The Color Purple Movie Musical Is a Lively but Watered-Down Take on the Classic

The new iteration of the classic Alice Walker story stays somewhat true to its source material while also referencing its Broadway musical counterpart. Walker’s quintessential American novel on the Black experience is not new to reimaginings; the hit 1985 Steven Spielberg rendition was nominated for 11 Academy Awards (though it received zero wins). The stage musical premiered on Broadway in 2005 and ran through 2008. The latest Color Purple remake, also a musical affair with lively dance numbers, has a star-studded cast with standout performances from Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks, but it struggles to represent all aspects of the story for a new generation.

Beginning in Georgia in 1909 with teenage sisters Celie (Phylicia Pearl Mpasi) and Nettie (Halle Bailey), the story spans four decades. Celie had two children by her cruel father, Alfonso (Deon Cole), but he takes them away from her, leaving her heartbroken and without family other than her sister. The sisters share an unbreakable bond, but they are inevitably separated after Alfonso gives Celie away to be married by local charmer Mister (Colman Domingo).

After Alfonso tries to rape Nettie, she shows up on Celie and Mister’s doorstep begging for a place to stay, but Mister runs her off. Celie and Nettie promise to write to each other, but Mister prevents Celie from reading any of the letters Nettie has sent. Mister abuses Celie both physically and emotionally, and his isolation of her manifests in Celie becoming hollow and afraid.

Celie’s spirit is reinvigorated when Mister’s former mistress and famed singer Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson) returns to Georgia, and the women embark on a romance. Celie and Shug empower each other, along with Sofia (Brooks), the wife of Mister’s son, and the women forge a bond that gives them the strength to find joy even during wrongful imprisonments, discrimination, and abuse.

The film’s production quality and the energetic choreography of its dance scenes set it apart from the 1985 iteration and the Broadway musical, bringing the most charming aspects of both renditions to the big screen. Bluesy song and dance numbers are accompanied by extravagant visuals that show how Celie’s active imagination plays in overcoming the hardships she faced. The show tunes allow Black suffering and joy to exist in one space: Celie escapes to her imagination in times of struggle to alleviate the many burdens she carries. After enduring particularly intense abuse from her husband, Celie washes Shug’s back and dances upon a massive record player while singing “Dear God – Shug”—and forgetting the abuse if only for a moment.

Barrino, who was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy at the recent Golden Globes, is a force of nature as adult Celie. Her performance is enhanced by her powerhouse vocals and a mastery of balancing the uplifting nature of the film while giving equal weight to the heartbreaking aspects of Celie’s story. Brooks brings a similar depth to her character. Sofia is fierce and daring, and accepts no abuse or disrespect from the men in her life. Brooks also portrayed Sofia in the Broadway musical, which earned her a Grammy award and a Tony nomination. Her execution of Sofia’s gutsy nature continues to be showstopping.

While Barrino herself is a major high point of the film, the writing surrounding Celie’s queer relationship with Shug is a significant letdown. Their love story is majorly glossed over and is much less of a focal point than in the original text. Any romance between the two women is incredibly brief and reduced to a kiss with vague implications of something more. The suppression of this major plot point (seemingly to make the story more “palatable” to a wider audience) muddies the significance of the entire film as a queer and feminist story.

The original novel is straightforward about the long-term nature of the relationship between Shug and Celie. Director Blitz Bazawule does nothing to make this clear or acknowledge the complexities of their relationship. Through their affair, Celie learns to understand her identity as a sexual being and a woman, and the newest interpretation of Walker’s The Color Purple almost completely ignores this crucial character development.

In an age where Black sapphic love barely exists in blockbuster films, if at all, the watering down of Shug and Celie’s relationship is an acute mishandling of an incredible opportunity for representation. There is a lot to love about the retelling, but anything done well is overpowered by the cowardly treatment of queer relationships.

The Color Purple (PG-13, 141 minutes) is now playing in local theaters.