Since it is Black History Month, here at MovieFanFare we thought we’d look at a classic film that examines racism, sexual abuse, and the extraordinary power of the human spirit.
The Color Purple (1985) has the dubious distinction of being nominated for 11 Academy Awards and receiving none, a record it shares with 1977’s The Turning Point. Steven Spielberg was overlooked in the Best Director category despite the 11 nominations (He did win the Director’s Guild Award). Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize best-selling book, The Color Purple tells the story of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a young girl sexually abused by her supposed father (which produced two children that were taken away from her).
Celie is given away to widower Mister (a mean Danny Glover) for marriage; her sister Nettie was his first choice. She takes care of his undisciplined children and his house while putting up with beatings from him. When Nettie (Akosua Busia) comes to live with them, Mister eyes her as a sexual conquest, but she fights him off and is thrown out of his house. It causes Celie to lose the only person who truly loves her. Nettie writes to Celie, but Mister hides her letters.
One of his children, Harpo (Willard Pugh) marries the headstrong Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), and sparks fly when he tries to control her the same way his father controls Celie. Sofia is having none of that and she eventually leaves. Things further change with the arrival of Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), a vibrant singer whom Mister is infatuated with and who awakens something in Celie.
This leads to a confrontation with Mister at dinner when Shug announces Celie will be leaving with her and her husband. He balks and tells her she’s “ugly, skinny, shaped funny, and too scared to open your mouth to people.” And in one of the most forceful scenes of the movie, Celie replies “Until you do right by me, everything you think about is going to crumble,” and a little later she says “The jail you planned for me, is the one you’re going to rot in.” Finally, a reckoning comes for Mister and his abuse.
Whoopi Goldberg gives such a powerful performance it’s hard to imagine how she didn’t win the Best Actress Oscar (she lost to Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful). Oprah Winfrey in her film debut also shines as the willful Sofia. And Margaret Avery provides fireworks every time she’s on screen. The film inspired a successful Broadway musical version (produced by Oprah) which was made into a 2023 movie starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, and American Idol alumni Fantasia Barrino as Celie. A musical is a different animal, but it was equally moving.