The Color Purple (1985)

Holidays are time to catch up on the classics, whether it’s re-watching Christmassy movies like Home Alone for the 100th time or finally watching that Oscar-winning film from decades ago.

Considering that a remake of The Color Purple is anticipated for 2023, we thought it was a good time to catch up on the original, famous movie starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey.

Now before we talk about the movie, a refresher that The Color Purple is an award winning novel which tells the story of two African American sisters who live through an abusive childhood. Its narrated in the voice of the older sister who first suffers from an incestuous relationship with her father and then marries a violent husband. A dark, sinking story kept afloat by the matter-of-fact tone of the narrator.

To translate the subtleties of language into a visual media is always tough and so let’s see how Steven Spielberg brings this story to life.

For starters, the casting is immaculate.

Whoopi Goldberg stars as Celie, the older sister of the two sisters. Celie was raped as a child, and then married young to an abusive and extremely violent husband. Constant trauma has left her docile and appears to have in some ways stunted in her mental growth. Whoopi embodies the role, from her body language to her facial expressions. The permanent cowering look, the amusing tolerance towards her husband that she has gotten used to, the shyness while talking to strangers

Celie’s sister Nettie disappears from the movie frame soon enough but not without leaving Celie an important gift — the ability to read. Nettie promises she will write, and Celie waits heartbreakingly for years for the letter that never comes.

The Color Purple is not just about the sisters, it’s also about other black women and their plight in pre- war United States in early 1900s.

As a contrast to Celie, we have Oprah Winfrey’s powerhouse performance as Sophie. Whereas Celie is timid and quiet, Sophie loud, imposing, and strong willed. She refuses to let the norms of the society get her down and fights abuse boldly. For all her fight, the racist the system is stacked against her, and she eventually lands in prison, an event that finally breaks her spirit. Oprah brings such a breath of fresh air into the dreary story that you cannot help but cheer for her when she defends herself.

Another significant character is Shug Avery (played glamorously by Margaret Avery). A free soul, a club singer and Celie’s husband’s lover. Her friendship with Celie is deeply endearing and it is through her Celie learns to live and love. In Avery, we see the representation of the hopes of the black women of the sad little Georgian town.

Relevant Social Themes

One doesn’t need to be familiar with American history, specifically regarding race relations to appreciate The Color Purple. As a socially politically aware women, I can confidently say the movie depicts accurately the state of the woman in racist, patriarchal societies and in the stories of Celie, Nettie, Sophie and Shug you see the stories of struggling women all over the world (yes, even to this day!).

The Color Purple also explores that victims are not in the best position to effect change and there no easy, idealsitic solutions to deep, systemic problems. Society so conditions a person that even if something hurts you — one accepts it coz that’s what one has always known, and change is hard to envision. For instance, Celie’s spirit broke very early in her childhood due to constant abuse. For her there is no place in the world that is safe and comforting. The world is meant for suffering and that’s how she sees it. Which is why when she saw Sophie saw taking control of her life her only advice to Sophie’s husband was — beat her.

The movie is a very telling commentary on the structures that societies create and how different people either flourish or die in those structures.

Beautiful, but not perfect

I am a fan of Spielberg movies (I mean, who isn’t) but I have to admit apart from the performances, the movie fell a little flat for me towards the end. It seemed to long, even for the kind of story it is trying to tell.

While the movie stayed faithful to the book, the screenplay could have done with more paring. When you are reading a book, you have the luxury of time to follow multi-threaded stories touching many characters. A movie is constrained by a limited one-sitting duration, and an audience doesn’t have the time to build empathy for the whole cast.

Also, the visual symbolism seems forced, as if the camera is hunting for meaning in non-living objects. For a story that is so much about the human condition, we didn’t need to add extra layers of philosophy by panning cameras on fields of purple flowers, sunsets and empty kitchens.

For more  movie reviews go here.