I know the Color Purple is many years old but I finally just got around to watching it. Being such a long movie (148 minutes) I watched it in a few pieces. I suppose overall I liked the movie because I kept coming back to it...but part of my motivation was just to complete it so I could get it out of the queue of movies to watch. When the movie was all said and done I was left wondering why I spent so much time on it.

Sure there's a happy ending but there was a lot of unnecessary or drug out scenes to get there. It is a rare movie that I will fast forward through slow scenes but I had several opportunities to FF in this movie.

I understand that there is an important message in this story. I understand that Celie had been oppressed and finally found her voice. It wasn't a particularly hard movie to follow in that regard. But I was left wondering why Albert was so oppressive towards her. What motivated Albert to think that was a proper way to treat a woman? Why did Albert think he could take whatever woman he wanted? I guess I always assumed that the movie about oppression, full of African-Americans, would be about the white people oppressing them. There was a bit of racially charged scenes when Sofia stood up to a group of white men or when Miss Millie mistook Sofia's family's attempt to help her as an attempt to attack her. But otherwise the movie was primarily about people against their own people and I fail to understand how that happens.

THE CAST:
Albert - Danny Glover
Celie - Whoopi Goldberg
Shug - Margaret Avery
Sofia - Oprah Winfrey
Harpo - Willard Pugh
Nettie - Akosua Busia
Miss Millie - Dana Ivey

THE PLOT
Celie and Nettie are sisters whose mother died when they are young. The father sexually abuses Celie resulting in two children whom the father gives away to a minister and his wife. Albert attends church with them and admires Nettie. One day he asks the father to let him marry Nettie but the father says he must take Celie since she is older. Albert's wife has died and he has several children to care for in addition to working his farm. So he takes Celie because he needs the domestic help. Of course, Celie also serves as a receptacle to release his tension sexually.

There are glimpses of Celie dreaming of taking a stand for herself but she is very fearful of Albert. There are other glimpses of her loyalty - like when Albert's dad comes to visit and begins insulting him. Celie spits in the glass of water before she gives it to her father-in-law then slips back into the shadows to patiently watch until he finally drinks it.

The years go by, the children grow, one son (Harpo) takes a wife (Sofia) who seems rather high on herself. She wears the pants in their relationship and Albert advises his son to beat Sofia so she knows who's boss. Sofia shows Harpo who's boss and beats him back. Their relationship doesn't last more than a few years. After Sofia leaves Harpo turns his house into a music and alcohol club. Years go by, Sofia does some time in jail and when she gets out she has to lower herself to be a maid for a white lady. Ms. Millie and Sofia are in the grocery store one day and Celie is there. Celie, as is her style, quietly takes the list from Sofia and gets the items for her. It was unclear to me if Sofia couldn't read or if Celie was helping her just to help or because she had a limp. Anyway, that starts the return of Sofia.

Celie also reaches out to Albert's mistress, Shug. Shug is able to inspire Celie to smile and stand up for herself. In the end Celie does and becomes a success all by her own power.

THE CONFUSION
I find it odd that Celie aged by having a different actress play her but her sister Nettie was played by the same actress. It was a bit confusing to me. I didn't know if the Nettie part was a flashback or even a different piece of the story. With the exception of Nettie, the other women aged to the point of getting gray hair, but none of the men aged. That was odd too.

The movie spans many years. It opens by showing a year written on the screen. Throughout the movie time is marked by showing later years. My problem was that I really didn't remember what the previous year was by the time the next one was shown so I never knew how many years had gone by. I would have preferred to see "8 years later" instead of "1932".

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age