In New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.
In 1987, Claireece Precious Jones endures unimaginable hardships in her young life. Abused by her mother, raped by her father, she grows up poor, angry, illiterate, fat, unloved and generally unnoticed. So what better way to learn about her than through her own, halting dialect.
Written by anonymous
In the final confrontation scene, Mariah Carey was not directed to cry; rather, she was supposed to react with stone faced horror, just as Ms. Weiss does in the novel. However, Carey was so overpowered by the performances of Mo'Nique and Gabourey Sidibe, she broke down in tears and ducked her head away from the camera as not to ruin the scene. Director Lee Daniels loved Carey's natural reaction and kept the shot of her wiping her tears in the final cut.
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Goofs
Continuity:
When Precious steals the fried chicken, she runs out of the restaurant leaving her Each One Teach One notebook behind. The very next scene shows her finishing the chicken and going to class - where they all write in their Each One Teach One notebooks.
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Quotes
[first lines]
Clareece 'Precious' Jones:
[voiceover]
My name is Clareece "Precious" Jones. I wish I had a light-skinned boyfriend with real nice hair. And I wanna be on the cover of a magazine. But first I wanna be in one of them BET videos. Momma said I can't dance. Plus, she said who wants to see my big ass dancing, anyhow? See more »