comment #1

LauraReeling says ...

"All dramatic art always points to some vein of human behavior and says to its audience, "This but for the grace of God could be your story or your neighbor's...consider it, open your heart, let it in."

Yes, and wouldn't that refer to Precious herself? Why can't Mo'Nique be regarded as a sociopath and leave it at that? She gives a masterful performance, especially in that final scene where she *almost,* but only *almost* gains sympathy - it's that underlying disconnect from the human race that shines through and makes the performance so powerful. I don't really understand this argument.

comment #2

Colin says ...

There is nothing to be gained showing the explots of Bundy and Gein. They were in it for the fame, and the homocidal urges they felt put them above everyone else.

Praising Precious has less to do with Monique's character than the ability of Precious to pull her life together.

I can understand that Precious made you feel uncomfortable Wells, but to lump it in with it serial killer films because of that is disappointing.

comment #3

cinefan says ...

I believe that dramatic art should get at the truth of the human condition and how people behave and act. What's the difference between Monique's character in Precious and, say, Daniel Day Lewis' in There Will Be Blood and James Coburn's Affliction (I don't remember you criticizing their performances and characters like you're doing now with Monique). What's the difference? All these characters are, basically, vile monsters who also happen to be parents. Why do I have to be able to relate to a black grandmother who calls her granddaughter a Mongoloid to appreciate the greatness of a film or a character? The fact that such women exist in the world and that it is the reponsibility of dramatic art, whether it be in book or film form, to portray them truthfully is more than enough for me. To me, there's no difference at all between Monique portraying an abusive black mother and an actor on stage portraying a Shakespearean monster like Iago or Richard III - both are completely valid and truthful forms of dramatic art. It is completely irrelevant whether or not you can relate to the characters based on your own life experiences.

comment #4

royalonemn says ...

I don't understand it either. A) Mo'Nique's character helps the narrative structure of the plot. B) People in our lives do all sorts of shit that we say "Why the fuck did he/she say or do that to me" and we never discover why. Maybe if we're lucky, we rationalize it after many hours of therapy.

The human condition is a Bell Curve, Jeff. Most of us fall into the normal variations of human behavior and we see that in most films. Every now and again someone will drown 5 of their children in a car, or sell their daughter into slavery, murder their foster children, and we realize that there's a whole area of being that we as people have no understanding of. And it's that ability to wrestle with that and to try to find the humanity in that which grows you as a person and as a receiver of art.

The whole time I watched "Precious" I kept thinking "how can this monster exist" and the final monologue did reveal that. She's sick! Point blank. These things make sense in her head. And I respect Lee Daniels for not sanitizing her behavior to make it "pretty" for people.

People in this world do some ugly things because it seems right in their heads. My aunt is a schizophrenic and before she was diagnosed in the 80s, she did all manner of evil things to our family (including pulling a loaded gun on my grandmother). Because she was a poor, innercity black woman, the idea of her going to a therapist or getting diagnosed with some mental disease was completely foreign. And that's a cultural thing that you might not understand. The only time most poor people get any kind of assistance is AFTER their condition has gotten extremely bad or they've harmed someone else.

And that's one of the sad things about Mary's character. Yes, she's done all these atrocious things to Precious, but at the end, you see that the system has failed this woman as well. It's the cycle of violence. She's as much a victim as Precious is. This type of crazy shit happens everyday, Jeff. Open your eyes.

comment #5

Caustic712 says ...

Agreed with Laura and Colin. Wells' rationale could just as easily apply to Hannibal Lecter, Nurse Ratched, Daniel Plainview, Amon Goeth, Anton Chigurh, the Zodiac killer, and any number of villains or antiheroes.

The fact that Mary Jones exists in a more realistic setting, and is guilty of domestic atrocities rather than more "cinematic" crimes, doesn't make her more relatable than those above, or Precious a better movie. But the idea that antagonists in a movie have to be "us" or the movie's no good...

To read that last scene with Mary as something the filmmakers intended to make her more sympathetic is pretty short-sighted. It's her attempt to make herself sympathetic, which only reveals her to be more monstrous. The other characters in the movie can see that, Jeff; not sure why you can't.

comment #6

cinefan says ...

Just to add a little to my earlier post, I'd like to pass along the eloquent first sentence of Owen Glieberman's glowing review of Precious: "Part of the great power of movies is that they can take us perilously close to the life of someone we might otherwise feel perilously far from." This is one of the things that makes film such a beneficial and useful growth tool for one's soul and psyche.

comment #7

Glenn Kenny says ...

"...the system has failed this woman as well. It's the cycle of violence. She's as much a victim as Precious is. This type of crazy shit happens everyday, Jeff. Open your eyes."

Holy shit. If there was ever a specious argument that could compel a putative progressive to jump aboard the conservative "personal responsibility" boat, Royalonemn's is absolutely it. Because really, when does it stop? WHo HASN'T this "system" failed? You could make the same argument on behalf of Charles Manson and his girls if you really put your mind to it. All you have to do is ignore the scores of people who grew up in horrendous environments and didn't become that person. What possibly could have restrained them? Morality? Ethics? Nah, couldn't be.

comment #8

LarryGopnik says ...

You've truly become fully unhinged, Wells.

Did people love Javier Bardem's performance because Anton Chigurh was "us" on some level? Was Jimmy Markum "us" on some level? Or on the other end of the spectrum, was Alan Arkin's foul-mouthed Grandpa "us"? How about Daniel Day-Lewis's portrayal of Daniel Plainview? Did people love and praise and reward that performance in large numbers because they related to it and saw themselves mirrored in it?

Not all characters in art are relatable (in fact, most aren't), and the praise generally comes from an appreciation of the extent to which they make that character come to life. But then, you know that -- you're just grasping at straws (a different straw each day, it seems) to find new courses of action to attack "Precious." It's disgusting.

You're obviously, absolutely entitled to be viscerally put-off by, and even loathe, this movie, but it's kind of pathetic how you keep latching onto whatever attack-of-the-week is hurled at it, acting as if it's a rational, personal response.

And for the record, a big reason why Mo'Nique's performance (and her final scene) is so stunning is because it takes a character who virtually none of us can actually relate to or feel any sympathy for and forces us -- again, especially in that final scene -- to acknowledge her as a human being. Not "like" her or "forgive" her (as you seem to have misinterpreted in the previous posts); what makes that scene so beautifully written/acted is that it explains her behavior without, for a second, justifying it. If anything, it makes her MORE of a monster, just a monster we understand.

comment #9

Ray says ...

I think what's really bothering Wells here is an undercurrent of racism within himself that he is trying to rationize in these rants.

And within myself as well. I was almost physically I'll watching this film, mainly because I've seen some behavior in black people that mirrors what's portrayed in this film. In some respects, black people in America have REDUCED THEMSELVES to the level of animals, rather than use their gifts to better themselves. This film illustrates that aspect very well.

I just want to add that the examples above about Daniel Plainview are spot on ... Wells loved that performance, and that character is really no different from Mary in terms of relatability.

comment #10

bmcintire says ...

It is almost stupefying to read something this asinine from Wells. Almost.
Someone must need some additional hits to finish his Christmas shopping.

Ray - would you care to take a look at MTV's "Jersey Shore" and maybe re-think that series of statements regarding race?

comment #11

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Wells to Larry Gopnik: Anton Chigur and those other baddies you mention were evil and yet curiously cool. Mo'Nique is Parental Beastliness Incarnate. She's simply repulsive. There's an art to this stuff. But your Irish is up mainly because you're a "Precipus" lover. Right? Admit it, say it out loud..."I'm on the Precious team!". Well, I'm on the other team and we're trying to do the right thing here. For the ages, for the Movie Godz. I am a man of the cloth and I know what this movie is basically doing (or trying to do).

comment #12

cinefan says ...

So, Wells is on the "team" that's full of crap and 100% in the wrong on this issue?
That's good to know.

comment #13

Caustic712 says ...

So "evil and yet curiously cool" is relatable? There but for the grace go we all? At the right place and time, any of us could be Noah Cross, and so on?

Mary IS repulsive. She's not supposed to be "curiously cool". She tries to make her case that she's a human being, and shows she's not just evil, but pathetic to boot. Everyone walks away from her. Literally, end of story.

You don't have to like the movie or the performance, Wells. I don't consider myself on a team here. But to say it shouldn't be appreciated because you can't relate to her... that's like saying I can't (or shouldn't) appreciate the quality of your writing, just because your thesis is faulty. (Which is untrue -- I can appreciate it.)

comment #14

Gordon27 says ...

So, Jeff, you love 'A Serious Man'. Does this mean you see yourself as a do-nothing nebbish who is being constantly put upon by a cold, uncaring world? Because I liked that movie, but I sure don't relate to the lead character.

comment #15

Bob Hightower says ...

I've read a lot about this movie pro and con, but this trailer is the first footage I've seen from it. It looks good -- most trailers make me want to avoid the movies, but this one makes me want to see it. Clearly there's a lot of heart in the film. Thanks for posting the trailer, Jeff!

comment #16

Ray says ...

@bmcintire- no I would not because statistics prove my point. Blacks make up 16% of America, but make up 80% of the prison population and a vast majority of welfare recipients. And I personally know some black women who get pregnant or claim other kids so that they do not have to work. I know others who sell their food stamps for alcohol and other stuff.

Yeah, there are black people who are achieving a lot, but I'd say the large majority of them need a serious readjustment.

comment #17

Phreaker says ...

Right, because what we want in the Oscars is to only reward/recognize honorable, upstanding, thin and pretty people. There Will Be Blood anyone? How is Daniel Day Lewis' Daniel Plainview any less of a monster? A disgusting, mewling monster and yet .... and yet .... OSCAR!

comment #18

Chase Kahn says ...

I'm not a fan of "Precious", but I am a fan of this performance (Mo'Nique) and that final scene. To me it's one of the few moments in the entire film where Daniels lets the actors/actresses and the writing speak for itself and it works wonders.

I actually like what Gopnik said:

"A big reason why Mo'Nique's performance (and her final scene) is so stunning is because it takes a character who virtually none of us can actually relate to or feel any sympathy for and forces us to acknowledge her as a human being."

comment #19

Chicago48 says ...

Why isn't Quinton Aaron being mentioned as a actor nom?

comment #20

LFF says ...

The Daniel Plainview character was so fascinating because, for as indeilble as he was, he also had meta-weight as a "type". If you are going to make that comparison, you are adding that to the performance, with all of its attendant racial implications.

I personally think a better comparison would be Charlize Theron's performance in MONSTER.

comment #21

Bob Hightower says ...

Ray, you tread on dangerous ground when you generalize negatively about an entire group of people. There's a word for that kind of thing.

comment #22

Gordon27 says ...

"no I would not because statistics prove my point."

Do they? Because the statistics you cite prove nothing.

"Blacks make up 16% of America, but make up 80% of the prison population and a vast majority of welfare recipients."

So you're saying that they're a minority, yet they still collectively as a whole are financially worse off than, say, white people? That is interesting, but it certainly doesn't prove your point. Citing those statistics together, most people would infer (unlike you) that the "poverty" and "crime" aspects are possibly connected in some way. Good for you for rejecting obvious statistical connections in favor of blanket racism.

"And I personally know some black women who get pregnant or claim other kids so that they do not have to work. I know others who sell their food stamps for alcohol and other stuff."

Ah, see, you're confusing here, because you're saying this after saying that statistics prove your point, whereas these are anecdotes with no statistical evidence, and seem to anecdotes where you make a pretty big leap, that because you know one black person who does something, that all black people do it, and that no white people or any other race do it. It's a strange assumption -- why are you leaping to the conclusion that *black* people are more likely to sell their food stamps, as opposed to making the assumption that *alcoholic* poor people are going to be the ones selling their food stamp money for alcohol?

comment #23

adorian says ...

My father was very much like the Mo'Nique character. On good days, he was Robert Duvall in the Great Santini, but on the bad days, he was Mo'Nique. And we had a lot of bad days. I was able to escape and survive, so I kept hoping Precious could do the same. If I can do it, anyone (even Precious) can. To the memorable villains, let's add Faye Dunaway as Mommie Dearest, Al Pacino as Scarface, was it Kim Stanley as Frances Farmer's mother? Iago in Othello. I'll even add the shark in Jaws. (I wish Johnny Depp would do a movie about John Wilkes Booth. We could admire his acting without saying we approve of what he does in the movie.) You can admire the acting technique without saying you agree with what the character is doing.

comment #24

VictorLazlo says ...

I can't believe I'm reading the comments by RAY. Does he even know he's a full on racist?

To suggest that MOST black people need a "serious readjustment" is STUPEFYING. Again, Ray, do you even KNOW that you're racist?

Well fuck you, my family, and wide range of friends who happen to be black are all law abiding, productive citizens and in the case of my family, have been since the fucking 1700s.

comment #25

adorian says ...

In my haste to list memorable villains, I forgot to add Denzell Washington in Training Day and the Wicked Witch of the West in Wizard of Oz. To establish dramatic conflict, we often need a totally good person (Cinderella) to be tormented by a totally bad character (the wicked stepmother). It's a basic story that recurs throughout literature.

comment #26

Todd says ...

Jeff, you are very fortunate not to have been a RN who has dealt with significant cases of child abuse and then have to deal with their parents who were still able to visit them. Jeff in the real world outside of movie world characters like the one Mo'Nique played do exist. There is no rhyme or reason for their behavior. It just is. It's frustrating to deal with them and to know there are many out there with children no less.

comment #27

Ray says ...

@ Gordon 27 - I absolutely agree that poverty has some relation to crime among black people. No doubt about it. But it's also a mindset issue. I've worked in places like grocery stores, where I watched black people steal liquor and beer all day long ... they don't NEED those things ... they simply WANT it without paying for it. Their mindset is this: I want something but I don't earn enough or want to work to earn enough to pay gfor it ... so I'll just take it.

It's the same mindset that Mary shows in this film ... I don't want to work, so I'll just claim kids so I can get a big fat check from the government. It's a form of stealing, essentially.

Bill Cosby addressed some of these types of issues, in addition to dealing with the pulled-down pants and the terrible, half-assed English they speak ... and black people cried foul when he did it. They didn't like being called out by one of their own for their laziness and ungrateful attitudes.

Poverty or not, it's up to the individual person to make the right decisions, work hard to earn what they have, and work for the betterment of society. This "I need reparations because I'm black" bullshit is getting the black community nowhere.

@ VictorLazlo - I'm glad that you and your family have maintained a spotless record since 1700. I cannot say the same about mine entirely.

I do not consider myself a racist, although I will admit that I'm more racist than I was twenty years ago. I've seen far too much nonsense from black people in general to be able to dismiss it, and the stats I cited (available anywhere online) demonstrate that a large percentage of black people need some sort of readjustment. I didn't say they needed to swing from a fucking noose, but they need to start looking at how their attitudes and values hinder them from bettering themselves.

EXAMPLE: If I'm an employer, would I really want to give a good paying job to a black guy who (a) didn't finish high school or go to college, (b) speaks poor or unintelligible English, (c) cannot write properly, (d) dresses with his ass hanging out of his pants, (e) wears a gold grill in his mouth.

You might want to say I'm stereotyping with those examples, but those are some black people I dealt with TODAY. Don't fucking tell me I'm a racist because I wouldn't hire any of these fucking slackers.

I'm a white male - I'm the majority in America. But if I was in a minority, I wouldn't CONFORM to the stereotypes of my minority ... I would work hard to bust those stereotypes. Black people in general chafe at some of the things they're accused of - sloppy dress, Ebonics, unintelligble speech, illiterate, lazy, thieves, criminals, destructive - but they respond to that by BEING that way. It makes no sense at all.

Here's an idea: go to school every day, work hard to get good grades, use the money the government is begging to give you to go to college, work hard there to get good grades, get a degree, and find a good paying job.

Statistics and my personal experience shows that most black people are not doing this simple recipe for success. That's the REALITY of it, and I really dont' care if you think that's racist or not.

comment #28

Todd says ...

FYI I remeber years ago of not wanting to discharge a two year old child to his mother because her anger and hate for the child was too apparent to me. The Social worker at the hospital told me they could not hold up discharge because of my feelings. Another nurse discharged the child. He ended up in the burn unit two days later with multiple cigarette burn marks on his body. She used him to put out her cigarettes. She did not offer a reason why. She got caught because she took him in for a follow up appointment to have his ears checked not thinking or caring if the health providers would notice the burn marks.

comment #29

VictorLazlo says ...

"EXAMPLE: If I'm an employer, would I really want to give a good paying job to a black guy who (a) didn't finish high school or go to college, (b) speaks poor or unintelligible English, (c) cannot write properly, (d) dresses with his ass hanging out of his pants, (e) wears a gold grill in his mouth."

WHo says you should? Would you give the job to a white guy that looks the same? You're not really making sense.

"I'm a white male - I'm the majority in America. But if I was in a minority, I wouldn't CONFORM to the stereotypes of my minority ... I would work hard to bust those stereotypes. Black people in general chafe at some of the things they're accused of - sloppy dress, Ebonics, unintelligble speech, illiterate, lazy, thieves, criminals, destructive - but they respond to that by BEING that way. It makes no sense at all."

It's really scary that racist idiots like you may actually be in charge of hiring and firing. There are millions upon millions of gainfully employed black people in blue and white collar jobs.

Just to get this straight, you are saying most black people are lazy, shiftless, speak in ebonics, and criminal. HAHAHA. Wow! Let me guess you also post on the STORMFRONT website.

"Statistics and my personal experience shows that most black people are not doing this simple recipe for success. That's the REALITY of it, and I really dont' care if you think that's racist or not."

SHow me the statistics that say most black people are not doing "this simple recipe for success". Come on, show me the numbers.

You can dress it up and rationalize but you're a vile ignorant racist.

comment #30

LarryGopnik says ...

Let me get this straight, Wells: if someone is defending a film, their opinion is invalidated because they like the film?

Yes, I love the film -- it'll surely be in my top 10 at year's end -- but I'd be the last person to say it's "perfect" or defend it from any and all criticism. Just YOUR criticism happens to be completely wrongheaded, knee-jerk, and if I may say so, disingenuous.

And while we may not all see ourselves in Mo'Nique's character, I DO think a big part of why the film works for so many people is because the themes in the film ARE universal, even if the specific attributes of the characters may not be.

I think the movie really resonates with those who've ever thought of themselves as unworthy, "less than" or been steeped in a situation(s) they thought were insurmountable/untenable (much in a way how "Brokeback" resonated not just with gay people, but with anyone who ever regretted not letting a certain aspect of themselves manifest in the way that they should/could have, or not going a certain direction in life).

So yeah, I do think the universality is there, even if the characters in the film's skin was too dark for you to relate.

comment #31

Gordon27 says ...

"I absolutely agree that poverty has some relation to crime among black people."

No, poverty relates to crime, full-stop. Poverty disproportionately affects black people.

"I've worked in places like grocery stores, where I watched black people steal liquor and beer all day long ... they don't NEED those things ... they simply WANT it without paying for it."

But the thing is that you ascribe this to the fact that these people are black, rather than the fact that the area in which you worked had a lot of poor black people. If you worked in a Latino neighborhood, you would be saying the same thing about Latinos. If you worked in a poor white neighborhood, you'd come to the same conclusion about white people. That's because poor people steal alcohol from markets.

"I don't want to work, so I'll just claim kids so I can get a big fat check from the government. It's a form of stealing, essentially."

Another idea you've magically ascribed solely to black people. Apparently, you've taken the statistic about how many black people are in jail and assumed the majority are there for welfare fraud, a crime that was obviously invented and solely perpetuated by those crafty (but also lazy) black folks.

"You might want to say I'm stereotyping with those examples, but those are some black people I dealt with TODAY. Don't fucking tell me I'm a racist because I wouldn't hire any of these fucking slackers."

Nobody said that you're racist for not hiring those slackers. The reason you're racist is that you're defining black people by *those* slackers, even though (by your own words here), those were only *some* of the black people you dealt with today.

comment #32

bitplayer says ...

I find it interesting that there is all this dissection of the film when in reality it's no different than any of the other really bad parent movies we've seen in the last 30 years. I really think this has something to do with this being a "black" film. While I can appreciate some of the craft and the performances I honestly don't think the movie is worth all this inspection. In fact I find it exploitive not because of Mary[s evil ways but because of all the shit heaped on Precious. It's too much for job. Just because it may happen or perhaps did happen doesn't mean we need to see it.

comment #33

THE MovieBob says ...

First things first: Ray, you ARE in fact a racist. That in and of itself isn't a massive thing - lot's of people are racists, most of them don't even realize it. ANYONE who has a belief or policy of human-interaction primarily based around race is technically a "racist." Properly-applied, that designation covers everything from the negative ("I hate all black people") to the quasi-positive ("Asian women are the hottest women on the planet.")

YOU, however, also seem to be a racial BIGOT. And that is a pretty massive thing, and a sad statement in this day and age.

comment #34

Chicago48 says ...

Why isn't there a campaign for Quinton Aaron for best actor?

comment #35

THE MovieBob says ...

That out of the way... Wells, I really have to say I think you need to take a look inside on this one and come to hard terms with whatever it is that's "really" bugging you about this movie.

Look, I'm a confirmed "Precious" apostate...
http://moviebob.blogspot.com/2009/11/precious-based-on-watching-of-movie.html

...it's overdirected, cliche-ridden, "inspirational"-schlock for the most part. But the acting isn't the problem, it's the main saving grace. Mo'Nique is magnificient in it. She's playing a monster, which is nothing new, but the difference here is that she's going to brave route of playing a monster with NO redeeming or "softening" qualities. Hannibal Lecter is "cool" with his superhuman-strength and intellectual-prowess. Daniel Plainview is well-spoken, handsome and good at what he does. Mary is a monster AND a weakling, a failure as a human being, ugly and ignorant. To play that and NOT be a caricature is hard, and Mo'Nique deserves praise for that.

I get the sense - not necessarily from Wells all the way, but a sense - that for some critics the stumbling block here isn't so much race or racism as it is internal strife ABOUT race. What I mean is, if this was set among poor whites in the rural south, or a hardline-fundamentalist sect in the Middle East, or in postwar China or something, I don't think you'd see this kind of blowback.

Mary may or may not be representative of some real black women, but she's ALSO the nightmare-image of the black poverty-class that more white people (or middle-to-upper-class people of any color, really) than will admit it have floating in the back of their mind BEFORE going into the theater. And when they see her, and realize that a fraction of their reaction might kinda-sorta be coming from a place of "Ugh, I KNEW it..." it bothers them; and they project that negativity back onto the film: "It can't be that *I* harbor ugly fears about black people, it MUST be the movie that put them there! Therefore, this movie ITSELF is racially-exploitative!" (I think this is what Ray was getting at before his own demonstrable bigotry got in the way.)

Not saying I think that's where you're at, Jeff... but you might wanna think about it all the same.

comment #36

Ray says ...

@ Gordon27 - Good point about poverty ... I should not have added "black people" at the end of that statement.

I never said that the majority of black people who are in prison are there for welfare fraud. In fact, as stats show, they are there for violent crimes or theft. What I did say is that 16% of the population are black, yet 80% of the people in prison are black, and black people make up the majority of welfare recipients.

To all of those people here who are saying "black people should not correct their behavior, blah blah blah" ... I would just like to point out that black people commit more of their violent crimes against one another. If that doesn't tell you that the black community needs a readjustment, nothing will.

comment #37

VictorLazlo says ...

"What I did say is that 16% of the population are black, yet 80% of the people in prison are black, and black people make up the majority of welfare recipients."

First of all your statement about blacks making up the majority of welfare recipients and prisoners is FALSE.

First, most welfare recipients are CHILDREN who get assistance with FOOD. And even then Whites make up the largest majority of welfare recipients. This information is easily obtained if you via GOOGLE.

Second WHITES make up the majority of the prison population. Blacks are DISPROPORTIONATELY represented but not the outright majority. Again GOOGLE is your friend. Did you pull that 80% number out of your ass?

From the Department of Justice website:

Whites made up 44.4% of the
jail population; blacks, 38.6%; Hispanics, 15.2%; and other races (Asians, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders), 1.8%.

And furthermore, a trip to the Department of justice website also finds this nugget:

An estimated 12.6% of black males, 3.6% of Hispanic
males, and 1.7% of white males in their late twenties were in prison or jail.

So again, a higher percentage but nowhere near as lopsided as you'd like to think.

And there is a correlation between assholes who think like you, juries and sentencing. The fact that you get triple the amount of prison time for possession or sale of crack cocaine as opposed to pure cocaine and crystal meth.

Your numbers were pulled out of your ass. You were shown to be wrong and a typical ignorant racist asshole.

comment #38

Gordon27 says ...

"To all of those people here who are saying "black people should not correct their behavior, blah blah blah""

Nobody has said that at all. What people are saying is that your impression of "all black people" is flawed, even completely false. Obviously, black people who are actually criminals should correct their behavior. Black people who want jobs need to conform more to the expectations of white job interviewers. That's all common sense.

comment #39

Colin says ...

Jeez, I could never assume that the 80% figure is more relative to prejudice on the part of police and the courts than the collective behavior of an entire race.

And aren't you the same guy who posted a pic of Obama being hung? If so I hope you never come back to this board again.

comment #40

JaySmack says ...

Has anyone noticed that all the "good" black people in "Precious" are light-skinned? So much so one thinks they're white (Mariah Carey) or Hispanic.
And all the bad black people are darker-skinned?

also, has anyone noticed that Ray is a drooling inbred moron, and living proof that some people need to be sterilized at birth?
His "statistics" are all wrong, and his mentality is sick. Guess that's what happens when all you use the "internets" for is to websurf Stormfront.