Films in Focus: The Color Purple (1985)

Whoopi Goldberg as Celie in The Color Purple (Image via collider.com)

The Color Purple: A Story of Pain, Strength, and Cultural Power

The Color Purple (1985), directed by Stephen Spielberg, tells the tale of Celie, (portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg), an African-American woman living in the South and her experiences with the incredible abuse and bigotry coming from people she should have been able to trust. This left her secluded from society, not just because of her class but also because of how she was raised to present herself as a woman, leaving only her sister, Nettie, to confide in. Spanning forty years in the life of Celie, it begins when her abusive father marries her off to the equally abusive ‘Mister’ Albert Johnson (played by Danny Glover) where things go from bad to worse. Still, Celie finds companionship anywhere she can while developing a sense of womanhood from the strong minded women in her life. After years of feeling alone, they help her build herself up to the woman she deserves to be. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister continents away. 

This film is centered around self-discovery and survival in the midst of a time period that too often ignored trauma, abuse, sexism, and racism. Celie transforms herself after many difficult years of being forced in the role of a caretaker to everyone surrounding her. She turned her pain into strength especially because of the unique relationships with the women in her life, like Shug Avery (Margaret Avery) and Sofia (Oprah Winfrey). She spent most years of her life staying quiet, being scared to take up space, but as the movie progresses she starts to find the voice that she was born with, one she never thought she had. This film is about how sisterhood can change a woman’s story through kindness and not ignoring those who feel unheard. The sisterhood described in The Color Purple portrays all of the emotions and struggles that come with being a woman. It also expands on how Black women were often overlooked and mistreated in the past, but it can also be seen as a reflection for current viewers to help improve our perception with comparisons to now versus then.

Celie learned at a very young age to not question what the “man of the house” wanted, whether from her father (later learned step-father) or her husband, who she married at age fourteen. This pattern of men led her to be the quiet and reserved survivalist Shug helped her dissolve. Her sister, Nettie, was her main safe place while living with her her father, the man that raped her and forced her to give up her two children. After sending Celie to marry a man who originally wanted Nettie as his wife, he continued to try and sexually assault the twelve year old girl until she couldn’t take it anymore and ran off to join Celie in what seemed at the time to be safer than any situation with their father figure.

Something the movie could have improved on, an observation that is thoroughly developed in The Color Purple (2023), is the prominent lesbian relationship between Celie and Shug Avery that is portrayed strongly in the novel. This relationship is subtle in Spielberg’s adaptation but still a layer to Celie’s life that makes her story even more difficult to survive. This sense of internal hatred projected and created from all the male relationships she has had in her life makes her feel different and wrong, in the sense of only being a woman and being one who loves another woman. This relationship becomes more obvious when Celie and ‘Mister’ take care of Shug when she gets very sick. This moment in Celie’s story helps her develop a self loving relationship with herself, and create a bond with another woman, one she develops feelings for. Shug is also the only woman ‘Mister’ seems to respect, so when they rush to the door after her long absence in Nashville, they are both thoroughly disappointed when they find out she is newly married. Both Johnsons believe they have lost the love of their lives, but still they continue on as friends, taking any chance of care from her they can get. 

The Color Purple is a powerful piece of cinema that illuminates the struggles and resilience of black women. This film offers the exploration of identity and empowerment during a time period when it was often not touched on. This was a bold film to put out into the world, but one that needed to be. As a viewer, you will be able to witness how so many struggles people still face today happened to one resilient woman. We highly recommend it for all audiences, though beware it is a tear jerker!