It’s pretty much impossible to avoid “The Color Purple” in a Black household. The film adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is quoted to death throughout popular culture: characters quote snippets in other movies — think about Tyler Perry’s Madea and the long-runningMy surface-level feelings about “The Color Purple” growing up was that it was a work about Black female suffering.
Pa wasn’t the only villain. Mister was just as bad. I was too focused on the abuse he was committing against Celie to begin to understand the impetus behind his actions. I had nightmares about that yellow-painted set from Celie’s birth scene for several nights after we saw the production. I’d been trying to wean off the habit of leaving my TV on when I went to sleep, but I sought comfort in the glow for the next few weeks.
“This life soon be over,” Celie says to Sofia, in the same scene as the latter’s infamous speech. “Heaven last all ways.” 2023 was an exuberant year of reclaiming the hard-earned joy within “The Color Purple.” I was moved to tears several times as I attended a virtual event for the, where Oprah Winfrey and Bazawule showcased their vision for the film through a triumphant lens. I was floored by the majestic performances by Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson and Fantasia Barrino all those years after I saw the latter on stage and clogged the phone lines voting for her on “American Idol.
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