Is the film "Precious" Patronizing?

My friend, Ellen told me she was having a discussion with a neighbor about Precious and this person said they felt the film was patronizing. She in turn asked me if I thought so too?



My response: I know the definition of the word "patronizing", but how would I put it in my own words - when someone feels superior in some manner and gives due or agrees with someone else, for that other person's benefit, but not because they really feel it.

Since the film "Precious" is based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire, someone who really lived this life, I don't see how the film could be patronizing; how is it different from any other person's biography turned into a movie? If it was written and created by someone whose life was nothing like Precious, and they felt they wanted to make a movie about a young, overweight, black, abused girl, in order to shine a light on a topic, then that could possibly be construed as patronizing.

Readers, I'd love to know your opinion on this topic! 

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Also on the site mini personal reviews of Oscar nominated films Up in the Air, An Education, Inglorious Basterds A Serious Man and others - Tinsel & Tine