Celie feels as though God has abandoned her.
First, her mother die. That leaves her and her sister, Nettie, to their sexually abusive father. Celie has two children by him, both of whom he takes away from her, saying he’ll “give them to God.”
Then, he marries her off to a man called Mister, who physically abuses her and tries to rape Nettie.
Nettie fights Mister off, but he threatens to kill her if she ever returns. So she runs away, leaving Celie without an ally in their small Georgia town. Nettie promises to write, but Celie never receives a single letter, and she assumes God must have taken Nettie home.
Eight years after that, Mister’s eldest son, Harpo, marries a woman named Sofia. And for the first time since Nettie was run out of town, Celie feels like she has a sister to look out for her.
But then Celie betrays Sofia. Jealous of Sofia’s strength and outspokenness, Celie tells Harpo that if he wants his bride to mind him the way that she does Mister, he’ll need to beat Sofia.
Well, Sofia won’t stand for that. So she leaves Harpo, taking their child with her. And although she also leaves Celie to battle her abuser alone, Sofia’s fierce resilience begins to give Celie hope for a better life.
Another five years go by. And though Celie desperately wants to take a page out of Sofia’s book and give Mister what for, she’s also terrified of him. So, Celie continues to wonder where God is in all of this. But then Shug Avery, a jazz singer and Mister’s old mistress, comes to town.
Shug teaches Celie all sorts of things about faith, sisterhood, romance and even sex. Plus, when Shug’s around, Mister doesn’t beat Celie so much. But most importantly, she finds a letter from Nettie—one Mister had been trying to hide from Celie—proving that Celie isn’t alone in the world. She still has a sister who loves her.
Unfortunately, Shug doesn’t stick around long. And soon, Celie is right back where she started.
But maybe this time around will be different. Because Sofia taught Celie how to stand up for herself. Shug showed Celie that there are people in the world who love her. And now, Celie knows that Nettie is alive, giving her more hope and courage than she’s had in a long time. So maybe God hasn’t abandoned her after all. Maybe she just needed to know where to look for Him.
Sisterhood is one of this film’s main themes. We see it between Celie and Nettie, who protect each other from their abusive father as young women. And Nettie never stops writing to Celie, even though Celie hasn’t responded for more than a decade (through no fault of her own).
We also see sisterhood between Celie and Sofia. The two women eventually reconcile after Celie’s betrayal. And they wind up inspiring each other powerfully regarding the ways they are mistreated by Mister and Harpo. (Another young woman is also inspired by their resilience and takes action to improve her own situation.)
Finally, there’s a sisterhood between Celie and Shug. Though the two women sometimes love each other as more than sisters (more on that in Sexual Content), they fall back on their friendship. Shug helps Celie to end the cycle of abuse with Mister by providing a safe place to stay. And Celie encourages Shug to reconcile with her estranged father.
Redemption is another theme of this film. I’ll go into more detail in Spiritual Elements, but we see characters apologize for their wrong actions and behaviors, genuinely attempting to make things right. Many broken families are reunited in the process. And one man even raises children that aren’t his own to help make amends.
As I mentioned earlier, redemption is a key theme of The Color Purple. Throughout the film, Celie wonders where God is in her life. He’s allowed her mother, her children and her sister to be taken from her. And her only two allies, Sofia and Shug, also move on.
But Celie realizes that despite everything she’s endured—the loss of her family, the abuse, the hatred—none of it was without God’s knowledge or presence. She realizes that God is present in every person who has ever loved her. And when she looks within, she discovers that He’s been living within her as well. She’s redeemed by the love that God has for her, and she’s able to forgive those who wronged her as well.
Shug is the local pastor’s daughter, although they’re estranged since she chose “blues over religion.” And though she lives a worldly life, she still claims to have faith in God and hopes that her father will forgive her someday, since she believes God already has.
Shug also encourages Celie’s faith, reminding the other woman of all the beautiful things God has created—such as the color purple—and encouraging Celie to take notice and give God the glory when she does.
Characters sing a song about how God works in mysterious ways (another, smaller theme of this film that we see through the hardships of Celie and her sisterhood).
At a funeral, a pastor says he can’t be sure if the deceased went to heaven, but he encourages those present (all victims of the dead man’s abuse) to forgive those who’ve hurt them.
Many people go to church on Sunday morning. A wedding takes place in a church. We see a crucifix hanging in a chapel. Celie names her son Adam from the Bible. Song lyrics tell the story of Noah. We also learn that Nettie has been living with missionaries since she ran away. The missionary couple also adopted Celie’s two children, believing they were sent from God, since the couple couldn’t have children of their own. A woman says she hasn’t seen her friend since Jesus wept.
Someone calls Mister the devil. When birds swarm in one scene, someone asks the local pastor if that’s a sign of the last days. Song lyrics compare sexual actions to prayer.
[Spoiler Warning] Mister and Harpo each go through their own redemption arcs. While Harpo’s growth is more due to Sofia’s influence, Mister’s redemption is practically biblical. Celie curses him, telling him that until he does right, everything he takes pride in will crumble. Whether the curse had any sort of supernatural backing behind it remains unclear. But it certainly gets into Mister’s head. And sure enough, Mister loses his health and wealth. He finds himself stranded in one of his fields (that he had to burn because of a wasp infestation) during a rainstorm, too drunk to walk home and shunned by his son. But in that moment, he cries out to God, promising to get his act together. And soon after this experience, he makes selfless decisions to help bring joy to the one person he’s hurt the most, Celie.
Many of the songs in The Color Purple contain tawdry lyrics and are accompanied by explicitly sensual movements. Some songs are purely about sex (and one mentions masturbation). Sometimes couples simulate sex while dancing. And female characters occasionally wear tight, revealing clothing. (We also spot some undergarments when they twirl.)
Mister has an affair with Shug. (In a previous scene, he voices his regret that Celie is his wife instead of Shug.) We see them kiss, dance provocatively and begin to remove clothing onscreen.
Celie also falls in love with Shug. While helping Shug bathe, she fantasizes about the other woman and sings a song about looking at Shug’s body. (In reality, Shug is only exposed from the shoulders up, but in Celie’s fantasy, her breasts are nearly exposed as well.) Shug starts to flirt with Celie, touching her sensually. The pair eventually kiss several times and wake up in bed together the next day. Shug eventually marries, and the women seemingly end their sexual relationship, but it’s clear that they’re still very close.
A married couple has sex (we hear the man groaning and see the bed shaking from his movements). We see the man roll over shirtless afterward (the woman wears a nightgown that covers her entirely).
Sofia gets pregnant with Harpo’s baby out of wedlock, but they marry shortly after. We see them kiss a few times. However, after she leaves him, they each begin a new relationship (though they don’t divorce). Sofia shows off her new beau by bringing him to Harpo’s bar a few years later, sitting on his lap and bragging about being pregnant with his child. Harpo is outraged but later flirts with Sofia, hurting his own new girlfriend.
We hear that a husband and wife each had an extramarital affair. A woman is called several unkind names for having an affair.
[Spoiler Warning] Harpo and Sofia renew their marriage many years later. And Celie eventually leaves Mister (it’s unclear if they divorce or not), but they never get back together.
Celie is smacked to the floor many times by Mister, and she bleeds at least once. (And we know he hits her offscreen as well.) Though they’re married, it’s suggested that sex isn’t entirely consensual. Celie often flinches when Mister speaks harshly. And there are further examples of neglect and abuse. (She’s forced to follow him on foot when he rides a horse home.)
Celie betrays Sofia by suggesting that Harpo beat Sofia if she won’t obey him. Offscreen, Harpo tries this approach, and Sofia hits him back, leaving a lump on his forehead. (He tells his father he was kicked by a mule.) Sofia then tells Celie she would kill Harpo before she let him beat her because she’s spent her whole life fighting off her father, brothers, cousins and uncles.
We learn that Celie’s two children were conceived by rape. For much of the film, we’re led to believe this was incestual, but it’s later revealed that Celie and Nettie were raised by their stepfather, a fact they themselves were unaware. The sisters flinch when their stepfather speaks, suggesting that he physically abuses them as well.
Nettie is nearly raped by both her stepfather and Mister. We only hear about the former, but the latter takes place on screen. And Nettie defends herself by kicking Mister in the groin. He throws her out into a rainstorm and fires two warning shots with a gun, threatening to kill her if she returns. He then tells Celie that if Nettie comes back, he’ll kill both of them.
When Sofia flirts with Harpo after their split, his new girlfriend slaps her across the face. Sofia punches the smaller woman in response, starting a bar brawl with several men and women. (A woman smashes a glass bottle over a man’s head during the fight.)
In another instance, Sofia gets smacked across the face by a white man for a perceived slight against his wife. Sofia punches the man back, but she’s soon swarmed by other white men, one of whom knocks her unconscious with an iron rod.
A woman goes through painful childbirth. We hear that a man shot his wife because she had an affair. We hear about an African village getting bombed.
[Spoiler Warning] Celie nearly kills Mister in retaliation for his cruelty. She prepares to slice open his neck while shaving him, but she’s interrupted by the arrival of Shug. And later on, she tries to stab him but is physically held back by her friends.
There are five uses of the s-word and a few each of “a–,” “d–n” and “p-ss.” However, “h—” is used more than 50 times, thanks to song lyrics that repeat the term multiple times in the chorus.
God’s name is misused four times.
Characters drink and smoke frequently. A few of them pass out after getting drunk, and others get belligerent.
Against her will, Celie’s newborn son is taken from her and given to another family. We learn her daughter was also taken from her (though the family is unaware that the adoptions were nonconsensual).
Celie is sold to Mister to be his wife. And Mister uses her as a sort of slave, expecting her to cook, clean and raise his children without any support. For 13 years, he hides Nettie’s letters from Celie, leading her to believe that Nettie is dead. He’s verbally abusive, often insulting her. And Shug later reveals that “Mister” isn’t his name but rather a title he gave himself. And she compares his self-given nickname to “Masser,” referring to what enslaved Blacks were forced to call their owners.
Mister and his father try to convince Harpo not to marry Sofia, even though she’s carrying Harpo’s child. And when Harpo builds a house for his new family, Mister says Harpo isn’t a real man since he thinks Sofia bullied Harpo into it. (A discouraged Harpo then asks Celie for advice, and she betrays Sofia.)
In 1930, the mayor’s wife, a white woman, tries to convince Sofia to be her maid. Sofia politely declines, but the woman is indignant, suggesting that Sofia, a “colored,” should be honored by such a request. When Sofia responds more forcefully (albeit rudely), a fight ensues, and Sofia is wrongly imprisoned for six years. She’s physically neglected and poorly treated during her incarceration. And she’s only released when she finally agrees to serve the mayor’s wife, who acts as if she’s doing Sofia a favor.
After Sofia is arrested, we hear that her boyfriend breaks down, abandoning their six children. (The children are cared for by Harpo even though they aren’t all his.)
People gamble and lie. A local business refuses service to women. A few men imply a woman is overweight. Celie spits in her father-in-law’s water when he insults her friend.
The Color Purple has a long and storied history. In 1983, the story won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, making author Alice Walker the first black woman to achieve that honor.
In 1985, it was adapted into a film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Whoopi Goldberg as Celie and Oprah Winfrey as Sofia. That film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards but won none.
Then, in 2005, it was adapted for the stage as a musical, earning eleven Tony Award nominations. (The original production didn’t win, but the revival won two Tonys in 2016.)
Now, the story is being retold once again, once again in a film version of the musical, with Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg returning as producers and starring Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid), Ciara, Taraji P. Henson and Fantasia (of American Idol fame).
Those familiar with previous iterations of the tale probably won’t be surprised to hear about some of the content issues. Alice Walker’s original novel is one of the most frequently banned books in the United States because of its sexual explicitness, explicit language, violence and same-sex relationships. Unfortunately, all of those elements make their way into this film.
Celie’s story, as well as the stories of her friends, is filled with tragedy. Death, domestic abuse, rape, racism and the abduction of children all plague her life. And she questions God’s existence as a result.
However, the women in Celie’s life begin to show her another way. Sofia teaches Celie to stand up against her abusers. Shug shows Celie how to love. And Nettie gives Celie hope when all seems lost.
It’s a powerful story of sisterhood and faith. There are incredible redemption arcs for many of the film’s characters, including Celie’s main abuser. And Celie’s faith in God is restored as she realizes that He never abandoned her through all her trials and tribulations.
Unfortunately, those redemptive elements come with a cost to viewers. We witness much of Celie’s heartbreaking abuse. Language is often a problem. And frankly, the film pushes its PG-13 rating with its frequent sexual overtones.
Several songs talk about sex, often getting raunchy. Some of the dances that accompany those tunes are essentially pantomiming the act. And it takes falling in love with (and having sex with) a woman for Celie to realize that there is someone out there who loves her for who she is.
The Color Purple is rooted in Black history and culture. And it’s truly a well-made, visually stunning film with a wonderful message. But the graphic content soils that message, likely preventing many families from enjoying all that this story has to offer.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
