Book Vs Movie
“The Color Purple”
The Alice Walker Pulitzer-Prize Winning Novel Vs the Steven Spielberg Multi-Academy Award Nominated Film
The Margos finally take on the Alice Walker classic The Color Purple which won both the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the National Book Award in 1983. It went on to be adapted into a film by none of than Steven Spielberg who has appeared on this show several times so we may just have to change our name to the “Steven Spielberg Presents” show soon! (Kidding!)
Celie Harris is our lead character who is African American, poor, uneducated and being raised in America’s south in the early part of the 20th century. Her entire life she is abused by men including her stepfather (from whom she has two children) and then eventually her husband who is only referred to as “Mr” in the book and leaves his three wild children for her to raise.
Celie’s sister Nettie is sent away with a religious couple to a mission in Africa after almost being raped by Mr and the letters they exchange to make up the telling of the rest of the novel.
Spielberg’s movie is sort of the PG-version of what happens in the book with major subplots about lesbianism and the colonialism in Africa barely being hinted or discussed. However, the performances are next level amazing which counts for its multiple Academy Award nominations.
So what are those changes? Which version did the Margos like better? Check out the link below to hear for yourself!
In this ep the Margos discuss:
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- The interesting history of the author Alice Walker including years of feminist activism and her controversial political views these days.
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- How the novel is told in an epistolary form and how it makes it challenging to read at times
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- The road to the adaptation by Steven Spielberg and his rather restrained choices about racism, sexism, child molestation, and adult sexuality
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- The cast of the movie including Whoopi Goldberg (Celie Johnson,) Danny Glover (Albery “Mr” Johnson,) Margaret Avery (Shug Avery,) Oprah Winfrey (Sofia,) and William E. Pugh (Harpo Johnson)
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- The controversy over how the African American male characters are depicted
Clips Featured:
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- The Color Purple (original trailer)
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- Alice Walker gives her opinion on the film adaptation BBC Desert Island Discs May 19, 2013
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- Sofia confronts Celie
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- Celie meets her children for the first time as adults
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- Outro music Miss Celie’s Blues vocals by Tata Vega
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Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com
Margo P. @ShesNachoMama http://thechingonahomesteader.weebly.com/