The film The Color Purple is based on the novel by Alice Walker with the same name. Directed by Steven Spielberg and starred by Woppie Goldberg and Opera Winfrey, the story follows the life of Cecile in the early 1900s.
Cecile is an African-American girl in rural Georgia who was rapped and impregnated by her father. By the age of 14, Cecile had two children, both of whom was taken away from her and adopted by people in the Church.
Cecile is married off to Mister, a much older man who is as physically and emotionally abusive towards Cecile as was her father. Cecile looks for companionship wherever possible. She finds a lot of comfort in her sister, Nettie. Nettie and Cecile help each other in their lessons and they make a commitment to each other to always have each other's backs.
Mister tries to rape Nettie and he fails. Embarrassed, he banished Nettie from their home. Cecile is hopeful that Nettie will keep in touch with her and is disappointed not to hear back from her.
The Color Purple spans over four decades and we see different characters entering into the story plots, each having their own storylines. The women have become conditioned to normalise abuse from their spouses. At one point, we see Cecile advising Harpo to beat Sofia so that he can get some control back in his relationship with her.
This was a pivotal part of the film. Sofia is upset with Cecile. Until this point, Sofia and Harpo never raised a hand at each other. However, their relationship declined from this point onwards and often Sofia and Harpo would raise their hand at each other. Sofia eventually had enough and she left him.
Sofia is a strong a woman. She stands her ground and is not afraid to speak her mind. We see one point in the film where a white woman wants to hire Sofia as a maid. Sofia refused; this did not go down well. She was not able to stand firm on this. As the film progresses, we see her character become more subdued and it is clear that the abuse from men has been taking a toll on her.
The Color Purple highlights the hardships of black women in America in the early 1900s and how through education and perseverance, women were able to stand up for themselves. They may not have been able to make a remarkable change but were able to gain a voice and stand their ground.
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