Precious

Saw the movie last night. What a sad, sad story. For the life of me, I can't think of a more depressing and heartwrenching situation. I was thinking about all the strikes that poor girl had against her, and the more I added these strikes up, the more depressed I got. To wit: A black, 16 year old girl, who is obese, illiterate, and desperately poor. Who was physically, sexually, emotionally, and psychologically abused since she was 3 years old. Who was raped by her father multiple times over many years. Who gave birth to two children by her own father, one of whom was born with Down Syndrome. And who was infected with the AIDS virus by her father. What other misery can be added to this? And yet, the most tragic thing about that story is that I can imagine that it's not as uncommon a story as one would hope. In terms of the performances by the actors, I thought they were quite good, better than average; though I'm not convinced that Mo'nique's performance merited the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. I think the most surprising (and quite good) performances were given by Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey. But it is a movie that lingers with you.