The Color Purple
I think this is another perfect example of a good movie that whenever you ask about it, all people really have to say is that it's a really good movie. The first time I had any desire to watch the movie was when I saw it was playing on HBO when I was in high school. I didn't know why it was such a great movie, or even had any real idea about the subject matter, I just knew that everyone said it was a really good movie. In hindsight I'm glad that I didn't watch the movie at the time. I think the movie had a greater impact on me now than it would have if I had watched the movie five years ago.
After having watched the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)
About half way through the movie I stopped and turned to my Grams, and told her that this is not what I had signed up for. I thought I was going to be watching a different movie all together. I guess I thought it would have been a happier movie about two friends who grew up together in the south. Boy was I wrong. I NEVER imaged it would be such a tragic story about a girl who had to live through years of mental and physical abuse.
There's not sugar coating this one. It's a movie that deals a bit with some serious subject matter. Alice Walker, who wrote the book the movie was based on, did an amazing job but she definitely sat down with an agenda when she wrote the book. And for the record, I don't intend to ever retract my previous statement because Walker has long been a Civil Rights Activist and I think it's important to realize though the work is fiction there may have been people who had faced similar struggles in their lives.
I do have one major bone to pick with the movie though and it also happens to be one of the things Spielberg has gone on record saying he regretted most about the movie. There was clearly a homosexual relationship between Celie and Shug Avery even though it's never really explored on screen. I'm not trying to suggest a full blown, onscreen kiss or sex scene, but at the heart of the story, which is sometimes sold as a story of love I don't know how it was ignored or at least not given more attention! I do find it a bit interesting though that in 1985, when the movie was made, Spielberg reportedly said (while reflecting back on the movie) that he didn't think the time was right to really focus on the homosexual relationship between Celie and Shug Avery. Okay, maybe I'll buy that knowing it that the script for Brokeback Mountain (2005) sat on a shelf for almost ten years before 'it was the right time.' I mean, I realize it's a subject that sometimes makes people uncomfortable, but even in Fried Green Tomatoes we only slightly suggest there could have been a homosexual relationship between Ruth and Idgie. I'm just saying, it's 2010 lets stop pretending people aren't gay.
Final thoughts: I wasn't prepared for the movie, but once I got use to the subject matter I actually enjoyed it a lot. Obviously those who have seen the movie know there were several uncomfortable moments throughout, but maybe because it's Hollywood the movie ends on a high note. It's certainly worth watching once, but not one I think I'll really revisit again soon.
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Next up: Back to the Future II
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