The awards season is upon us and, with it, some of the best films of the year get released into cinemas. One of the films of the year so far is Precious. It’s also a film I won’t be seeing.

Spoiler….

Precious (from the book, Push) is about a young American woman who has been abused sexually, emotionally and  physically by both of her parents. She is 16 and pregnant by her father for the second time. She has no life and sees no future for herself. Then she meets a teacher who changes her life and shows her that she is worth something.

Spoiler over!

This is a tough film by any stretch of the imagination and I just can’t do it. I can’t sit for 90 minutes and be assaulted by the violence in an emotionally gut-wrenching story. I know I’m not alone, many will stay away for the same reason. But is that selfish? Is this the type of film people should see for the very reasons we will stay away – because we don’t want to face the reality of abuse?

Now I’m not saying that cinema audiences have to be martyrs and sit through something which will have a negative effect on their lives. However, art is supposed to affect us, teach us and open our minds. Sometimes it does this by making us laugh, sometimes by shocking us. We need films like Precious and books like Push, but what’s the use in saying that if I won’t watch the film or read the book? To feel morally let off the hook? Is it enough to hope other people do my moral and/or artistic duty and go to see the film?

There are also the other people who will run to the film. Those people who read what has been labelled “Miz Lit” (miserable literature), books like Ma, He Sold Me For a Few Cigarettes. Some people seem to enjoy immersing themselves in the horrendous events of other people’s lives. Maybe it makes them feel better about their own life or it could be a case of  ‘car-crash literature’, it’s so real you can’t tear your eyes away.

There are films I love, and own on DVD, but have only watched once and never will again; Boys Don’t Cry, Brokeback Mountain, Schindler’s List. All great films, but there they sit beside the DVD player never to be played again. So why own them? Is it snobbery, that I want people to see that I have these films? I’d like to think that it’s because they mean something to me. Their stories mean a lot to me and they educated me in extremely different ways, so the DVDs are like mementos. Is that too cosy an excuse?

The profusion of comedies, light-entertainment and reality television demonstrates that we all need some escapism. It’s vital that this need exists in tandem with the need to understand and be social aware. We can’t all sit in a bubble and believe that abuse only exists until Benson and Stabler come to the rescue.

A lot of questions to which I have no answer. But back to Precious. Will you go to see it? Please do and cancel me out.