Discussing
Is the world of ‘Precious’ beyond redemption?

Sometimes making a movie like this is a prophetic act, kind of like the Levite in Judges 19 whose concubine was sexually abused and killed by the townspeople of Gibeah. To wake Israel to it’s moral depravity, he cut her in 12 pieces and sent them to each to the 12 tribes. It was a wake-up call to confront the sin in their midst. This family is suffering from an incurable sickness. It is a sickness that is festering in the community. The abuse of the father, the negligence of the mother, the despair of the girl, the bleakness of the community are all symptoms of sin. Pouring money on the situation would be pouring gasoline onto a fire. Social workers stand helpless at such profound darkness.

We were never charged to “redeem the world in God’s name”, to go and make everything right, to build the Kingdom. Muslims “redeem the world in God’s name”, pass Sharia laws, build mosques, build holy cities and broadcast calls to prayer over towns. We are called instead to build up the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Redeeming the world is something only Jesus will do. In fact, the disciples were puzzled why Christ did not redeem the world during his ministry. After his crucifixion the disciples said, “but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.”

For this dispensation, Jesus “redeems us from the curse of the law”, “redeems us from wickedness”, “redeems us from an empty way of life”. Eventually He will redeem the world.

We were called to make disciples, to teach, to baptize, to preach the good news, to lay hands on the sick, to cast out demons, to proclaim the good news of forgiveness. The sickness of this girl’s family and community is sin and the only remedy is the gospel, repentance and walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

This movie should be a call to revival.

percious the movie

The world see this kind of abuse every day and turn there heads even down to the social workers i'm not here to judge but i live this life and can related sooooooo!!!!!! much and still going trough they all ways claim to reach out tell some one what is going on and i was a child then i like one comment that percious love hurts and love don't do anything but beat you down i'm not bitter sure i'm a little better off then i was when i was a child in fact back in those days then, who was their to tell it took the grace of god to pull me out of what i was going through i thought that i would not live to see the aged of 16 or if i did i was going to whine up in a mental institution still going through but aren't we all going through something so right now i still feel like i've have no one to turn to but god i have to encouge my self and when you tell people what you are going through this is the most that you get oh honey i wish that i can help you but/ oh i hope that things get better for you /oh honey thing will get better. oh so easy to say when you are not walking those shoe i'm glad that this movie was made to put it out there cause everyday someone is going through this kind of unhappiness and it is just swept right under the rug you have to live it to see it and to talk about it but i do believe that god surley let people like that see that they get their redemption at the end of the tunnel. So you see i have no room to judge what was actually play out to realization in god's grace amen.

Precious is a real life story of many people you don't see. I regret your 'exploitative horror show and inspirational hooey' line. It is a couple of months in the life of an everyday poor kid in NYC.

Whereas institutions are condemned, it was the people (straight and gay) in social services and alternative high school that SAVED her, that heard her 'screams' when her mother clearly should have.

Precious had the survival skills necessary; perseverance, fortitude and resiliency. I left the movie hopeful, especially if she was able to get into an AZT trial. The story leaves you wanting to learn more.

We see young people waking down the streets, we make judgments without knowing their situations. Precious is a wake up call to any of us who make snap judgments. The book, which goes into the story of the other girls in the class shows us that Precious story is just one of many people given awful chances to succeed. This was everyday life in my world in the 1980s.

Your article comes accross as pity when what Precious and youth like her need are good people who are willing to address the systemtic problems that are in their lives, such as the people she had in her life. Where parents don't know how to parent and schools are overwhelmed caring for social needs while trying to educate kids.

Sigh, somehow I thought you might mention something about the church scene with it's view of the kingdom, people of different abilities and clear background stories, singing in the choir and how she saw herself there.

She vomited because she was pregnant. You never mentioned how she was made into a heavyset woman child. There was so much that you did not comment on in this movie. It makes me wonder, could you handle living in Precious' world?

I'm sorry you took my original post as a rejection of the movie, because it isn't (in fact, on my Web site I gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 4 stars). One of the things I appreciated about "Precious" was that it was not an exploitative horror show or inspirational hooey, but rather something more honest in between those two. I meant to be equally honest about the dismay I felt at encountering her horrible life experience and my frustration at not knowing exactly how a Christian could respond. Thanks for mentioning a few options, including that of making our churches safe havens for those who are alone and in serious trouble.

We were called to make disciples, to teach, to baptize, to preach the good news, to lay hands on the sick, to cast out demons, to proclaim the good news of forgiveness. The sickness of this girl’s family and community is sin and the only remedy is the gospel, repentance and walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
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