Narrative theory: Precious.

The trailer for Precious uses many narrative techniques typical of Hollywood urban dramas. Applying Propp's character theory, we have a clear protagonist in Gabourey Sidibe's character Precious. In many ways, even though some scenes, she is shown to be weak enough to be reduced to tears, she still braves it out as it is her quest (to find happiness and appreciation her miserable surroundings) that drives the narrative. Monique Angela Hicks offers the classic abusive mother portrayal while Paula Patton plays the Mentor role as Precious' teacher and Mariah Carey plays the Helper role as Precious' social worker Ms Weiss. These well known character types quickly help establish the urban drama narrative and allow audiences to understand the protagonist's hardships within the two-minute running time of the trailer.

The film's narrative is clearly introduced in the trailer and follows Todorov's theory of equilibrium. The state of balance is the character of Precious explains her dreams of her wanting to have a singing career and appearing on the channel, BET, also mentioning that she wanted to have a 'light skinned' boyfriend with good hair. The introduction of her abusive mother, Mary and Precious' thoughts fading into reality creates the disequilibrium - along with the physical violence from others towards Precious. The new equilibrium is not shown in the trailer - this is critical because even though a standard Hollywood urban drama narrative would suggest Precious would get a happy ending, the audience have to watch the whole film to enjoy this resolution.

The trailer is full of Barthes' enigma and action codes. These are designed to draw the audience in and encourage them to watch the whole film to resolve their questions. The major enigma codes the audience will ask would revolve around whether Precious would get away from her abusive mother and will she ever find happiness in her life. However, there are other enigma codes such as what has happened towards Mary to make her so abusive and who is the father of Precious' two children. Although action codes aren't that associated with urban dramas, there are still plenty of violent scenes such as Mary chasing Precious up the stairs after Precious kicked a shoe down the stairs which Mary threw at her. This suggests there will be moments of drama and tension in the film and the only way to see these resolved is to watch the whole movie.

Representation - Questions.

How is the traditional dysfunctional American family represented?  As it's mentioned in the film, the family have to make some sacrifices as there is now only one parent providing her children/grandchildren instead of two parents, which could make them struggle emotionally and financially. 

How are black people represented?  Black people are normally represented as an aggressive culture who are often linked to antisocial behaviour. This is a result of media's influence on people and how their racist views can be broadcasted to everybody because of their power.

How are obese people represented? Another result which had a cruel influence by the media is that obese people are lazy and are often blamed for their weight because of their poor diet. In a thin approved society, obese people aren't often recognized as human being and are often insulted by their weight; Precious shows that even some parents can verbally abuse their child for their weight issues.

How are women represented? Women are represented in films to be a slim, light skinned, deemed 'beautiful' damsel in distress. In Precious, it shows the opposite as it shows the mother to be a very blunt character whos strength is subversive when it comes towards female stereotypes. Another reason that the movie is subversive is the protagonist is a woman of colour, something that isn't common with female characters in films and that she is neither slim or deemed 'beautiful' by her peers in the film or by the general audience because the media has mislead them on what 'beautiful is.

How is disability represented?  Disability is represented in two ways; depending on how the disabled person behaves. In film, if the disabled character is a good human being who is likeable to the audience, then the audience will take pity in the character and the actor themselves (depending if they're disabled in real life also). However, if the character is a villain or a person who does not have good qualities, then they will not be liked by the audience.

How is American life represented? Similarly to the disabled issue, it depends on how it's represented It could be like hard, gritty dramas and view a rough, American ghetto where the unfortunate live or it can show a nice, area where often the rich/semi-wealthy would live in. This could also affect how the characters behave as well as their area could influence their nature while growing up.