A 'Precious' Sequel? Wasn't the first project enough?

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/movie/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire/stills/6

I recently read an article titled, Would a ‘Precious’ sequel be too painful? which suggests that Sapphire, the author of the novel Push and director Lee Daniels could possibly be working on a sequel project, following the success of the film, Precious. Sapphire is working on a sequel novel, “The Kid” due to be released next summer. The project will focus on Precious's son "as he approaches manhood -- alone, brutalized and with the soul of an artist." While giving reference to the idea of a sequel partnership between Daniels and Sapphire,  Rust says the movie Precious was a redemptive piece but I have to disagree. Rust, the writer of this article attests that watching Precious blossom under the guidance of a caring teacher and finding herself through writing, gave viewers hope. Perhaps being born under wretched parents, being over 200 pounds and illiterate, made viewers feel that her fighting spirit came through. However, the pain staking realities of her life didn’t give me any hope. Ms. Rust refers to the novel as “a literary punch in the stomach” and I had to agree that the book although detailed and vivid was very painful. The film itself was depressing and offered a false sense of hope because Precious found literacy and peace and was granted assistance to provide for her children only after learning of her HIV positive status from her mother who was visibly crazy and dying. Such a sequel would be too much although I’m sure someone would find the project to be refreshing because the boy simply survived.

Rust also concludes that before working with Daniels, Sapphire had been approached to bring her tale to the screen, but she repeatedly declined, for fear that her work would be turned into something exploitative. But after several years of persistence, Sapphire gave Daniels the green light on the project, which went on to earn acclaim in the following areas: Lee Daniels's nomination for best director, Geoffrey Fletcher’s win for best screenplay, Gabourey Sidbe’s nomination for best actress, and Mo'Nique's win for best supporting actress.

Rust refers to the movie Precious as being “yet another down-trodden story of blackness.”
However, she later contradicts herself by saying that “If Sapphire has another story to tell, and if it even comes close to work she did in Push, then, I say, bring it. Please.”

This article touched on a few emotions that i felt in the theatre after viewing Precious for the first time. None of those feelings were of hope or of empowerment. Precious was a very strong willed character that we wanted to win. Her desire to overcome was strong and powerful but it seemed as if Daniels crushed her attempts with one saddening event after another. I can’t say that I’m surprised because I saw his earlier movies, Monsters Ball and Shadow Boxer. Both projects included over the top, odd sex scenes that dictated a major theme in both films. Precious had a deeper tone to those scenes but they left me just as uncomfortable and angry.

I was under the impression that the stereotypical exploitation films died in 1970, perhaps I was wrong. Not outright racially motivated with pimps and hoes but its a bit more subtle. how Precious pictures herself to be of a light complexion with blue eyes and says that she wants a "light skinned boyfriend with good hair." How she leaves her body and enters another place with the red carpet and the fancy furs whenever she feels hurt or intimidated. Whereas her dysfunctional home relationship goes a step further and her mother calls her fat, black and stupid wherever the script allows. As if Daniels couldn’t get his point across without making ‘black’ skin seem so demeaning and associated with negativity. Perhaps the self esteem of the Precious character could have been touched up a bit. To have her wearing the most uncomfortable, tight, grungy outfits and speak of her desire to be of a lighter complexion was not enough. We can also associate the movie poster of the young black teenager looking distinctively like the “mammy” character. We don’t need to purchase pancakes to see this character duplicated. Perhaps Precious has made a successful journey into womanhood because she has moved on from the sexual abuse, verbal abuse and illiteracy. However the Precious’ character can also relate into the visual image as a young Mabel character that Tyler Perry plays to be viewed as Madea who he describes as being a mixture of his mother, aunt and other women in his family lineage. I personally feel that enough is enough with the weak, stereotypical, battered, over-sexed and abused characters of black womanhood that Hollywood has the nerve to constantly display. We need accurate images of our culture, not limited, under developed characters that we cannot associate nor relate to. I don’t blame Sapphire for providing us with a glimpse into the life of strong, young woman who went through the storm and dared to survive. The book was exceptionally deep and entertaining. However, the script version is quite different and didn’t convey a proper message. Hollywood should have known better to continue to convey a genre of emotionally battered black women that seems to be displayed in theaters everywhere. To include a sequel of this degree would be adding to the niche of disturbed blackness. With studios filtering what viewers are allowed to see. Its problematic that one can view a teenager living in a half way house with two children and a deadly disease as inspiring. Corruption and weakness have become the categories of  progression in film making to represent the life of African Americans. While exploitation once again has the driver seat towards the future in film making for our culture. The question we need to ask ourselves is not involving a sequel. Rather than when will we progress enough to appreciate films like Rosewood over Boyz in the Hood? When will actors like Denzel get the accolades they deserve for all the well received portrayals that characterized a strong black man prior to his role in Training day where he was corrupt and dangerous? One day we will see the scope of images for what they are and not be so blind as to believe that we are progressing.   

The article can be found at:
Rust, Suzanne. (2010, Nov. 23). Re: Would a precious sequel be too painful. Retrieved on Nov. 24, 2010. From www.thegrio.com. At
http://www.thegrio.com/entertainment/would-a-precious-sequel-be-too-painful.php.

http://gossiponthis.com/2009/10/23/new-movie-precious-featured-on-the-cover-of-the-new-york-times/

In the world of entertainment, "free" comes with costs!

The site for the motion picture Association at www.mpaa.org produced an interesting article titled, "Digital music and movies report: The true cost of entertainment" produced by McAfee. In this industry report the mpaa informs us of cyber-crime and how to prevent it. The article can be found under the policy and research category. There is also a section titled industry reports which outlines independent reports. To view the article you can use the following link,
 http://newsroom.mcafee.com/images/10039/DMMRReport_US_25Aug2010.pdf.

This report offers a very accurate risk assessment for viewing, streaming and
downloading free content online. Findings include an increase in riskiness of the sites for users that type in the word “free” in the search engine. According to McAfee, there are highly suspicious URLs associated with fan pages and comment boards on sites.

Highly trafficked sites are targeted with downloading videos, streaming movies,
screen savers and live feeds. One example is that during April 2010. McAfee identified websites hosted in Russia and Brazil that advertised videos and  images for the FIFA world cup but led users to rogue anti-virus programs which accessed users personal or financial information.

The strong demand for free content introduces users to numerous risks. These so called, “free” sites have become a forum for attracting users that are unaware of the dangers but are searching for free content and media. Illegal content is now designed to look sophisticated and professional to exploit consumers. It is difficult for the average consumer to determine what services are legitimate. This type of ability fosters new more active sites that host or distribute illegal or illegitimate media.  On these host sites users can rank content, online media users download video content, along with music, movies, ring tones, etc.,

 Cybercrooks also take advantage of consumers who are attracted to breaking news, and hot topics. Searching a popular artist and their recent hit brings more risk than simply searching just the artist. These virtual crooks implement malware by redirecting users to download or click "ok" to material that they don’t want when they are attempting to view or download videos or movies. Researchers have discovered over 700,000 web pages that are identical to the look that youtube has, except they were created to spread malware. Online advertising on media sites are also opportunities to spread viruses, or get personal info from users.

McAfee noted that there's a 40% increase in websites that are delivering infected MP3 files or built for the sole purpose of conducting some type of cyber-crime. This includes malware infection and identity theft, towards anyone who's looking to retrieve MP3 files online.  Due to the demand for digital media, cyber-crime is a very big business. Any media that can be streamed is at risk including, TV, film and music.

McAfee suggests that when searching entertainment content without being aware of where the content is coming from, users become more exposed to risks.

Movie fan sites are likely to infect users. Cyber-crooks lay traps through in-demand movies. Movie fans expose themselves to a host of risks by using unauthorized illegal content they often become victims of identity theft, malicious code that's downloaded with a streamed movie. However, ratings, reviews and theatre inquiries are surprisingly safe.

The information provided in this report is important to the industry because we live in a technological society where young adults are the leading users of technology and teenagers are the future leaders in society who thrive off using gadgets, smart phones, uploading and retrieving information, video conferencing and streaming content and videos on youtube and sites identical to youtube. Their is no limit to the abilities that users have as they track responses, fans, followers and potential social networks that they also connect with. We are in a information age where technology gains status over all genres of material that may be accessed.

Article:
Greve, Paula. (2010.). Re: "Digital music and movies report: The true cost of entertainment." Retrieved on Nov. 10, 2010. From www.mpaa.org at  http://newsroom.mcafee.com/images/10039/DMMRReport_US_25Aug2010.pdf.

Non-Verbal Story telling

Non-Verbal Story telling at ted.com

I viewed an online video on ted.com that showcased a speaker named, Chris Anderson. Anderson’s video is called, “ideas worth spreading.” This clip can be shown on the following link http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/chris_anderson_how_web_video_powers_global_innovation.htm.

It was interesting because Anderson provides us with information regarding online video and explains why he believes that online video is far more advanced than print media. He shares evidence that video technology is a powerful source which replaces the face-to-face component that allows us to relate to elements of material that is presented.

His assertion that innovation emerges out of groups is very accurate. I believe his theories because I personally love to log on to youtube and watch interesting clips that people create. Most of the clips that I watch are referred to me and if I find them interesting I will refer them to someone else and the list goes on. The truth is that we thrive off entertainment and the way we learn of new material is often through word-of-mouth referrals. We are a social species that relate more through visual media than anything else. Although print media is still a popular source of information, we seem to be going away from the traditional way of reading and focusing on e-books, audio books and even online publications. With the way that technology is moving us forward we will soon be offering mini computers and technology to the k-12 student just so they can be prepared for the advancements that will be current during their time. To compete in today's society it seems that we must use computer technology and become familiar with it so we can be aware of whats current. 

In reference to the video. Mr. Anderson opens up to his audience by showing us a clip of children dancing and explains that these children are self taught how to dance through web technology. These clips not only piqued the audience but also kept their attention throughout the speech. He also shared a clip that was created in Kenya, Africa on the advancement of the people and the culture. Using video technology as a source we were able to see the vegetables that the natives planted and witness the development of their people by simply watching a simple video.  Mr. Anderson asserted that web technology is an eco system on how innovation emerges due to the fact that millions are connected and able to view a clip of material once it is uploaded. His examples offered me more of a visual representation of the facts that he explained. We are often told that great speakers are excellent story tellers. Mr. Anderson definitely provided us with a plethora of information and shared his findings by presenting facts in a excellent story telling format.