# "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" -- really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427 "2010-02-02T19:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/1 "2010-02-02T19:17:40Z")
I’ve never seen the movie. Is this _really_ the way the title appears on screen? Because it comes across like the biggest whoring out of all time. “Hey, y’all, we got nominated for an Oscar. Go out and buy the book! You didn’t see the book at the store? Oh, that’s probably because it’s not called _Precious_, it’s called _Push_. It’s by Sapphire!” ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/2 "2010-02-02T19:30:14Z")
Well, actually, when it was first advertised it was _Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry present Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire_. And evidently, the reason why they changed the name was because there was already a movie called _Push_ that was scheduled for release in 2009. In my opinion, it should be called _Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry present Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire starring Mo’Nique and a dowdy Mariah Carey and a bunch of other people whom you should really care about because this is a real movie about real people and we gotta support our peeps, y’all_ But that might be hard to fit on a t-shirt. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/3 "2010-02-02T19:30:15Z")
I don’t know what the film’s title screen looks like, but I do know that before release, it was renamed from _Push_ to avoid confusion with the [other 2009 film named _Push_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_%282009_film%29). I think it had the book mention at release to clue people in that it was the drama, not the action film. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/4 "2010-02-02T19:31:40Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > But that might be hard to fit on a t-shirt. 🙂 _Must resist hypocritical comment about the main character._ ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/5 "2010-02-02T19:34:07Z")
No, it appears on the screen something like, “PRCS BAYZ BUK POS SFARE” or something. It’s really stupid. My theory, a bigger budget mainstream scifi film called \*\*\*Push \*\*\*came out last year, and they decided to change the title to avoid confusion. My boss gets Oscar screeners, so I watched the DVD a couple weeks ago. All the acting praise has been earned, but the director needs to find another career. Precious was almost as hamhanded as his last movie that mindbogglingly bad in every possible sense [_ **Shadowboxer** _](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396857/). In _Shadowboxer_, Cuba Gooding is fucking Helen Mirren, over and over again in some very TMI closeups. They are a team of assassins. Helen is dying of cancer. They go out on a hit, to waste drug kingpin Stephen Dorff’s woman. Helen, swathed in black, comes gunfirst around the corner into the moll’s bedroom, takes a bead, and stops: the moll is pregnant. Having cancer has given Helen a new appreciation for life, so rather than kill the woman, she rescues her. The baby drops. Helen, Cuba, mother, and son rent a big suburban home and spend several sweetly fuzzy montages watching the baby grow into a boy. All living together, in a house in the suburbs. Then Daddy Dorff finds out his family is still alive, and act iii is all ridiculous faux-Woo gunfights, ending with the little boy picking up a gun and shooting his own father the end. One of the most entertainingly atrocious movies I have ever seen. It’s available on Nutflakes streaming. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/6 "2010-02-02T19:34:29Z")
Just adding that this distinction can be very important, even going forward - [an incident I posted about previously](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8684376) explains why: > [@Ferret Herder](#): > > A friend of mine complained about the Oscar-nominated film selected for his wife’s workplace’s outing was really awful. (IIRC it was rented and shown on a big screen somewhere.) He’d heard it was so good but everyone was horrified. Turns out that instead of renting the 2004 film [Crash](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375679/), about racial tensions in intersecting stories, whoever was in charge of getting the film must have gotten the 1996 film [Crash](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115964/), a David Cronenberg film about car crash victims who now find crashes to be sexually arousing. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/7 "2010-02-02T19:36:05Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > Well, actually, when it was first advertised it was _Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry present Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire_. > > And evidently, the reason why they changed the name was because there was already a movie called _Push_ that was scheduled for release in 2009. > > In my opinion, it should be called _Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry present Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire starring Mo’Nique and a dowdy Mariah Carey and a bunch of other people whom you should really care about because this is a real movie about real people and we gotta support our peeps, y’all_ > > But that might be hard to fit on a t-shirt. I keep wanting it to be\* Push: Based on the novel Big Momma’s House by Martin Lawrence, starring Eddie Murphy and Eddie Murphy and Eddie Murphy, with a special appearance by Eddy Murphy as Norbit.\* ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/8 "2010-02-02T19:36:21Z")
I just learned this at IMDb, and LOLed: > [@](#): > > When the novel was republished in 2009, it was as a movie tie-in edition with cover art from the film, a common enough practice regarding books that have been turned into movies. What is unusual about the movie tie-in version of the book is that the book’s title had also been changed to the movie’s - which means that the book is now called “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” even though it is the novel “Push” by Sapphire. Silly rabbits. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/9 "2010-02-02T19:43:52Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > 🙂 > > _Must resist hypocritical comment about the main character._ she was on the welfare and couldn’t afford it anyway, silly. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/10 "2010-02-02T19:47:18Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I just learned this at IMDb, and LOLed Possibly this seemingly ridiculous title was applied to the movie tie-in edition to avoid confusion with another novel titled [Precious](http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Novel-Sandra-Novack/dp/1400066808), published by Random House just a few months earlier. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/11 "2010-02-02T19:49:03Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > In _Shadowboxer_, Cuba Gooding is fucking Helen Mirren, over and over again in some very TMI closeups. They are a team of assassins. Helen is dying of cancer. They go out on a hit, to waste drug kingpin Stephen Dorff’s woman. Helen, swathed in black, comes gunfirst around the corner into the moll’s bedroom, takes a bead, and stops: the moll is pregnant. Having cancer has given Helen a new appreciation for life, so rather than kill the woman, she rescues her. The baby drops. Helen, Cuba, mother, and son rent a big suburban home and spend several sweetly fuzzy montages watching the baby grow into a boy. All living together, in a house in the suburbs. You’re making this up. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/12 "2010-02-02T19:51:38Z")
I prefer _Precious: Based on the Novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien_. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/13 "2010-02-02T19:51:50Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Possibly this seemingly ridiculous title was applied to the movie tie-in edition to avoid confusion with another novel titled [Precious](http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Novel-Sandra-Novack/dp/1400066808), published by Random House just a few months earlier. _bangs head on counter_ It just gets worse, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/14 "2010-02-02T19:53:40Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You’re making this up. Am I? Man, you know what a relief it is to hear this? I wanted to unwatch it, but if it didn’t really happen to me then I feel a little less traumatized. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/15 "2010-02-02T19:56:36Z")
Don’t use one-word titles, people! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/16 "2010-02-02T19:58:49Z")
I can’t believe I went back in to confirm your claim, RickJay, because I have been traumatized anew. The following link is sponsored by Acme Eye-Brain Bleach. **N!S!F!W!** [![](https://www.mrskincdn.com/data/features/151/mirren-shadow-1.jpg) ](https://www.mrskincdn.com/data/features/151/mirren-shadow-1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/17 "2010-02-02T20:05:37Z")
And here’s a SFW, but NSFHMC (not safe for Helen Mirren’s credibility). [http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTI2ODc2MTk0MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwOTIyNDI3.\_V1.\_SX485\_SY323\_.jpg](http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTI2ODc2MTk0MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwOTIyNDI3._V1._SX485_SY323_.jpg) And I’m reminded, when I was searching for images, that in the movie, when Mirren and Gooding are given their assignments, they’re given them by a mysterious man in a wheelchair. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/18 "2010-02-02T20:07:37Z")
I shouldn’t have C&Ped that link into my browser and then hit enter. Now I too am traumatized. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/19 "2010-02-02T20:10:08Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > No, it appears on the screen something like, “PRCS BAYZ BUK POS SFARE” or something. > > It’s really stupid. > > My theory, a bigger budget mainstream scifi film called \*\*\*Push \*\*\*came out last year, and they decided to change the title to avoid confusion. > > My boss gets Oscar screeners, so I watched the DVD a couple weeks ago. All the acting praise has been earned, but the director needs to find another career. Precious was almost as hamhanded as his last movie that mindbogglingly bad in every possible sense [_ **Shadowboxer** _](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396857/). > > In _Shadowboxer_, Cuba Gooding is fucking Helen Mirren, over and over again in some very TMI closeups. They are a team of assassins. Helen is dying of cancer. They go out on a hit, to waste drug kingpin Stephen Dorff’s woman. Helen, swathed in black, comes gunfirst around the corner into the moll’s bedroom, takes a bead, and stops: the moll is pregnant. Having cancer has given Helen a new appreciation for life, so rather than kill the woman, she rescues her. The baby drops. Helen, Cuba, mother, and son rent a big suburban home and spend several sweetly fuzzy montages watching the baby grow into a boy. All living together, in a house in the suburbs. > > Then Daddy Dorff finds out his family is still alive, and act iii is all ridiculous faux-Woo gunfights, ending with the little boy picking up a gun and shooting his own father the end. > > One of the most entertainingly atrocious movies I have ever seen. It’s available on Nutflakes streaming. Enjoy. How was Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Good enough to make an otherwise horrible movie not a waste of time? ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/20 "2010-02-02T20:13:39Z")
I want to write a book called “The Novel by TWDuke” so it can be adapted into a film called **The Novel by TWDuke: Based on the Novel The Novel by TWDuke by TWDuke**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427.md?page=2)