Hey I Like your Afro

I finally got to see Precious, the film everyone has been talking about by director Lee Daniels, about an illiterate, plus-size and pregnant girl from Harlem who finds her way out of an abusive home through the power of learning. Long before it’s opening last Friday, the film has been gathering a lot of buzz especially towards its star performers including newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, and yes even Mariah Carey.

After having seen the film, I can say that all the acclaim the film has received so far is warranted. All the actors, especially comedy darling Mo’Nique who plays opposite Sidibe as her relentlessly abusive mother Mary Jones, make this a a moving film that resonated in my consciousness for days afterwards. Watching Mo’Nique in her role gave me chills and many are calling her performance Oscar worthy.

Another impressive force is non other than pop diva slash actress, Mariah Carey. It’s hard to believe Carey’s second film since her easily forgettable debut in Glitter, is generating acting buzz but it’s true. In fact, the Palm Springs International Film Festival is awarding Carey with the Break Through Performance Award, an award whose past honorees include Oscar recipients Jennifer Hudson, Marion Cotillard and Freida Pinto.And she can’t seem to stop buzzing herself. At the film’s press conference for the Toronto International Film Festival, Carey wouldn’t stop talking about how difficult it was to see herself as an “ugly” character.

“They totally changed me. I didn’t want to look in the mirror. It was beyond dressing down because Lee Daniels loved to torture me. He really wanted me to not just look plain, he wanted me to look homely. That was his goal. He wanted a mustache and an under-the-eye thing and the bad hair.” Via: Us Weekly

To see Carey without makeup is yes, shocking but in no way does that make her eligible for an Academy Award. To see Carey flex real emotion (and shocker of all shockers, real tears) was, I’ll admit, moving. And ok, she may have carried the pivotal emotional crescendo of the film in the final scene when the protagonist (played by Sidibe) sits down with her mother for the first time since she fist-fought her way out of an abusive home and I applaud her efforts. But with all the complaining she’s been doing about looking the part of dowdy inner-city social worker Ms. Weiss, it makes me want to ditch her efforts out the window altogether.

Finally, no one can stop talking about the film’s darling, twenty-six year-old psychology major turned (*ahem Award wining) actress, Gabby Sidibe. The actress is making waves for not only her stirring performance but she’s also causing a stir among Hollywood industry insiders as an incoming talent with an un-hollywood body. As if she hasn’t already impressed you, Sidibe’s real life valley-girl-esque personality is almost polar opposite to the character she plays in Precious. Finally, Hollywood, a land that was once reserved for the beautiful, tanned and skinny, is making room for talents like Sidibe.

“I just hope that people can get past what I look like, and what other — you know, what other people look like. And see the heart and the soul of the person.” Via: CBS