Precious vs. The Blind Side

ABC News features this article about the disparity in reception by African American audiences to the films Precious and The Blind Side. According to the article, Precious is raising criticism but The Blind Side has been recieved more positively or at least indifferently. Here is an excerpt from the piece:

Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips finds the discrepancy puzzling.

"While everyone is fussing about 'Precious,' a movie like 'The Blind Side' is going to make a pile of dough and seems far more racially patronizing," said Phillips, the white co-host of the syndicated show "At the Movies."

"'The Blind Side' is telling a really good story about one African-American character completely through the perspective of the white family."

"That's absurd and patronizing in itself," Armond White, chief film critic of The New York Press, said of Phillips' comments.

The reason for the discrepancy, said White, who is black, is simple.

"Some black people find 'Precious' offensive and they don't find 'The Blind Side' offensive," he said. "There's more humanity there. 'Precious' is like a horror show, a freak show. There's nothing but misery, debased behavior and degradation. One film is about Samaritan-ism, humanism, kindness, love and brotherhood, and the other is about degradation and ignorance.

"I'm happy that people aren't buying it ['Precious'] and prefer to buy 'The Blind Side,'" he added.

I have not the seen either of these films yet so I'm unable to render my own verdict. At this time, however, The Blind Side is certainly the more visible of the two films, as it has a recognizable star in one of the lead roles, and has been distributed broadly and aggressively. Precious, on the other hand, is playing in limited release and features mostly lesser known actors.