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- "And They Laughed" Part I of Insights from the Movie, Precious
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- Wake Up to the Reality of Breast Cancer
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- World AIDS Day 2007: What about the day AFTER?
- Keep Moving Forward
- The Gift of Delay
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"And They Laughed" Part I of Insights from the Movie, Precious |
| From My Heart To Yours >> From My Heart To Yours |
With great anticipation, a good friend
of mine and I went to see the highly acclaimed movie, Precious, written
by Sapphire and a Tyler Perry/Oprah Winfrey production. I had viewed
the trailer and saw the actress, Gabourey Sidibe, who portrayed the
title character on one of the morning shows and was intrigued.
Further, I had heard the buzz from Sundance with possible Oscar
nominations and all of the media that surrounded this film. My friend
is a movie connoisseur and she really wanted to be one of the first to
see it and we found the time on Saturday to walk into a theater. We
understood the heavy nature of the material; we were aware of the
subject matter and had said that we needed to prepare ourselves.
However, what I didn’t expect was my initial impression; not of the
movie but of the audience. There will be other pieces/parts of my
assessment of the movie but I am compelled to deal with the most
striking feature of this film from my perspective, the laughter that
was generated.
As a way of introduction, I live in Prince
George’s County, Maryland. We are cited as the most affluent county in
the United States for African Americans. I saw the film in Bowie,
Maryland where very nice homes, gated communities, luxury cars and the
trappings of great suburban life are evident. After a nice meal, my
friend and I walk into a crowded theater that requires us to look for
at least five to seven minutes for two seats together. I am surprised
at the lines and indeed the box office receipts from the limited
opening from the prior week. I remember vaguely telling my friend that
we didn’t need to purchase tickets in advance because I didn’t feel
like this type of film would have the overwhelming support that had
been witnessed in other African American genres. I told her as we
walked in, luckily she had prepaid for tickets that I was wrong and pleasantly surprised
— it was not only the comedies and slapstick that would make us go to
the theater in droves. Anyway, we found a seat and began to watch the
film, which from the very opening scenes was profound, heavy and
wrenching. Again, I choose not to deal with the weight of the subject
matter, the complexities of the lives of the women examined in the
film, the abuse, the life circumstances that dropped like a ton of
bricks, the utter horror that was displayed on screen as it relates to
a young girl’s existence. No, I choose to deal with the lighter side
first, the rest will come. I am compelled to frantically write of the
laughter that welled up from several members of the audience as we
witnessed the gripping scenes.
The first bit of untimely
“comic relief” came as the main character was being belittled and
denigrated by her mother, played by the actress Mo’nique. She tells
her daughter that she is nothing, that she should have aborted her,
that education would get her nowhere and that she just needs to go to
the welfare office. Through the tirade of cursing, negativity and
obvious psychological pathology; the scene now takes a turn for the
physical abuse. Somehow a shoe is thrown and the mother runs up the
stairs and begins to brutally beat her daughter that she just finished
wishing were dead. As the mother runs up the stairs, there is laughter
from the audience. It is as if a great comedian had given a one liner
that went over big. I sat there hearing this and was taken aback, but
so drawn into the movie that I did not dare speak to my friend, but
noticed that she nor I joined the chorus of laughter.
The
second obvious comedic relief was when Precious brought her child,
fathered by her own father, home to her waiting mother. Her mother is
very calm, smoking a cigarette and asks if she can hold the baby. This
newborn, her grandson—she looks at and states that he looks like her
father. Ironically both know that the father is indeed the father and
the grandfather to this child and Precious’ firstborn daughter. With
fear in her eyes, Precious does hand the child to her mother and is
ordered to get her mother something to drink. As she turns to go to
the kitchen, her mother drops the newborn on the floor and I believe
throws something at her daughter. For the first time you see Precious
fight back to protect her child who lay helpless on the floor. These
two very large women begin to fight in earnest with bodies being thrown
around, household items and a newborn is laying on the floor—I fear
that he will be crushed. I hear LAUGHTER again as this fight goes on
and this time I really am taken aback. I question to myself and then
aloud—“What can be funny?” and this time, my friend looks at me with
the same horrified look on her face, “What could possibly be funny?”
Certainly
don’t want to spoil the story line but as we finished the movie, we
were so struck that we sat there for a few minutes. We talked about
the weight of the movie, the issues of incest, self esteem and the road
that lay ahead for Precious. However, we soon came to a similar point
of disbelief. I said to my friend, more so than talking about the
actual film, I am so struck by the reaction of the audience. I was
aghast at the fact that with the brutality, inhumanity and sheer
violence demonstrated that human beings could find a reason to
chuckle. My head spun and I tried to recall lessons learned in
psychology and in the general road to life. Surely there had to be a
reason why laughter was evoked…maybe it was me; maybe I had become too
stiff. However, as I sat with my friend—she agreed with me and we
tried to wrap our heads around the laughter.
Precious wrote
at some point when she had received horrible news about her life; “Why
Me?” I asked of my friend and myself and now ask you—“Why laugh?” Have
we become so immune to violence and the state of the human condition
that when faced with troubling, yes, devastating situations that we
just laugh it off? Is laughter our anesthesia or pain killer even when
it’s not appropriate? Do we laugh to keep from crying? Have we become
so immune to the horrors of life that we no longer feel empathy for
another human but rather everything is a joke? These are plausible
answers but they are not good enough! Guess what—I don’t have the
answer but I know that it occurred. There is no easy way out; this is
a mirror that I ask that we hold up to ourselves, our communities and
our families. I certainly am no judge and if you laughed then you have
every right as you paid your money to see the film. However, I ask
that you examine yourself, your motives and your life as to how the
emotion that you felt at these brutal beatings/fights was not disgust
but laughter? Have we become so immune to violence that it truly is
just entertainment for us? Have we become so connected with violence
on TV, in movies and video games that it is something outside of
ourselves? You may say, “Dr. Sharon, you’re taking this too far—it’s
just a movie.” I say no, it is the reality of millions of persons
worldwide—domestic violence, incest and despair.
Further, this doesn’t just happen in the movies—it is in our WORLDWIDE culture; let me give you a few examples:
- A girl in Richmond, Virginia is gang raped and others take pictures, laugh and some joined in.
"She was raped, beaten, robbed and dehumanized by several suspects who were obviously OK enough with it to behave that way in each other's presence," said Lt. Mark Gagan, a patrol supervisor in the city's Northern Policing District. "What makes it even more disturbing is the presence of others. People came by, saw what was happening, and failed to report it." (www.mercurynews.com/ci_13644237)
- A boy was beaten on a school bus and others point, look and laugh with no one coming to his aid.
Several students stood around laughing and pointing. Some of them eventually did pull the boys apart. One even took a picture of the victim's bloodied face with his cell phone. One of the boys who admits he was laughing is D'Vante Lott, who says he is now suspended from school for his actions. "Every kid in high school will laugh. If you see a fight, every kid will laugh," he says. "It's like adrenaline. We laugh when we see a kid getting beaten up." (http://www.fox2now.com/ktvi-more-belleville-student-beating-091509,0,3887523.story)
- A South African girl is gang raped and forced to testify in open court wherein there is loud laughter during her testimony.
“She then was forced to face the three accused men—and throughout her testimony, was forced to endure loud laughter which frequently burst forth from the accused men and their families and friends in the public gallery.” (www.digitaljournal.com/article/269462)
“It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either.” --Wayne Dyer
I chose not to laugh, but rather felt the precious pain that was being exhibited on screen. I thought of my beloved father and his protection of me all of my life and how I could not possibly fathom your father, your protector being your violator. I thought of my mother, who nurtured me and cared for me—caring and loving still. How could your mother who carried you in her womb, your first human experience—how could that person become a weapon of mass destruction in your life? I choose to weep inwardly and outwardly for this character and the powerful portrayal on the screen but others chose to laugh…many with children less than 10 years old in the theatre with them listening and watching this violence. I chose to be emotionally drawn in and to feel the pain—the excruciating pain of a life that was violently live. Others chose to laugh….and they laughed. What is OUR choice? More importantly…Why laugh? Back
