Pariah stars Adapero Oduye as Alike, a young woman who has grown up to be lesbian and lives with a very dysfunctional family. The character of Alike can be compared to the character of Precious in that they're both outcasts in a cruel world. However, Precious is not a lesbian and Alike does not have as abusive a mom. Pariah, without a doubt, is a good film, but it's no Precious. Precious had a certain power to it while Pariah goes for a good amount of humor and then tries to sneak in the power on you to make you be surprised. As I was sitting in the theater for Pariah, I was enjoying myself but I didn't particularly feel like Alike was a character to feel bad for. Unlike Precious, Alike is smart and has a couple of friends. Alike is not, as the title suggests, a complete pariah. Sure, this movie is funny in parts and emotionally satisfying to a degree, but we are supposed to feel some kind of pity for this character that we just don't. I enjoyed the film while I was watching it, but I didn't feel like Alike was a pariah. I also felt this film went for the humor of the situation a little bit too often. For example, there is a scene is which Alike tries on a strap-on. The audience I was sitting at was cracking up, but I wasn't. I might of felt a little worse for Alike had they not tried to put humor in moments where we could potentially feel bad for her. Pariah is a good movie, but don't go in expecting a mild tearjerker like the trailers lead you to believe because it's just not happening.
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