For my event review, I was unable to attend an event at Cortland, so I will be writing about the film, The Color Purple. The Color Purple (2023) was directed by Blitz Bazawile. The film is based on Alice Walker’s novel, “The Color Purple”, which was published in 1982 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983. This is the second movie adaptation of the novel aside from Steven Spielberg’s 1985 version, as well as a theatre adaptation that was created on Broadway in 2001. The film takes place in the early 1900s in Georgia, during the Jim Crow south. The film is about the story of Celie, an African American woman who endures several hardships throughout the film. She is faced with an abusive father and later husband. During these times, she finds strength in her sister, Nettie, and her new friendship with Shug Avery. Through two abusive marriages, as well as growing up in the America’s south during the 1900s, we are taken on her journey of her life and its hardships where she learned the power of strength, friendship, love, and discovery, and resilience.
When watching this movie, I particularly took note of the use of music in the movie. Although there were many important takeaways from the movie, I also particularly enjoyed these parts of the movie. The film is not labeled as a musical, but that does not go to say that the film doesn’t take advantage of the use of song and dance as a form of expression. Shug Avery, a key character in the film, is a blues singer. The blues is a genre that historically has been used in expressing African American’s identity and culture. In class, when learning about the Harlem Renaissance and The Black Arts movement, we were able to learn about how art played such a key role in the lives of African Americans and the development of their identities during times of discrimination and racial prejudice. Music especially was such an important part in these times. Music could express pride, joys, losses, experiences, and struggles. In the movie, the use of music and dance was used multiple times to portray many different feelings. example, during the scene where they are working on Harpo’s house, it is a scene that begins as a tired and sad scene. They then break into song and dance where he talks about working ‘til the sun goes down. We see again in a scene ‘Miss Celie’s Pants’, where Celie and the people in the seamstress shop break into song and dance (including tap dancing!). This is a super fun and entertaining scene to watch, and it ties into how song and dance can be used to expressed so many different emotions.
Overall, in the film, The Color Purple was a wonderful film that portrays so many valuable lessons, the power of friendship, the power of strength, and resilience. We see the use of song and dance used throughout the film to express many different feelings, which we also saw demonstrated in the Black Arts Movement during the 1960s and 1970s, and the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s. Song and dance is made for expression, and we see it being used to bring together African American communities during a time of struggle and hardships.
