The Color Purple review: A Bold, Unnecessary Take

While this adaptation of the stage musical showcases amazing talent and musical number, the torturous issues that plague the core story are still present and call into question who this film is meant for.

The Color Purple

Directed by Blitz Bazawule
Starring Fantasia Barrio, Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson, Halle Bailey, and Danielle Brooks

Runtime: 2 hours, 20 mins

Synopsis

Separated from her children and her sister Nettie (Halle Bailey), Celie (Fantasia) retreats into herself and accepts the abusive relationships thrust upon her first by her father, and then later her husband Mister (Colman Domingo). Eventually, Celie learns what it means to stand up for herself as she develops deep relationships with Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson) and Sofia (Danielle Brooks), two women who showcase the fierce spirit and determination in life that Celie desperately needs to connect with.

*** Trigger / Content Warning: Sexual Assault / Rape / Incest ***

The Color Purple story deals with spousal abuse and sexual assault of varying degrees which we need to explore to conduct this review properly. While I will avoid going into detail as much as possible, some details may be unavoidable to explain my issues with this adaptation and writer Alice Walker’s core story overall.

Baffling Start and Finish

I should say from the start, I’ve never been a huge fan of the property. While I believe there are powerful themes tackling black sisterhood, black queer thought, and the too-often ignored truths of black spousal abuse / rape, I have always found the story to be so grotesquely dark that it’s hard to engage with the best parts of the story. To the book’s credit, these themes are well explored as you have time to sit and stew over what’s happened between these characters and transitioning from scene to scene doesn’t result in major whiplash. I liken my issues with Purple to my issues with Park Chan-wook’s Old Boy (2003): both deal with depravity and sadness with such little introspection that I don’t want to re-watch them. I don’t believe I’ll find any additional note or context to deepen my understanding, and the experience leaves me sick.

This also means I was immensely concerned with director Blitz Bazawule turning this film into a musical (which to be clear had already been done as a stage adaptation) since those heavier themes could be glossed over and potentially create a tonal mismatch.

And what a mismatch it was for the first 10 minutes.

The movie downplays some of the depravity from the book and original movie so the musical tone will work better. However, they do so by quickly glossing over Celie’s father committing incest (which is why Celie’s children are continuously taken away) which was a key point in previous versions. This important context is never explicitly said and only used as subtext later for Nettie (Bailey) running away when her father attempts the same thing. In the early moments when we should be wrestling with that, both sisters are singing, getting caught up in a gospel-themed musical number, leading up to Celie’s birthing her second child (featuring a Whoopi Goldberg cameo as the midwife).

To be clear, I wasn’t hoping the movie would be heavy-handed with this (especially given the content at hand), but this was one sign of how the movie was pulling its figurative punches, sloppily connecting with the narrative, while also expecting it to resonate with us later (it in fact did not). That tonal shift continues when we discuss race…

I Forgot Racism Existed For 2 Hours

I wish I could say it was blissful, but that would be a lie.

There’s a key scene towards the beginning of the final act where Sophia (Brooks) stands her ground against an aggressive white woman who ends up being the mayor’s wife. The mayor ends up striking her, she strikes back, resulting in her being jailed and giving the narrative more excuse to be tortuous. To be fair to the narrative, I know this scene was used in the film and stage adaptations so the movie was just following suit, but from a core story perspective, it felt like racism had been placed aside until it’s convenient.

If you’re balking at my assertion, think about this: most of the scenes either take place on Mister’s farm / house or at his grown son Harpo’s juke joint, with an occasional jaunt to church or the general store. We barely see a non-black person until the assault scene with the mayor takes place so, yes, it very much feels like the story forgot about the racial dynamics they were living in and felt the need to course correct at the very last minute. It’s bizarrely disjointed and will make you frustrated the more you think about it.

I think an easy fix would have been more interactions with other townsfolks, not even full scenes, just the occasional odd glance or comment from other white characters throughout the movie could have kept Sophia’s scene from feeling out of place. As it is, I must admit, I nearly laughed when the scene came up because I nearly forgot about its placement in the original film. And once it started playing out, I mostly wanted to leave because of how jarring its inclusion was.

Is It The Singing?

Let’s be honest, this what you really came for right? You don’t care that black bodies are yet again being put through torture, you just want to see us sing and dance.

Okay, I’m being a bit callous and flippant – obviously musicals can be used to discuss heavy topics. Two of my favorites, both by Jonathan Larson, are tick, tick… BOOM! and Rent for how they discuss the AIDS crisis, show the unity of artistic / LGBTQIA+ communities, while balancing enough levity and discussion on pursuing your dreams and loving one another. While I can’t directly speak towards the gay community and how they have been depicted regarding AIDS, there doesn’t seem to be a fixation on that like there are with black characters in historically oppressed time periods. And like my issues with brutality above, neither of those films feel the need to be unnecessarily cruel.

To its credit, Purple does its best when the story focuses on Celie and Shug; their relationship is the most fleshed out and explored, giving them the most songs to process their feelings and future. Additionally, they tackle the issue of homosexuality much clearer here than Spielberg did in his adaptation, which left many of those elements out from the book. In my screening however, I could feel some tension with those scenes, especially as they kissed. I think in the pop culture, there’s plenty of people who likely haven’t read the book and only have the Spielberg movie as a reference. I could totally see why that may feel like a change or a character betrayal if that’s your only reference point. Though to be fair to Spielberg, the characters themselves are totally running the “they are just roommates playbook” – so it showing them more comfortably being lesbian on screen in 2023 shouldn’t be that big of a surprise.

In totality, Bazawule’s remake isn’t a soulless cash-grab though; there are some fantastic musical moments, as the narrative settles down from the frantic start, and we see more of Celie’s story play out on Mister’s farm – especially once Shug shows up. The entire middle section of this film has the best musical numbers and iconic, often-quoted scenes from the original movie, but it’s the first and final acts that will likely frustrate you, especially if you’re dismayed by the story already.

Conclusion / Recommendation

The Color Purple (2023) does a great job recreating and injecting new energy into the property, that fans of the original novel and subsequent adaptations will likely enjoy this one just as much. The core story however should make every audience member seriously consider why they want to watch these movies. Particularly as more opportunities open up for black creatives, returning to narrative’s that rely on the same tired tropes feels stuck in the mud and self-limiting for a such an impressive group of actors.

Only a recommendation to musical fans who like the source material, I wouldn’t suggest this one for most audiences and especially not the kids I saw attending in my screening.

Score: 6 out of 10

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