I think the support of Tyler Perry and Oprah probably had something to do with it. Plus, Mariah Carey to a lesser extent Paula Patton, with even Lenny Kravitz and Sherri Shephard thrown in there. Precious had bigger stars.
American Violet was not promoted well. I only saw an article about it in the Washington Post, didn't go see it. Didn't really know what it was about. And then bam, I see it at Target and its 18 dollars, which I think is a little expensive for my taste, though I might pick it up. I also have to wonder, after reading the box, is that the American Violet movie might've had a more proactive, tougher protagonist. Precious, though she did fight back, didn't really accomplish much, not like I'm assuming the AV protag did from the box cover. I might be wrong but the AV protag fought against the system and won. At the end of Precious, she hadn't even passed one damned test. She was near it. It was like the idea of black resignation, perhaps more powerful in Precious, made it both attractive to white and black audiences. I think black resignation has been a powerful theme throughout black media, for a long time. Despite all the buzz though, Precious isn't making tons of money. Though the TP and Oprah thing, plus the false advertising about Precious being uplifting, got some people to the theater. I don't think its a film that has a lot of rewatch value and I don't think its uplifting or heartwarming enough, like I'm assuming the Blind Side is, particularly from its strong box office receipts. Though I have no desire to see that film. I've seen one large, uneducated, black pin cushion this season and I have no desire to see another.
