History YMMV / Precious

*** Because that's where he ''starts''. It's practically his only scene and it's how we're introduced both to his character and to Precious herself. You can't cross a line if you ''started'' on the other side; Mary, for all her other monstrous qualities, is shown to have (however, briefly) actually loved Precious very much when she was a little girl.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** After [[spoiler:hurling the television set at Precious and her son, Mary grumps back into the apartment, doesn't even bother to clean herself up, flops into her chair, picks up the remote and...]]
** "[[spoiler:Precious' son Abdul]] looks just like his daddy." [[spoiler:In the sequel Precious succumbs to AIDS and Abdul is put into an OrphanageOfFear where he's abused and raped and eventually becomes a violent rapist.]]

* ToughActToFollow: Creator/TylerPerry was really hoping that his adaptation of ''Theatre/ForColoredGirls'' would be as well-regarded as this. It didn't quite live it to its hype.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: A story about a 16-year-old illiterate obese girl having a baby resulting from her father's rapes while dealing with an abusive mother? That's something the Oscars might think went too far. ItGetsWorse, the baby has Down syndrome, a second incest-rape baby is on the way, her mother is also sexually abusive, and at the end she finds out her father is dead. From HIV. That she also has. And she's only sixteen (though fortunately for Precious, she gets a few hopeful moments by the end: she can read and write, her kids are HIV-negative, and she's finally escaped her parents). While these elements are typically Hollywood poison, they're extremely popular with LitFic. Being TheFilmOfTheBook of the critically acclaimed Push, the film already had the buzz of a hot literary property, plus the support of superstars like Tyler Perry and Oprah. Precious made $62 million and earned two Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Mo'Nique as Precious' mother Mary) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

* ValuesDissonance: During an emotional breakdown to her teacher, Precious reveals that her father Carl wants to marry her. Precious retorts that "it ain't even legal!"