Celie is the ideal example of this because Albert is the man of the house and is in charge and Celie is forced to cook for him, clean the house and look after the children. Every command Albert gives, Celie obeys.
Once Shug Avery is introduced, Albert starts to try to cook for her but Celie is still the housebound housewife.
Racism and discrimination are also major factors because, again, at the time of setting, the white people owned and ruled most of America.
Slaves had been a common factor for 200 years and Celie is treated like a slave. Slaves had been around for almost 175 years and slaves were predominantly black.
Racism was mostly towards black people and comments and physical abuse by white people were common. White people believed that it was correct to treat black people as second-class citizens.
Celie is constantly abused because she is black and a woman.
Celie is beaten and shouted at because Albert believes it is right and the only way to solve problems and to get her work for him.
Celie is treated as a slave and does not receive anything in return.
The extract that I am focusing on is split into two parts.
There are two different parts of the story, which take place in Africa with Celie’s children and in America with Celie shaving Albert.
The two scenes are simultaneous and interlink at some point with the same motions happening at the same time.
Celie is shaving Albert and Celie’s children are being inducted into the African tribe but as a scaraficial ritual.
We see, in the first part, an empty porch and then Albert walks out with shaving cream on, ready to be shaved.
At this point he starts to abuse Celie verbally by telling her what to do and the consequences. He says that, ‘If you cut me, I’ll kill you’, which shows that he is in control but then is vulnerable to attack.
As Celie goes to sharpen the razor, we see a close-up of her face and Albert saying, ‘the older you get, the slower you get, the dumber you get.’ this enrages Celie and we can see by her facial expression but she maintains her anger.
As Celie is sharpening the razor blade we are shown her children being inducted in Africa. We see the children being watched over and we are shown a fire, which signals danger as a table of knives are in view.
As a hand picks up a knife we hear Albert shout at Celie, ‘Ain’t that blade sharp enough yet?’, this prompts Celie to look up and we see in her eyes that she has bad intentions. Albert then shouts, ‘ Get over here and do me!’, which Celie replies, ‘Alright’. This lack of dialogue builds dramatic tension.
We are then shown the children again with the tribes-people watching them with the chief walking behind a child. Then, as Celie is shown saying, ‘Tilt ya head back’, it shows unification between the scenes because the children move their heads back as well.
Albert extends his neck, leaving him with no guard.
With this happening, we see Shug Avery in a field in a red dress, subconsciously we understand the danger, and her painting red nail varnish reinforces this.
As Celie was sharpening the blade, we see Shug Avery realise there is danger and runs back towards the house.
As she is running, Celie is getting ready to cut Albert and the children are being inducted, we hear music that starts off at a steady tempo and climbs to a faster and louder beat and eventually reaches a crescendo. This makes the viewer realise that something is going to happen.
There is also a drumming sound which sounds like the beat of a heart.
In the induction scenes we see children singing/screaming just before a mark is cut onto one of the children’s faces and that is where the crescendo is brought up to.
The child’s cheek is cut and Celie suddenly stops and we are shown Shug Avery holding Celie, stopping her from killing Albert.
Shug, in this time, has realised Celie’s motive and what she was going to do, so she has stopped any murder attempt. She tries to make an excuse for Celie by saying, ‘ No Miss Celie, that razor’s a dud’, which shows that she cares for Celie and does not want to see her in danger.
An important camera shot was where Celie is walking over to the razor and we are shown the anger and determination on her face, which was chosen to express her emotions.
Another significant camera shot was where we are shown Albert’s neck with the razor close because it is showing that Celie is no longer the underdog and that she is now in control.
This extract is significant because it shows how Celie is brought forward and has the loss of patience to kill Albert.
She is portrayed as the underdog but then is brought into power.
The extract has been dramatised well by Spielberg but it is too short and if it was made longer and there was more actions shown by Celie venting her anger more it would show how and what she feels.
Celie is treated as a slave in a ‘free society’ because she is a woman and this clip shows the overall theme of sexism and Celie’s struggle to break free from it.