Somehow --SOMEHOW --by the grace of God, this movie scored a PG-13! I bet it's because it's a musical coupled with the fact that, despite being about a lot of questionable material, it mostly happens off-screen. This movie deals with rape, the consequences of rape, and the implication that the rape is incestual. There's violence, domestic and other, coupled with language, drinking, and all kinds of sexual behavior. This movie has a lot, but still manages to pull off a PG-13.
DIRECTOR: Blitz Bazawule Why? Why are so many movies downplaying that they are musicals? I get the logic --assuming that there wasn't any extensive thought put to this. Musicals tend to attract the musicals crowd. The box office only gets good if there's buzz about how good the musical is. So an opening weekend may be disappointing, but a generated buzz can keep a musicals theatrical run going by repeat viewers and word of mouth. By suppressing the fact that it is a musical adaptation, you get the people who want to see prestige films, which leads to a big opening weekend box office. But then those numbers fall off because you have people a little caught off guard and the wrong audience for the film. Maybe it's the fear that there would be no box office versus some box office first weekend? I don't know. I heard The Color Purple kind of suffered after its initial weekend. I've always had a difficult time with The Color Purple. At one point or another --college probably --I read Alice Walker's novel. It was brutal. The story is a cruel one. It is a book about misery and abuse and it gets really rough. I then bought (in an attempt to force myself to love this story) Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple movie. I still don't know why Spielberg did this movie, but I kind of love it. I don't love the movie. It was me twisting my own arm. Now I'm at my third version of the same story and...I don't know. I kind of like this one. But that's not the glowing review that I want it to be. I'll be honest. I really like a quality musical. I can tell that I'm watching a quality musical. The songs are solid. The performances of said songs are great. The dance numbers are solid. I just, unfortunately, feel a complete disconnect from the musical numbers and the subject matter being performed. It's not like all musicals are meant to be happy and joyful. I'm one of those dopes who really likes the Les Miserables film musical. (By the way, I can't believe that I haven't written about Les Miserables. I watch it almost every year while I'm teaching The Count of Monte Cristo.) Part of the logic, I suppose, is that I consider The Color Purple to be too bleak to have some of the dance numbers. But, again, Les Miserables has some real bangers in there and that's a story that literally translates out to "The Miserables." Part of it is that I don't really know if the tone of the songs match the tone of the scene. I'm not the first person to point out this old chestnut, but there's this weird "is the music real or is it just for the audience" element to musicals. I'm thinking of the musicals I really love and the music almost feels like a natural extension to the scene. With The Color Purple, we could be watching Celie going through some absolute hell. Then, there's an abrupt stop and a music and dance number happens. Maybe it's that there's dancing. Listen, my favorite part of musicals is the dance. What? I can be open like that. The Color Purple's dance numbers are just fantastic. I love every moment. But with something so bleak, I'm going to make that Les Miserables comparison. There really isn't traditional dance breaks in Les Miserables. The song is the telling of the story. There are things that are choreographed, but it's not really supposed to be these show stopping dance numbers. Because I really want to like The Color Purple, I'm going to give some points to the fact that Celie --because of all of her trauma --lives a good portion of the story in her head. The songs almost act as a form of escape from the misery of her real life. I like that. But that jump is always kind of abrupt and I'm not often emotionally ready for that transition from the horrors of reality to the bright nature of Celie's escapism. Is Taraji P. Henson only going to play this type of part from here on out? Ever since Empire, she's kind of been typecast as this one kind of role. Don't get me wrong, she's pretty darn good at it. But I miss getting surprised by a Taraji P. Henson appearance. She keeps being this fast-talking, no-nonsense character who dominates every scene she's in. That's great, but it also means that we never get many levels from her. It's not to say that Shug Avery doesn't have vulnerable moments. There are bits in the story where Shug has to get her guard down. But these are softer moments, not vulnerable moments. I never really feel like Shug has much to lose with her choices. There's even a plot that is almost an afterthought about her father, the preacher, and the role of forgiveness. But it is such a B-story that it almost feels like it wasn't going to be part of the movie or it was a much larger part of the movie that was cut down to practically nothing. Part of my dislike for The Color Purple, besides the nonstop torture of Celie until the final act, is the very muddy message of who Shug Avery is. Part of me absolutely loves Shug. After all, in such a bleak story, you need someone who is so full of life to get the film out of the doldrums. But Shug, as the moral anchor who pulls Celie out of her depression, is a really weird choice. Shug is defined by her hedonism and selfishness. The opposite side of that coin is that she's a self-defined woman who refuses to submit herself to the expectations of society, which is great. But really, Shug is making bad choices left and right. The only reason that she is even in Celie's world is because she's sleeping with Mister and keeping him obsessed with her. Part of Mister's obsession with Shug is what is making Celie's life absolute hell. (It should be stated that Mister is 100% responsible for the things that happen to Celie, but Shug's involvement simply colors the cruelty that he dispenses.) It's also really weird that Shug latches on so tightly to Celie. Part of the reason that Shug latches onto Celie is that she's the unique thing in Shug's world. She goes from bar-to-bar, man-to-man and sees all of this evil. Celie is through-and-through, a good person. I get that Shug would want to save someone like her. But I also have to call shannigans on that a little bit too. Mister has gone through wives before. Mister doesn't become a monster because of the arrival of Celie. Mister was a monster beforehand. Shug has witnessed other Celies in the past. Now, maybe she's sick of seeing the cycle. Maybe she's warmed by Celie's sexual desire for her. It just doesn't read that Shug, the big fish in a little pond, would bond so closely to a girl who has been silent around her up to the moment of arousal. It's just something that's always bugged me. I don't see that relationship making a lot of sense. Maybe it's the power dynamic or maybe I just see a conflict of personality. That's all. Colman Domingo's having a year, right? Man, I may not have loved this movie, but Colman Domingo is bringing that intensity to yet another charcter and I absolutely dig it. Danielle Brooks is nominated for best supporting actress, which originally raised an eyebrow. I forgot how big a part Sofia is in this story. The second half of the film? My goodness, Danielle Brooks destroyed in that scene. Honestly, it might be my favorite part of The Color Purple. I know that the film is about how Celie, through her resilence and good nature, fixed a community of broken people. (Sure, she probably shouldn't be friends with her rapist. I'm iffy about forgiving him, let alone bringing him into your life.) But the scenes of Sofia going from this force of nature to being thrown in jail, tortured, and humiliated was such a tightrope walk for Danielle Brooks. All the points to her. Guys, I think this is just me. There are a few stories that I really want to like out there. Every element of the plot is up my alley and these are well-made movies. The Color Purple and Blade Runner should be the stories that I'm selling to other people, but both don't stick to me like they should. I don't love the musical element of this one. I'm sorry, it's just not gelling the same way other musicals do. There are great performances, but the movie doesn't do much for me. |
Film is great. It can challenge us. It can entertain us. It can puzzle us. It can awaken us.
AuthorMr. H has watched an upsetting amount of movies. They bring him a level of joy that few things have achieved. Archives
February 2025
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