The color purple: It's a new movie and an old hue that's rich in meaning and history
"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it,” Shug tells Celie in Alice Walker's “The Color Purple.”
In nature, among the priestly and royal, as a symbol of independence, pride and magic, purple is weighty in history and culture. Now, with the Christmas Day opening of the second film based on Walker's 1982 book, purple takes a seat at the box office after the historic popularity of “Barbie” and all things pink.
Consider it a many-layered cultural counterpart to its frothier cousin.
Power, ambition, luxury. Purple reflects them all. It also expresses creativity, independence, pride, peace, mystery and magic.
In contemporary history and fiction, it often represents
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