The Color Purple (2023)

Visual Parables content ratings:

• Violence: 3/10
• Language: 2/10
• Sex & Nudity: 4/10
• Star Rating: 5 stars

Ghanaian filmmaker Blitz Bazawule brings to the screen this new version of Alice Walker’s classic novel of female empowerment. As an adaptation of the 2005 Broadway musical, there are, of course, many differences from Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film of the same name. That Spielberg and original star Whoopi Goldberg willingly pass on the torch to a new generation is seen by the fact that they are listed as producers of the new film, as is Quincy Jones, composer and co-producer of the 1985 film.

You will see that the film is indeed the product of a new age when you witness Celia and Shug kissing in a movie theater (in the balcony, of course) as an expression of their deep love for each other. This lesbian subtheme was only hinted at in the original, with the AIDS epidemic then still largely seen as a gay affliction during that homophobic era. We can discern how much our times have changed by the fact that the 1985 film was originally given an “R” rating and is now “PG-13.”

There are many other changes as well, including moving the location from landlocked northeastern Georgia to its seacoast. This permits some gorgeous shots of the cast dancing on a beach. The waves roll in and the salt-bleached remains of a large tree spreads its branches overhead. Visually, this is a spectacularly beautiful film that goes well with the theme of supportive sisterhood.

Unlike the 1985 movie, this script, credited to Marcus Gardley, Marsha Norman, and Alice Walker, abandons the letters to God that Celie writes in the novel to express herself (and which forms the narrative for Spielberg’s film). In the new film, much of this is expressed through the 17 songs. Although I did not find any of the songs to be showstoppers, they do indeed reveal to us what the characters are thinking and feeling at key moments, as in the opening song “Huckleberry Pie,” sung by the two sisters, Celie and Nettie (Phylicia Pearl Mpasi and Halle Bailey as the young Celia and Nettie, and Fantasia Barrino and Taraji P. Henson as the older sisters, respectively) as they play a game involving the clapping of their hands with each other.

In the 1985 film, we first heard the girls’ chanting voices over the front credits, the first image being a closeup of a purple flower. Then we see the two sisters playing in the midst of a large field filled with the flowers. In the 2023 version they sit on a branch of the dead tree as they enjoy each other’s company. This merges into a church scene with the members singing “Mysterious Ways,” wherein the people praise God as they refer to “When the king threw Daniel into the lion’s den.” In this, and the story of Noah, “When God saw the wicked,” “God works in mysterious ways.” Thus, we are led to believe that in Celie and Nettie’s story God is also working “in mysterious ways.”

Repeatedly raped by her father “Pa” Alfonso (Deon Cole), Celie gives birth and the child is taken away from her by her father, as he did with her first child. A local farmer known as “Mister” (Colman Domingo) fancies Nettie, the prettier of the two sisters, but is forced by Pa to settle for Celie because the farmer is desperate for someone to care for his wild kids and prepare the family meals.

Celie is thus treated like the slave she would have been a hundred and seventy years earlier, her body sold to a cruel man, forced to clean the filthy house and to try to tame his unruly children – all the while suffering physical and emotional abuse from the man she will only learn years later, is named Albert. Nettie, wanting to support her enslaved sister, visits her after Pa makes a sexual overture to her. Their companionship provides temporary relief, but Mister soon puts a stop to this, throwing Nettie out into the rain one dark night. Nettie promises to write to her, but Mister always intercepts and hides the epistles, not even mentioning that her sister is trying to maintain contact. Much later, upon discovering the cache of purloined letters, Celie will learn that Nettie is living in Africa, even discovering that the two children adopted by the Black missionary Nettie is associated with are the two babies taken from her.

A parallel story is that of Mister’s oldest son Harpo (Corey Hawkins) who is drawn to the strong-willed Sofia (Danielle Brooks). She would never tolerate being treated like Celie, and pushes back hard whenever Harpo tries to act like his father. Sofia’s bravado works fine in the African American community, but costs her dearly when she reacts negatively to the white mayor’s wife’s invitation, issued more as a command, to come and work for her as a maid. We see starkly how Jim Crow treatment can snuff out the inner light of even the strongest person. Darkness appears to have won out.

It is only with the arrival of Mister’s long-time mistress Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson) that a ray of sunlight enters Celie’s dark world. Thanks to the accepted conventions of musicals, we accept the unrealistic portrayal of the whole “Negro” segment of the population dancing in the streets to celebrate the showgirl’s arrival – quite a number! Although ignoring Celie at first while attending to her lover, Shug eventually takes note of the woman meekly preparing her meals. They draw closer and closer as Shug helps her new friend with makeup and such. In one segment the two attend a movie, and while sitting up in the balcony, as required, they imagine themselves as part of a lavish Broadway dance ensemble. This is when we see them in the darkened theater kissing passionately.

Even apart from the Jim Crow cruelty of the white world, Celie has been victimized by racism’s twin form of darkness, patriarchalism, as exemplified by Mister. He buys her from her Pa as if she were an appliance, using her not only to cook meals and tend to his children, but also as an unwilling sex partner. He is as cruel and heedless of her feelings as any white man would have been. He means it when he says to her, “Whatever I say, go.” And he backs this up with his fists.

Sofia shows Celie that a woman can be strong, but then drops out of her life when she herself is imprisoned and years later, broken in spirit, is forced to serve the mayor’s wife. It is Shug who brings hope into the girl’s life. She asks her, “How come you don’t laugh none? Ain’t you got something to make joy just smile?” All Celie can do is to mention her sister, who has been taken from her. Nurturing her until at last Celie can fend for herself, we witness the rebirth of Celie’s spirit to the point that she is almost willing to kill to strike back at Mister in that suspenseful shaving scene.

Delivered from becoming a murderer, she confronts him in a better way at the dinner table where she defiantly confronts her tyrant, declaring, “It’s time I be free from you and then enter Creation.” Mister answers, “I’d die before I let that happen.” “Good,” she retorts, “That’s the going away present I’ve been needing.” Celie’s defiance at the family dinner is so surprising that even the unresponsive Sofia is brought back to life, causing ole Pa to use the term “resurrection” in his exclamation over Sofia suddenly speaking up at the table. Sofia laughs and then thanks Celie for the years of “checking in on me” when she was in jail. She credits her for her being able to survive those years of abuse.

Some of the changes in the new film are merely rearranging the order of the story. The ending is softened a bit too, with Mister at first being turned down by Celie when he comes to realize the injustice he has inflicted on his vulnerable wife. She is still too hurt by his withholding of the letters from her sister to accept his apology. They are in the store that she now is able to own, due to her unexpected inheritance (following her father's death), and he buys a loud pair of pants as he leaves. He then atones for his past by using his savings to enable Nettie and family, stranded in Africa for lack of papers, to return to Georgia. The reunion of the sisters is a glorious affair, with everyone decked out in their finest clothes, gathered around tables that form a large circle around a giant tree. And even Albert (Mister) is there, decked out in his garish trousers in honor of the occasion.

I like this new ending because of its inclusiveness – rather than watching Celie’s reunion from afar, Albert, with a renewed soul, is welcomed to the party.

Shug, I think, enlarges Celie’s sense of God and the beauty of God’s creation. Celie’s life was being made so miserable by her Pa and Mister’s inhumane treatment that she could not see it. No one is likely to forget Shug’s statement to Celie, “I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don’t notice it,” a delightful blending of the vulgar with the holy for the sake of emphasis!

Do not let the new year go by without seeing this celebration of the human spirit empowered by love, both human and divine!

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Screen Rant offers an annotated list of the songs in the films in “The Color Purple Soundtrack Guide” that is helpful for thinking about and discussing this film. Alice Walker's original novel is available online as The Color Purple epub from Read Any Book.