The new 'Color Purple' exudes joy, but dances past some deeper complexities
A key to understanding what director Blitz Bazawule might have envisioned for his retelling of The Color Purple, an adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway production (itself an adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer-winning novel), might lie in a brief moment during the pivotal dinner table scene.
For the first time in her life, Celie (Fantasia Barrino) has finally mustered the courage to stand up to Mister (Colman Domingo), the abusive older man she was forced to marry as a teenager. She does so in front of their entire inner circle, which includes Mister's sometime mistress Shug (Taraji P. Henson), his son Harpo (Corey Hawkins), and Harpo's ex Sofia (Danielle Brooks), who's been all but broken by experiencing years of unjust imprisonment.
As Celie hurls an insult at Mister – it concerns the bowel movements of horses – Sofia suddenly bursts."
