Precious: Based Upon the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)

Claireece "Precious" Jones is a sixteen-year-old Harlem teenager who's morbidly obese, totally illiterate, very black, and the mother of a Downs Syndrome child whom she calls Mongo. She's pregnant again, and both children are the result of rape by her father. Precious lives with her mother in a darkened apartment. Her mother is uncontrollably violent towards Precious, both physically and emotionally, and epitomizes an urban welfare queen. Her torrent of vulgar rage towards Precious makes for very difficult viewing. But deep inside Precious is an emotional resilience that longs to be normal. She imagines herself as a slender blonde woman, or as having a white boyfriend. A solicitous public school teacher transfers Precious to an alternative school where an improbably gorgeous (and very light-skinned) black teacher jump starts her long road to redemption. There is exactly one man in this film, and he plays a very small role. Critics have complained that Precious trades on demeaning racist stereotypes, but Sundance honored it with awards, and fans say that it's a realistic part of the black story. Black superstars Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry have lent their name and assistance to the film.