The Color Purple, Reaction Paper Example

Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel on the Color Purple was rather hailed as one of the best films created by the director at an early age. Although it was sort of a diversion from the regular genre of films that he has created, The Color Purple mentions so much about the creativity of the young director. While Spielberg was also known for creating history-based movies, his notable works are less emotional compared to how he treated the presentation of this particular situation in recognition of the black women.

Basically, the movie was focused on showing how black women were treated back in the years of 1980s. While the African American race continues to experience an overall sense of social discrimination, it could be observed that this movie exposes how the women of the same race have a fight of their own. Their men, who were supposed to protect them were represented in the film as the ones oppressing their femininity by treating them as sexual objects simply made to satisfy manly fleshly desires. Tackling the most crucial points of the situation of the African American race in a more internal distinction of their lifestyle, Spielberg did not fall short in exposing the truth, thus bringing about a sense of distinction the fight against oppression was so real especially when it comes to the situation of the women.

Introducing actresses Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, Spielberg was able to capture the emotional value of the novel and turned it into a rather critical film that tries to show the society about the facts that African American women had to deal with both inside and outside their homes. Making the best out of what was written in the book of Amy Walker was indeed a primary desire of Spielberg. However, he knew he needed to do some specific changes especially when it comes to the establishment of cinematic value for the movie.

This is the reason why some of his critics noted Spielberg’s work on The Color Purple to be a wonderful presentation of the facts in the society and yet has a poor connection with the novel that it tries to give life to. Diverting from what Walker has written in her book, Spielberg tried to pitch in several ideas into the movie based from the actual social notes that define the history of the African Americans. One particular example of this is that of the presentation of homosexuality in the movie, which was not specifically highlighted in the book. Another consideration to give attention to is that of the characters of Goldberg, Avery and Winfrey who were represented differently in relation to the tone and the scale of emotions that the said individuals contributed to the movie’s value in relation to the actual considerations in real life stories. To note one, The presentation of Celie [Goldberg] as she was trying to shave her husband was highly focused on her facial expression and body language, imposing the anger that she felt against the man. This was not highlighted in the book as much as Spielberg did in the film. Nevertheless, such treatment did not hurt the message of the novel. Instead, if it did anything, it improved the way the scene related to the viewers’ understanding of the situation the women in the film were subjected into. Clearly, to be able to appeal to the audience, Spielberg’s treatment of the movie based on its supposed emotional impact was rather criticized by some individuals in the industry.

Basically, his desire to make the movie more reflective of the truth, he tried to create the overall representation of the African American society through the characters he used in the film. Although he was accused by some of his critics to have no specific command of the issue that the movie tackles because of being a white American, it was evident through the film itself that this was not so.

Besides being a white American, Spielberg knew about the facts. His research on the situations that the African American women actually experience in the hands of their fathers, their partners and their brothers give the director a clear understanding on how to exactly present each emotional value that defines the being of the women he hopes to give attention to. Overall, even though the adaptation of Spielberg on the novel was not downright on the turn of each event and specifically dependent on specific characters presented in the book, his film on the Color Purple was nothing less than important. This is especially true in relation to serving as the social mirror of the real oppression that the women of the African American race had to experience then and perhaps even at present. Specifically hoping to wake up the senses of the society in making changes, this movie creates a notion among the viewers regarding the need to become more aware of how women, black or not, should be properly treated.

References

Walker, A. (1982). The Color Purple. Harcourt Brace Javanovich.

Spielberg, S. (1985). The Color Purple. Warner Brothers Pictures.