The Color Purple

The Color Purple is a 1985 American period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker…

Taking place in the Southern United States during the early 1900s to mid-1930s, the movie tells the life of a poor black woman, Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg), whose abuse begins when she is young. By the time she is fourteen, she has already had two children by her father (Leonard Jackson). He takes them away from her at childbirth and forces Celie (Desreta Jackson) to marry a local widower Albert Johnson, known to her only as “Mister” (Danny Glover), who treats her like a slave. Albert makes her clean up his disorderly household and take care of his unruly children. Albert beats her often, intimidating Celie into submission and near silence. Celie’s sister Nettie (Akosua Busia) comes to live with them, and there is a brief period of happiness as the sisters spend time together and Nettie begins to teach Celie how to read. This is short-lived, however; after Nettie refuses Albert’s predatory affections once too often, he kicks her out. Before running away, Nettie promises to write to Celie.

Albert’s old flame, the jazz singer Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), for whom Albert has carried a torch for many years, comes to live with him and Celie. Delirious with sickness, Shug initially regards Celie (wearing a face mask) as “ugly” on their first meeting. Despite this, they eventually become close friends and Shug helps Celie raise her self-confidence. Shug and Celie also entertain an affair (more pronounced in the book, but only hinted at in the film). Celie also finds strength in Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), who marries Albert’s son Harpo (Willard E. Pugh). Sofia has also suffered abuse from the men in her family, but unlike Celie, she refuses to tolerate it. This high-spiritedness proves to be her downfall, however, as a rude remark to the town mayor’s wife and a punch to the mayor himself ends with Sofia beaten and jailed.

Nettie, meanwhile, has been living with missionaries in Africa and writing to Celie often. Unbeknownst to her, Albert confiscates Nettie’s letters, telling Celie that she will never hear from her sister again. During a visit from Shug and her new husband, Grady, Celie and Shug discover many years’ worth of Nettie’s correspondence. Reconnecting with her sister and the assurance that she is still alive helps give Celie the strength to stand up to Albert. She almost slits his throat while shaving him, but is stopped by Shug. During a family dinner, Sofia is shown to be prematurely aged and permanently disfigured due to the severe beatings she received in jail, and demoralized into an almost catatonic state. During that time, Celie finally asserts herself, excoriating Albert and his father. Shug informs him that she and Grady are leaving, and that Celie and Harpo’s girlfriend Squeak (Rae Dawn Chong) are coming with them. Despite Albert’s attempts to verbally abuse Celie into submission, she stands up to him by mentioning that he kept Nettie away from her because Nettie was the only one who really loved her. Before she leaves him permanently, she tells him that until he does the right thing, everything he does will go wrong. After seeing Celie stand up for herself, Sofia returns to her normal self, laughing hysterically at a dumbfounded and embarrassed Albert. She also encourages Celie not to follow in her own footsteps.

In Tennessee, Celie opens a haberdashery selling “one size fits all” slacks. Upon the death of her father, she learns that he was, in fact, her stepfather, and that she has inherited a house and shop from her real father. Meanwhile, Albert is feeling the effects of Celie’s words. His fields and home languish into almost nonexistence as he slips into alcohol-fueled idleness, spending most of his time at Harpo’s speakeasy. Years of guilt finally catch up to him, with the knowledge that he has been a horrible person most of his life, especially to Celie. In a sudden act of kindness unknown to her, Albert takes all the money he has saved over the years, goes down to the immigration office, and arranges for a family reunion with Nettie for Celie. Her children, Adam and Olivia, who were raised in Africa, are also reunited with her. Albert looks on from a distance, and Shug proudly smiles at him because he finally did the right thing. Nettie and Celie play their childhood clapping game as the sun sets.