The Color Purple
Premise - The lifespan of a black woman named Celie growing up in the 1930's southern United States. Follow her life of incest, abuse, and loss, as well as her life of love, lust, and the miracle of the color purple. Celie's life would not be complete without also telling the tales of her husband Albert ("Mister"), her sister Nettie, her in-law Sophia, and her female lover Shug Avery.
Review - I'm definitely making my way through Emma Watson's book club "Our Shared Shelf." This was the second book she ever recommended, not yet having read it herself. It was an incredibly smart choice, considering the milestone of a novel and film was for black women in particular. I knew this was going to be a book about a woman, and of course I knew it was about a black woman. What I didn't know was that this was a book about a black lesbian woman and honestly, I was here for it. Celie was born with the world working against her. Black, lesbian, a woman, poor, in the south, in the 1930's... but I swear this was the most uplifting and optimistic novel I could have ever expected, and one that treats all of its male and female characters with such complexity and respect.
I listened to the audiobook (narrated by Alice Walker herself, so you know that's exactly how she wanted the characters to sound!), and then saw the film immediately afterwards. The film adaptation was directed by Steven Spielberg and dominated at the Academy Awards (sadly without actually claiming any wins), but this was enough to at least know that I was about to watch a quality adaptation. However, I did notice that Alice Walker herself was put off by the film at first, and only grew to enjoy it after viewing it with an audience. She maintains the belief that while a good film, it is in many ways fundamentally different from her novel. This is interesting to keep in mind because as far as events go, it is close to a 1:1 adaptation. Considering the PG-13 rating, I was expecting the film to just scratch the surface of intensity, but they were able to include quite a few major, adult-themed details. In particular, I found Celie in the novel to be overtly lesbian, and for her and Shug to have had intimate physical relations of some sort. I was all ready to go into a rant about its exclusion from the film, but pleasant surprise, they actually did include it to some degree! Shug and Celie kiss, on the mouth, as two women, and I was incredibly satisfied.
There are nevertheless several differences between book and film, but by far the most significant one is the treatment of male characters. All characters in the film were noticeably more cartoonish and one-dimensional, but this was especially true of male characters such as Harpo and Mister. Mister's "redemption" arc, for lack of a better word, was almost entirely eradicated from the film. It was just as important to give Celie and the women a happy ending as it was for Mister. Seeing Mister in the novel become a more respectful, understanding man who can maintain a loving friendship with his lesbian wife, and bond over their mutual love of Shug, was so beautiful. In the film, he just kind of goes on his own way and lets the women have their life. The film has stunning visuals, especially when captured in stills, and was a powerful visual representation of the novel. However, some of the acting in the film was distracting, especially among the younger cast at the beginning of the film. Really the one acting performance that I thought did the character justice was Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, but Celie in the film is quite different than Celie in the novel. The novel is told from Celie's point of view so we hear her voice. In the film, Celie mostly communicates through facial and body language. Her performance was stunning.
The novel has a unique format for being told through a series of letters. Most of the letters, written by Celie, are addressed as "Dear God." This is significant not only for showing her connection with God, but the phrase "Dear God!" sounds almost like a cry for help with each letter. As the novel progresses, we hear some letters from Nettie to Celie, and some letters from Celie back to Nettie. As interesting as I found Nettie's time in Africa, and how important it was to understand the black experience as an African as well as an American, the vast number of letters from Nettie threw off the balance of the novel, and was better structured in the film. However, the relationship between Celie and Nettie in the film was far more unbearably sentimental and forced. In the novel, their relationship felt more powerful in its helplessness. As a whole, I much prefer the original text. (79/100)
Quote - “Listen, God love everything you love - and a mess of stuff you don't. But more than anything else, God love admiration.
You saying God vain? I ast.
Naw, she say. Not vain, just wanting to share a good thing. I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.
What it do when it pissed off? I ast.
Oh, it make something else. People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”
“The more I wonder, the more I love.”
“Just cause I love her don't take away none of her rights.”
What to watch for - I mentioned Whoopi Goldberg already for her performance as Celie - truly career making! In the novel, however, I would pay attention to the dialect.
If you liked this book and/or film, I recommend How to Get Away with Murder! Is that weird??
Written by Alice Walker
Published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Distributed by Warner Bros.
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