overall, her efforts were
functional since she gave birth a healthy baby boy.
Lastly, Precious has to deal with the abuse from her mother and stepfather, although not her
choice when she left her mothers house it allowed her to be in a better environment. By leaving
her mothers home, it allowed her to focus on stabilizing her life in order to regain custody of her
daughter.
4. Compare the social support systems of the main character. How would each of the three
counseling models treat both of them?
Precious lives in a high context culture that has branded her as the identified patient, her
family composed of her mother and father constantly make her feel as the problem. Throughout
most of the movie Precious has a deficit for first and second level degree of separation
relationships. When she transitions to Ms. Reins class, she gradually became empowered to the
point that she refuses to be the identified patient in other social support systems.
Listed below are examples of how Precious would be treated under each model.

Medical Model- The medical model would have placed Precious on medications to prevent her
from transitioning into the world she created in her head. Precious would more than likely feel as
if the only way to be normal is to take medications for the rest of her life, preventing her from
achieving self-actualization at any point in her life. Under the utilization of the medical model
alone Precious would of probably be condemned to poverty and her financial sustainability
would be from DHS and Social Security Disability.
Wellness Model- The wellness model would work with Precious to identify her purpose in life.
Under this model both of her kids would be used as Precious meaning in life. With her kids as
the motivation it would allow Precious to feel as if she is capable of doing anything she puts her
mind into.
Counseling Model- Under the Counseling Model, the counselor would assist Precious with a
plan to remove her barriers and identify how to move the plan forward. Identifying Precious
present state and her desired state would allow the counselor provide Precious with homework
assignments and practice enactment that would allow her to get closer to her desired state.