My fellow critic Shawn Edwards posted this

“Playing in just 18 theaters, "PRECIOUS" grossed a phenomenal $1.8 million, according to studio estimates. If those numbers hold, "PRECIOUS" will become only the third live-action to score a per-theater average of over $100,000, following in the heels of multiple Oscar nominees "DREAMGIRLS" and "BROKEBACK MO...UNTAIN." Considering all of this was accomplished by a film by a relatively new director with no big movie stars in it, it’s an amazing achievement. It was well on its way to becoming a Best Picture nominee already, but now "PRECIOUS" is seeming more and more like a front-runner.” 

My question is will Black People support Precious/? I’m not trying to be pessimistic but our history of supporting “serious Black films” is not that great.  And given that this film is really serious and a very hard watch I’m not sure we will go in the numbers we would if this were a Madea movie.  Movies like Cadillac Records gross only $8 mil, The Express only $9.7 mil, Miracle at St. Anna $7.9 mil, Soul Men $12 mil and The Longshots $11.5 mil.  Some people say that we go to the movies to escape and that life is hard enough and this is the reason serious films don’t do that well with our community.  Others say that we are so accustomed watching silly stuff that we don’t know what to do with a serious film.  shouldn’t there be room in our movie taste for both serious and silly films?  Well, Just Something to Ponder