# "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:** 2
**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, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/21 "2010-02-02T20:17:39Z")
> [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > How was Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Good enough to make an otherwise horrible movie not a waste of time? JGL, whom I love, made the best of his part: a sociopathic doctor on Dorff’s payroll. Who’s sleeping, noisily and moistly, and abusively, with Mo’Nique, a crack ho. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/22 "2010-02-02T20:19:27Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > _bangs head on counter_ > > It just gets worse, doesn’t it? I can’t wait to see the title for the video game. ---
**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, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/23 "2010-02-02T20:20:52Z")
I urge everyone who has Nutflux streaming to watch this movie. It puts _ **Precious: Based on the novel Madea Goes to Hell in a Handbasket by Tyler Perry starring Tyler Perry as Tyler Perry and Tyler Perry as Mo’Nique as a Crack Ho and Tyler Perry as Oprah Winfrey as Tyler Perry** _ in a whole new light. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/24 "2010-02-02T20:23:48Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I just learned this at IMDb, and LOLed: > > Silly rabbits. Obviously, they should have put on the cover of the movie tie-in: _Push, a novel by Sapphire; the inspiration for the film Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire._ ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/25 "2010-02-02T20:28:31Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > I prefer _Precious: Based on the Novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien_. Is this from Gollum’s view? I’d read that. ---
**Author:** ![StoutHearted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@StoutHearted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StoutHearted)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/26 "2010-02-02T20:44:30Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > JGL, whom I love, made the best of his part: a sociopathic doctor on Dorff’s payroll. Who’s sleeping, noisily and moistly, and abusively, with Mo’Nique, a crack ho. No, I wasn’t planning on eating today. Or the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/27 "2010-02-02T21:15:39Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > I can’t believe I went back in to confirm your claim, RickJay, because I have been traumatized anew. Dude! That link is N.S.F. Anywhere, Anytime, Any Man, Woman or Child Living or Dead, Real or Fictional. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/28 "2010-02-03T01:03:49Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > One of the most entertainingly atrocious movies I have ever seen. It’s available on Nutflakes streaming. Enjoy. Not a fan of Netflicks? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/29 "2010-02-03T01:43:57Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > I can’t believe I went back in to confirm your claim, RickJay, because I have been traumatized anew. The movie you described simply cannot exist in the universe I occupy. You see, for such a thing to exist, I would have to live in a universe of pure evil and horror, one ruled by the Great Old Ones of the Lovecraftian mythos, where all mortals rued their own existence and prayed for the very destruction of their souls. Only a being of unfathomable monstrosity and inconceivable villainy could create such a movie. I’m an atheist, so I don’t believe in that stuff. Your heebie-jeebie story of a movie where Cuba Gooding nails Helen Mirren and creates a little suburban assassin family is just a ghost story. A jape, if you will. Nice try. ---
**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 3, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/30 "2010-02-03T01:48:44Z")
Break out the tinfoil, **RJ** , cuz your universe is goin _down_. If I can sit through that eternal, infinite hell, a punishment I wouldn’t wish on Hitler or Oprah, then you can. Just to prove you can. In fact, I dare you. If you aren’t man enough to sit through \*Shadowboxer \*without fastforwarding or cutting yourself, then you’re just a weenie little girlie boy. ---
**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 3, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/31 "2010-02-03T01:50:10Z")
And, insult to injury, you might soon find yourself living in a universe wherein the perpetrator of this crime against humanity has an Oscar on top of his toilet tank. ---
**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 3, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/32 "2010-02-03T01:55:31Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The movie you described simply cannot exist in the universe I occupy. You see, for such a thing to exist, I would have to live in a universe of pure evil and horror, one ruled by the Great Old Ones of the Lovecraftian mythos, where all mortals rued their own existence and prayed for the very destruction of their souls. Only a being of unfathomable monstrosity and inconceivable villainy could create such a movie. > > I’m an atheist, so I don’t believe in that stuff. Your heebie-jeebie story of a movie where Cuba Gooding nails Helen Mirren and creates a little suburban assassin family is just a ghost story. A jape, if you will. Nice try. Oh shit this just made me remember another detail: during the years they all live in this little suburban country-kitchen breakfast-nook rambler, trading off doing the dishes and mowing the lawn, whenever Cooba has to go out on a job, we see–get this, I am not making this up–we see him dressed in a gray suit and tie, carrying a briefcase, lined up along the railway platform with all the other gray suits, waiting for their commuter train into the city. Now THAT’S biting social commentary. And subtle! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/33 "2010-02-03T02:51:20Z")
It seems to me that the producers were forced into this by the release of the earlier “Push.” They were forced to do something to rename the film and still keep the book’s audience. So here roughly would be the thinking. **Precious** – Title is OK, but fans of the book might not realize they’re connected. **Precious** (based on “Push”). Works as an aside, but lots of people only see the title. We need to make this clear. **Precious: Based on Push**. Nonsensical. Even fans of “Push” might not understand what that means. **Precious: Based on the Novel Push** Better, only it sounds like it’s based upon a new type of pushing. Maybe people won’t understand what the novel is. **Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire**. Now everyone knows what novel we mean. : Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire: ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/34 "2010-02-03T02:56:13Z")
It reminds me in a way of the film **Morituri** , which needed to be renamed, but which was already released to good reviews, so was rereleased as **The Saboteur: Code Name Morituri** ---
**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 3, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/35 "2010-02-03T03:49:10Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It reminds me in a way of the film **Morituri** , which needed to be renamed, but which was already released to good reviews, so was rereleased as **The Saboteur: Code Name Morituri** And is a film well worth seeking out. Don’t let “Marlon Brando as a Nazi Officer” turn you away; it’s really a great film. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/36 "2010-02-03T04:49:19Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire**. Now everyone knows what novel we mean. Or do we? Is it “based on the novel \*Push \*by Sapphire,” or “based on the novel _Push by Sapphire_”? If the latter, should we not know the author[ess], so as to prevent confusion with other novels titled _Push by Sapphire_? At a bare minimum, it should be _Precious: A Film Based on the Novel Titled Push Written by the Author Known as Sapphire_ ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/37 "2010-02-03T05:01:13Z")
Couldn’t they have titled it _Push Precious From The Train_? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/38 "2010-02-03T13:39:32Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I can’t wait to see the title for the video game. _Tilt_: Based on the novel _Push_ by Sapphire ---
**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 3, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/39 "2010-02-03T14:18:43Z")
[Obligatory](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Album_of_the_Soundtrack_of_the_Trailer_of_the_Film_of_Monty_Python_and_the_Holy_Grail) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427/40 "2010-02-03T14:32:57Z")
I loved it so much, I can’t wait for _Precious and Preciouser: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire: Electric Boogaloo!_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire-really/527427.md?page=3)