PUSH by Saphire
Precious the movie based on the book Push
Differences/Similarities in the Novel and Film
1. The character Ms. Rain in the novel was portrayed as a middle class to lower class teacher who is harsh but has an understanding. One of her features that was prominant to Precious in the book were her braids. They symbolized having just enough money to get braids, but not enough to keep them well kept. Ms. Rain's hair was changed in the movie to a short smooth wavy hair that made her look more inviting and youthful- easy to love and be comfortable around.
.2. Precious never lived in Ms. Rain's house for a while in the book like she did in the film. The director wanted to make it seem like their relationship was so strong, or stronger than the one in the novel.
3. The director cut out a lot of Precious' thoughts that were in the book proabaly to make the movie shorter. However, the movie made up for it in body language and emotions.
4. Precious did not fall down the stair case with her baby in one arm in the novel as she did in the movie when she escaped her mother. The director was making her get away more dramatic and triumphant.
5. The scene with a hot nurse was also not in the novel because Precious was supposed to not be loved by men in the novel to show how awful her situation was. The director put the scene in to show a glimps of hope in the plot.
6. There was less scenes in the movie about her father raping her and calling her sexual names. This was most likely because if they had a lot more in the movie it might not be as enjoyable and her would have gotten worse ratings, and not been able to be rated a certain way by the movie critics.
7. Precious' mother was kept the same because it was such a big part of her story. The mother is a role model for the child. Precious' story is that she rose up from a bad home life and became a good person. She surpassed her mother's sickening attitude and abuse. As well as her father impregnating her twice.
8. Another similarity was the fact that precious had a breaking point in the relationship with her teacher. She spoke badly to the one person that loved her, taught her, and accepted her short comings. It quickly blew over. The teacher expressed her love and that is all Precious wants. Which is a part of the conflict of her story. If she was just loved properly by her parents she might be in a better situation.
9. The theme remained the same. Look for the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Never stop believing in yourself. if you put your mind to it you can achieve it.
The meaning of the story of Precious Jones was not messed with too much, because her story is powerful and moving. The directer only changed a few things to show social class status or slight hope in her journey. The rest of the movie and novel matched up really well and althoug sad to watch it was a great lesson learned.