The Color Purple

The Color Purple is a 1982 novel written by American author Alice Walker, which highlighted several problems African-America women suffered during the early 20th century, involving domestic violence, incest, pedophilia, poverty, racism, and sexism. Although a story that was frequently met with censorship and controversy over the portrayal of some of its content, it was also critically praised and won several awards (even leading Walker to become the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983). A film adaptation was released in 1985 and was met with equally amounts of appraisal, was successful at the box office and earned itself eleven nominations at the Academy Awards (though failed to win any which was seen as a pretty noticeable snub). Now seen as a stable film highlighting black talent and still a beloved movie all these years later, it seems the legacy of this story has been secured.  In early 20th-century rural Hartwell, Georgia, a young black girl named Celie (played by Desreta Jackson) lives on a farm with her younger sister, Nettie (played by Akosua Busia) and their abusive father who has already raped and impregnated Celie with two children. After being sold off to wed a widower known as ‘’Mister’’ (played by Danny Glover), Celie and Nettie are separated after Mister fails to make advances on her, and she promises to write Celie, but a response never seems to come. Years past and Celie (played now by Whoopi Goldberg) has grown meek due to multiple years of abuse and has lost any faith that Nettie is even alive. After meeting a showgirl named Shug Avery (played by Margaret Avery) who Mister seems to be incredibly attracted to (as well as Nettie for that matter), Nettie starts to become more assured about herself and upon discovering that Nettie might actually be alive after all, might finally be able to escape the torment she has had to endure her entire life. Directed by Steven Spielberg, The Color Purple seemed to deliver the same level of content that people enjoyed from the book, but it’s a film that has sadly not aged too well. While certain components are still impressive years later and nothing is truly poorly done, it doesn’t register in the same way it would have back when it was released when the perception and tolerance for overly whimsical portrayals of movies was more digestible, whereas now, it isn’t as acceptable anymore.

While the book was loved and has the components needed to make a very human story that could be engaging, it also is quite relentless with its cruelty exhibited on its leads, which could very easily result in something that preaches being important but would still be difficult to watch regardless. It even took a long time to attain the property as Alice Walker was incredibly hesitant to sell the rights to her story, due to Hollywood’s ‘’less than stellar’’ portrayals of roles meant for women and people of color. Understanding that she needed to work within the system in order to change things, she eventually agreed but put it in her contract that she would serve as a project consultant and that 50% of the production team would be African American, female, or “people of the Third World”. Spanning a length of two and a half hours, the film does a decent job not only portraying the unpleasant elements of the story (almost instantly) but does also showcase the genuine heart that the story also contains shown through the relationship between the sisters as well as some of the supporting cast and their own dilemmas and arcs. This film is at its best when its somber and lets the audience sink into its atmosphere, allowing the acting, music and even environment to convey the purpose of the story rather than by forcing it down the viewers throats, and a majority of the second half of this film does that pretty nicely. However, a fault comes in the form of how the story overall is delivered which feels especially dated now, and that comes from the directing. Spielberg was beloved at the time and was treasured for his sentimental form of direction that brought an old-fashioned yet still lively energy to his pictures, which in some perspective could’ve added that balance between dark and light that this movie needed. The problem with this portrayal was that it was too much of a disconnection, portraying the gruesome nature of the story while under the backdrop of this cutesy, whimsical, enchanting, and even schmaltzy direction that makes a lot of scenes feel incredibly off. It doesn’t feel like he misunderstood the source material as he appears to a fan of the story and there are elements that are portrayed well, but rather just isn’t able to escape his own style while trying to evolve to something more hard-core. Even when he portrayed harsh elements like in Jaws, Jurassic Park, or Saving Private Ryan, it was still under the guise of a cinematic veil that could come across as fabricated, and in a story like this which features a lot of grim and disgusting acts, you can’t just ignore those aspects under a light presentation. While Walker’s screenplay draft was replaced by Dutch writer Menno Meyjes, she was still an uncredited script doctor, so her involvement would’ve no doubted help in ironing out certain elements that might’ve been more out-of-place with this style and tone. It does still conclude itself in a positive manner and when the film requires sentimentality, it does do that decently enough (which makes sense as Spielberg would be able to pull that off), but it starts to feel like tonal whiplash in places.

In looking at the demands and worries that Walker had when talking about her story, a lot was put on the treatment of female characters in movies at the time, and it’s a valid fear. For a story that is totally female-centric, giving that narrative over during a period when female roles (especially for women of color) were not being written very well would’ve been a concern. Despite this fear, the film managed to avoid this issue by not only keeping this a female-led story through and through, but by having the women be easily the best aspect of this movie. You can feel the attention put into wanting to make these female roles feel authentic and truly stand out, helped out by a strong cast of actresses portraying them. Even though the writing for them isn’t outstanding, the manner in which they represent a common form of abuse or neglect attributed to black women of that era and how many went about dealing with it, makes each character memorable and people that you want to see overcome this torment. Nowhere is that more apparent than with the lead, and while Desreta Jackson is sadly not too great as the child version of the role (she’s only young and barely in the movie, so its fine), Whoopi Goldberg shines very strongly as the character of Celie. Being a stand-up comedian whose only prior film experience was in an 1982 avant-garde movie, Citizen: I’m Not Losing My Mind, I’m Giving It Away directed by William Farley, her personality and stage presence was still apparent, so to see that disappear in exchange for this quiet, reserved, and emotionally and physically abused women is impressive, especially seeing how most of her later work would continue to showcase that typical stand-up portrayal (which is fine as she’s great at it, but it’s a noticeable change nonetheless). Despite not having a lot of lines, her facial acting and manner in which she holds herself is very effective and portrays a level of subtly that Goldberg hasn’t really shown since. Both Margaret Avery and even Oprah are also quite strong in their roles, playing larger-than-life women who still nonetheless suffer under unpleasant circumstances, but cover it under a bombastic personality. While the female characters are handled well, the male characters are sadly not given the same treatment. This was also a criticism of the book as many saw them as being ‘’stereotypical’’ and continuing a bad stigma of abusive black men, but it can serve a purpose and not be offensive if it feels authentic, which in this case, it just doesn’t. For the story to work, these characters need to act like this and sadly there are people who are genuinely like this, so it can’t be completely ignored, but the manner in which they’re delivered just doesn’t feel authentic and feel like entirely fictionalized portrayals of cliched archetypes. They are all awful abusive rapist and are portrayed as cartoonishly one-note as possible, and while at least the female characters are given a sense of genuine heart and humanity to them, the men aren’t played like real people but rather molds to insert bad tropes and messages into.

The atmosphere and tone of this film, as previously stated, is a huge mess as it feels like its juggling between an uncomfortable and aggressive period drama and a coming-of-age Disney channel flick (you know, with marital abuse and sexual assault involved), and that comes from the directing and especially the music. Even though Quincy Jones is an experience composer whose been attached to a bunch of projects (this one being his last film), his score is way too bouncy and in-your-face whimsical. On its own, it sounds nice and even in certain emotional moments that are intentionally sappy and cinematically appealing, that kind of sound is appreciated and helpful, but in regular moments that are trying to help establish a mood, it always feels like its conflicting with itself over how to best present a scene. The production design by J. Michael Riva as well as the costume design by Aggie Geurard Rodgers and art direction by Bo Welch does a nice job emulating the style of the era and countryside, containing that nice element of musty wear-and-tear, but also an element of class and unique sophistication that added a sense of believability to the time period. From the town to the house that the main characters live in, they are very nice-looking locations that are pleasant to be around and even though they aren’t the most unique looking places, they do have personality to them which helps make it a nice location to be in for a good chunk of the movie. Its that other touch that adds a cinematic flair to the film with a color palette that while certainly muted, does feel noticeable enough to come across as more than just set dressing.

A remake of The Color Purple that’s more in line with the popular Broadway show is currently out, and while that one doesn’t seem to be registering nearly to the same level as this one, this story does deserve a different version. It’s not that this film is hugely flawed or misses the mark so entirely that it needs to be redone in order to fix past mistakes, but this is a story that deserves to be told in a manner that really reflects its content and showcase it in a less-than-sentimental manner. Despite how it appears, Spielberg didn’t seem to have any poor intent in directing the film (as even he himself didn’t believe he was the right person for the job originally and actually wanted a person of color to take it before he was eventually convinced) and while there is definitely a problem with his style in this film, it’s not enough to make the film really bad, just misguided. It has good performance, the script does still have a distinct personality to it, the atmosphere and visuals are pleasant, and while the music can be distracting when in conjunction with the more unpleasant moments, it is still nice on its own. The remake might be more fitting and in-line with the original story, but it could be argued that this one holds more of a special place in people’s hearts due to its slightly sappy nature, wearing its emotions (both good and bad) on its sleeves and not letting anything be quiet or subdued. It will have to be up to the viewer whether they were looking for something more realistically fitting or more glossily delivered, but either way,  this is still a decent palette cleanser to try out firsthand.