Introduction
Precious is a 2009 American drama film that is based on the novel Push by Sapphire. The plot is centered around a young African American girl Precious that is obese, illiterate, and pregnant by her father. A 16-year-old girl, experiencing tremendous pressure from the world around her, is able to begin to control her life, and it gives her a chance for a brighter future. In the beginning, Precious was an antisocial and unconfident person, but proper education played a significant role in helping her to reload the way she existed.
Main body
The girl failed to succeed while attending a public school due to three social institutions: family, education, and economy. Throughout the film, Precious is physically and mentally tortured by her parents and becomes literate only in a special school after being expelled from a regular one (Kyrölä, 2017). Since she lived in terrible family conditions with constant violence, it is possible to conclude that the relationships with her relatives influenced the academic performance of the hero. In the context of education, Precious was not capable of reading and writing. Therefore, there was no opportunity for her to correspond to the requirements of the school curriculum. The economy, in particular the social sphere that is the responsibility of the government, demonstrates its inability to provide meaningful assistance to suffering people in need. Thus, Precious’s life is a complex problem, the reasons for which are considered from the point of view of various social institutions.
At the same time, the system that contributed to her further development and potential was also education. Precious has resolved to care for her children, obtain an education, and refuse to be harassed by her mother or the welfare programs (Kyrölä, 2017). Due to their education, by the end of the film, she learned to read, became a more social person, and was able to look at her life objectively. The reassessment of values, provoked by the acquisition of knowledge, allowed her to draw the right conclusions regarding their life purpose.
Conclusion
To conclude, Precious’s problems are analyzed with the help of such social institutions as the family, education, and economy. However, the reason for her success in life was the acquisition of new knowledge and skills. The main character gained the opportunity to assess her standard of living and the social conditions that were surrounding her. The significance of getting mental development is described by the need to make important decisions.
Reference
Kyrölä, K. (2017). Feeling bad and Precious (2009): black suffering, white guilt, and intercorporeal subjectivity. Subjectivity, 10(3), 258–275. Web.