A Masterpiece that Succeeds in Sublimating Complexity
One of the most powerful scenes of the Steven Spielberg-directed film The Color Purple is when Celie prepares to shave more than the hair off his neck after enduring one last hit from Mister Albert Johnson. The scene mirrors Celie’s growing anger and resentment towards Mister for hiding her sister Nellie’s letters from her for so long.
Alice Walker’s 1982 book of the same name is densely layered, from addressing systemic racism in America to the colonization of Africa and patriarchy the world over and looking at it all from the perspective of Black women crushed by these oppressive systems. Walker also endeavored to reflect the resilience of Black women beneath these oppressive systems. Admirably, Spielberg did much to keep as much of Walker’s intention as possible in his film.
But film can be an imperfect medium to render such complexity. The award-winning stage productions and revivals that followed the film created new visual tools to render Walker’s book.
This is why the 2023 version of The Color Purple was such a visually satisfying cinematic experience. It is also why, in some ways, the 2023 version served as a corrective by offering a stronger vision of reconciliation than was present in the 1985 film.
The original film was assailed from the pew to the pulpit, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP and black men with a soapbox, in general, had taken issue with the one-dimensional characterization of black men, aside from the depiction of gendered violence, intergenerational trauma, and queer romance. Interestingly enough, the toxic dialog between black men and women that emerged during that moment has never gone away.
Choosing the staged musical as the template for the film was the right call. The stage setting beautifully articulates Celie’s internal life.
The movie stars Fantasia Barrino as Celie in her feature film debut among a star-studded cast that includes Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Halle Bailey, Louis Gossett Jr., Corey Hawkins, David Alan Grier, Colman Domingo, H.E.R., and Ciara.
The pairing of Barrino and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi as the elder and younger versions of Celie seemed divinely arranged. This is due in part to the degree the actresses resemble each other. The other has to do with the work Mpasi did to ensure there was a seamless transition from the younger Celie to Barrino’s Celie.
In press interviews ahead of the film’s Christmas release, Mpasi said she had been auditioning for different versions of ‘The Color Purple’ since 2015.”
Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the 30-year-old actor attended Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic High School in Olney, Maryland. After graduating from Elon University’s musical theater program, she auditioned for the role of Celie on Broadway. And then for Celie’s understudy. And then to be the standby. She was rejected for all (but eventually went on to join the ensemble of “The Lion King” on Broadway).
Colman Domingo has been on a tear this year with his depiction of the Civil Rights era organizer and leader of leaders in the titular 2023 film, Rustin. Within the confines of the 1985 Spielberg film, Danny Glover took the character of Mister to the depths of the despicable.
The “Fear the Walking Dead” star’s rendering of Mister created space for the reconciliation that takes place in the film — a reconciliation that felt more complete than what was visualized in the 1985 film.
In an interview with W Magazine, Colman took it in a different direction and explained his approach:
Mister in The Color Purple is a broken person. Hurt people hurt other people. I have to try and see the good in Mister. I have to love a character to find out how he operates. In my mind, everyone else is the villain, and Mister is the victim. You know, I’m a very optimistic person. I believe there’s room and time for healing.
Harpo, in the 1985 film, was often portrayed as a bumbling ineffectual caricature of a man. Corey Hawkins’ rendering of Harpo in the 2023 film displayed a more layered and flawed man who grew and displayed a capacity for further growth.
In an interview with Blavity, Hawkins spoke on the nuanced ways he presented Harpo (Mister’s son), explaining:
“I’m seeing the possibility of love in that relationship. I’m seeing what the absence of love means to Harpo in that relationship. I’m seeing how Sophia affects what Harpo sees as love in that relationship. It’s radical, even back then, it’s radical love and Harpo leans into that,” he said. “Harpo doesn’t make much of a splash, he allows Sophia to do that because that’s who she is and that’s why he loves her, but it was all about getting behind his eyes. He’s an observer, he’s a quiet soul, but he’s also forward-moving. He’s a businessman in a time where Black men couldn’t necessarily step out on their own and I love that about him and I appreciate that about him, that he’s able to get towards that language of how to love and he sees the possibility in his father but he also understands why…[his] father is the way he is, and it takes a lot of living to do that.”
Many of the thousands of minor adjustments and differences in the 2023 film were deliberate responses to the critiques of 1985. Not always for the better. But the current iteration of The Color Purple is worth a visit to the movie theater. And the performances delivered are worthy of top honors during the awards season.