A bit of googling led me to the following references to the color purple in the novel. The color purple focuses on the lives of several african american women who are faced with abuse, violence, and cruelty. The color purple is written by the africanamerican writer alice walker. Other articles where the color purple is discussed.
Alice walker on the making of the film the color purple. In the film the color purple, segregation plays an important role and the differences between black people and white people are shown through race and life. The color purple is a very touching and lovinglymade film from steven spielberg that captures the life of southern black women in the years 1909 through 1949 and is both poignant and emotionally. Color psychology suggests that colors can have a powerful impact on our moods and even behaviors. The color purple is composed of very short chapters, written as letters to god, that explain in the shortest possible ways the trials and tribulations celie and, later, nettie experience. Returning to the color purple after almost 20 years, i can see its flaws more easily than when i named it the best film of 1985, but i can also. The color purple 1985 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. The color purple book vs film essay example graduateway. Get an answer for discuss the title of the novel the colour purple. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
The color purple, directed by steven spielberg, attained both critical and commercial success. The power of color in visual storytelling which looks at many scenes within films to show how color has been used to. Examine the effect of two arranged marriages celies to albert, and alberts to. Colors can express emotions and feelings, so that writers tend to use color to modeling features of the characters. A feminist work about an abused and uneducated african american womans struggle for empowerment, the color purple was praised for the depth of its female characters. The color purple, novel by alice walker, published in 1982. Although the novel and the movie have more similarities than differences, they still explain the major theme of. She was raped and abused by her father as a young woman and was sent to marry and equally abusive man, albert. Walker presents celies thoughts in the vernacular, with poor grammar and spelling. The color purple study guide contains a biography of alice walker, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and an. The color purple brings out radically different responses in viewers. The color purple can be a harsh read at times, but its ultimately a book about the power of loveboth romantic and familial.
It was spielbergs eighth film as a director, and was a change from the summer blockbusters for which he had become famous. Each color supposedly has its own effect, but the feeling that each color produces can vary based on experience and culture. Harpo nurses his father back to health and in turn expresses more kindness than dominance. It gained wide publicity after the famous movie director stephen spielberg made a period drama film based on it, starring whoopi goldberg, oprah winfrey and. It is the touching and inspirational story of celie. This film follows the life of celie, a young black girl growing up in the early 1900s.
Every time i thought i knew what it was representing, id see the color being used in the film again seemingly at complete random. What is the significance of the title of the color purple. Hollywood racism precious the color purple and monsters balloscar edition. The story is set at the start of the twentieth century and celie is a young black girl living in the deep south. She uses different colors to express different emotions of the. But this movie,the color purple was one of the most powerful and meaningful films ever made and to this day it stands out as a classic example of great cimema at its finest. The color purple significance of the title deepshi arya 225.
In 1985 steven spielberg directed an acclaimed film adaptation of the book. By intense, it is a book touching very difficult and hard aspects of life of a poor, black oppressed woman in the early twentieth century. It is a harrowing account of four black women in the early 1900s that suffer rape, incest, racism, separation, and domestic abuse all while enduring poverty. The color purple by alice walker, and the movie the color purple, directed by steve spielberg, are stories about love and the survival between two sisters. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the color purple, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. A stirring film, based on alice walkers novel, about a black woman who endures incredible oppression until. The theme of sexual abuse in the color purple by alice walker. The obstacles that the sisters have to face are very life risking primary differences. Analysis of the colour purple film the colour purple is a novel written by alice walker in 1982. In chapter 12, celie associates the color with royalty and with the purple dress she longs for. The color purple section 1 summary and analysis gradesaver. The color purple is hands down director steven spielbergs single most underrated film of all time.
But what he made was a movie of great mass appeal with a powerful truth at its center. Afterwards, students will provide a presentation explaining their form of criticism and how they analyzed the novel, the color purple, based on their literary school of criticism. Whats wrong with the color purple and nothing thats wrong with it keeps it from being a joy to watch is what youd expect of spielberg. The film was also the first featurelength film directed by. The color purple is not the story of her suffering but of her victory, and by the end of her story this film had moved me and lifted me up as few films have. At the end of the story, shug says that she believes that go. An african american author alice walker wrote the novel the color purple in 1982. Hollywood racism precious the color purple and monsters. It is a great, warm, hard, unforgiving, triumphant movie, and there is not a scene that does not shine with the love of the people who made it. Celie believes herself to be ugly in part because of her very dark skin. When a movie character is really working, we become that character. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name.
Sweetness and stridency exist side by side in alice walkers color purple, a book whose great virtue is the conversational immediacy that. Celies first experience with love comes from her relationship with her little sister nettie, whom she fiercely protects, even when it means sacrificing her own wellbeing. It is one of the most significant novels in the literature of the black americans. At long last, san francisco novelist alice walker attempts to explain the monumental difficulties and dangerous crossroad she confronted during and after the making of the color purple, the. So, i watched the movie of the color purple recently and i have been trying to figure out what significance purple had in the movie, what was the theme or motif behind it. Part of the problem lies in the transfer from the page to the screen. The theme of race and racism in the color purple from. Celies and sofias resistance and selfassertion transform mr. The color purple, then, is a story about growth, endurance, loyalty, solidarity, and joy all nurtured by the strength of love. The color purple, by alice walker, is a very intense book to read. Purple is one color that can lead to differing feelings, emotions, and associations. The color purple 1985 stream and watch online moviefone. Evaluation of the film adaptation by chelsey boutan english 1154 hen alice walker saw the premiere of her pulitzer prize winning novel the color purple on the big screen, she didnt like the movie at all.
Released 1985, the color purple stars whoopi goldberg, danny glover, margaret avery, oprah winfrey the pg movie has a runtime of about 2 hr 32 min, and received a score of 78 out of 100 on. The obstacles that the sisters have to face are very life risking. The color purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by american author alice walker which won the 1983 pulitzer prize for fiction and the national book award for fiction. Those who like sentimental material tend to be extremely moved by the story. A comparison of the color purple novel and the color purple movie in american drama. Celie starts writing letters to god because her father, alphonso, beats and rapes her. The color purple is a very powerful film that tells the story of celie, a poor black woman living in the old south.
Analysis of the colour purple film essay 3108 words. Based on the novel by alice walkerwho wrote the screenplay with collaborator menno meyjes,and directed by steven spielburg. The color purple is an epistolary novel, made up of letters written by celie to god and by nettie to celie. Cruel is too kind a word to describe their behavior. During the heyday of controversy over the color purple, walker was often called upon to explain her decision to endorse the film as well as her reaction to it and, considering that it all started. Get an answer for in the color purple, identify the spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation evident in the ending and explain its significance to the work as a whole. Thus the title is significant throughout the span of the letters and gives us a better understanding of the book and helps the reader connect to it and understand celie and the era she was living in. It shows problems faced by africanamerican women during the. However, by asserting their objections and independence, the women in the color purple break this cycle of patriarchy. In the color purple, identify the spiritual reassessment. The novel takes place in two distinct settingsrural georgia and a remote african villageboth suffused with problems of race and racism. The film begins at her childhood and follows her up to old age. The first time we see celie, she is 14 and pregnant by her father. Explain the relationship between the color of purple and the feeling of beauty.
But other viewers find the movie overly grandiose, with scene after scene designed to be gut wrenching. Four teaching ideas for the color purple, plus three. The book or the movie are valuable additions to a list of works to be read or watched as homework to explore the genre of historical fiction. The color purple film by spielberg 1985 britannica.
How whoopi landed the leading role in the color purple. The novel the color purple, by alice walker, and the movie the color purple, directed by steve spielberg, are stories about love and the survival between two sisters. The color purple analysis 1086 words 5 pages god is trying to tell you something color purple in a dynamic scene near the end of the blockbuster the color purple, the character shug avery engages in a soulstirring rendition of a gospel song called god is trying to tell you something. The principal black men in the color purple use their women both wives and daughters as sexual chattel. The fact is, steven spielberg, probably our greatest storyteller, has been doing this in various movie formats for years. Activity 4students will watch steven spielbergs 1985 movie version of the color purple.
The color purple is now not just a title or a color but goes on to being symbolic of the various transformations in the book. Celie, the protagonist and narrator of the color purple, is a poor, uneducated, fourteenyearold black girl living in rural georgia. An indepth analysis of alice walkers novel the color purple 439 words. The color purple is a 1985 american comingofage period drama film directed by steven spielberg with a screenplay by menno meyjes, based on the pulitzer prizewinning 1982 novel of the same name by alice walker. The color purple will introduce students to aspects of the lives of africanamericans during the first decades of the 20th century. Walker does social criticism in her novel, mostly criticizing the way black women were treated in the. The color purple was rightly criticized for spielbergs postcard landscapes, his broad characterizations and the convolutions of his plot.
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