Author: Kerry Hare

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.

In “A Raisin in the Sun”, written by Lorraine Hansberry, we see how the relationship between characters change and develop through how each character handles adversity within the story. As we are introduced to the characters Beneatha, Lena (mama), and Travis, we learn what each of their dreams is to do with the life insurance money from Lena’s late husband. We learn that Travis is very driven around his dreams and wants a better life for him and his family. Travis’s ideas of creating a new life are bold and risky, which creates hesitancy for Lena. Lena says in Act 1 Scene 2, “No…something has changed. You something new, boy. In my time we was worried about not being lynched and getting to the north if we could and how to stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity too…now here come you and Beneatha talking about things we ain’t never even thought about hardly, me and your daddy. You ain’t satisfied or proud of nothing we done…You my children-but how different we become” (74). Here, Walter’s dreams of opening a liquor store are causing rising tension between Lena and Walter. Lena already feels conflicted with having to listen to both Beneatha and Walter’s dreams with what to do with the check, but she is noticing that Walter is acting almost irrationally and ungrateful for what he already has, that she didn’t have. This also begins to explore the long-term issues of race and how far Lena had to come to be able to put a roof over her children’s heads in the early to mid 1900s.  Her perspective differs heavily from Walter’s due to the different ways they grew up, and Lena doesn’t want Walter to forget what is already in front of him. Walter and Beneatha are so focused on using the money so quickly and drastically, and Lena may just want them to take a step back and realize what a gift it is to have this money and to attempt to think of the family as a whole, rather than using the money for his own personal gain. We see Walter’s mind almost jumping the gun to big dreams, whereas Lena perceives Walter’s eagerness in a negative sense because he is forgetting so many things that they may want to focus on before opening the liquor store, like Travis having a bed, a better home to live in, keeping the family together and safe, etc. I am curious how Lena is going to handle her son’s passions and how it will affect their relationship as the play continues.

         Also in Act 1, we see that Ruth is left with a new challenge for not only herself, but the family as a whole. Ruth finds out that she is pregnant with her second son. Once Lena finds out, she immediately starts asking questions about the pregnancy, and can quickly tell that Ruth is not ecstatic over her announcement. Ruth knows that having another baby in the current situation they are in was not only not part of the plan but will most likely have consequences with her relationship with Walter. Walter as we know is passionate about his very big dreams, which are already quite the reach for the families economic standing. So as Walter is conflicting with Mama and Beneatha over what is the right thing to do for the family in terms of the insurance money, there is a whole other layer of conflict. Lena says, “It is my business- where is he going to live, on the roof?” (58). Mama quickly tells Ruth that she does think it’s wonderful, but Travis sleeps on the couch, so where would a new baby stay? They are already running around to try to make ends meet as time continues, so an addition to an already complicated household will be yet another challenge. Ruth, like many African American women during this time period, has to have a main focus of family. Hansberry writes, “When the world gets ugly enough- a woman will do anything for her family. The part that’s already living.” (75) She works a domestic job for a white family and must prioritize her kids as well as making ends meet; let alone think about herself for a while. finds herself in a tough situation. She knows that she is already putting a lot of financial strain on the family, but what affect her new baby may have in the future, especially with the possibility of risking an investment on the liquor store business.  Since Walter is so passionate and eager about the possibility of the liquor store investment, Ruth feels almost guilty that not only does she have to further let go of her dreams and aspirations for herself to take care of her family, but also feels guilty that because she is pregnant, she could be the reason that Walter is unable to live out his dreams and aspirations of the liquor store business. She knows that this investment idea was extremely risky to begin with, but now there is a new very large risk factor that they will have to think about.

Discussion Questions:

1. In “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, there is a primary focus on the importance of dreams. How might this relate to the themes of “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes?
2. Throughout the play, we see characters challenged by traditional stereotypes, whether that be through gender, race, or class. What affects do these characters face because of these common stereotypes? (example: Beneatha wanting to be a doctor in 1950s America)

Works Cited:

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Random House, 1997.

Hi everyone! My name is Kerry Hare and I am from the Hudson Valley, NY. I am a sophomore studying Inclusive Childhood Education with an urban studies concentration.  My favorite TV shows are Grey’s Anatomy and Love Island (UK specifically) and my favorite colors are pink and green!