The differences between the novel by Alice Walker, "The Color Purple" and the film by the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg.

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The paper shows the differences between the novel by Alice Walker, "The Color Purple" and the film by the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg. The paper shows the distinct differences between film and the literature that inspired both versions of "The Color Purple", differences unique to each different media that yield very different effects upon the reader and upon the viewers of Walker’s tale.

"In contrast, Celie’s pregnancy in the film is revealed not verbally but visually. Film is often called a visual rather than a verbal medium and the film’s rendering of this event confirms this. In the film, a sense of Celie’s innocence is conveyed by the young girl’s voice singing songs with her younger sister, the sight of the child Celie playing patty-cake with her sister and the two girls running through green fields. The scene looks idyllic, until the young actress playing Celie becomes entirely revealed from head to toe. Then, the viewer suddenly realizes with a jolt, the child is pregnant."

Alice Walker's second and most famous novel, The Color Purple, tells the story of Celie, a fourteen year old girl repeatedly raped by her (step) father, and impregnated twice by him. Told in the form of letters to God and her younger sister, Nettie, the novel covers a period of time that we can only estimate to be almost 30 years or so. This novel gained particular popularity when made into a film directed by Steven Spielberg. You may find drawing comparisons between the film and the novel to be particularly helpful to an initial examination of the novel, particularly for the characterisation of Shug Avery and her relationship with Celie.

Clearly the epistolary form is a significant discussion point for this novel. Walker demonstrates a particular interest in domestic art, or art forms available to oppressed women, of which letter writing is one, in her works. Other forms explored by Walker are sewing and song, both of which feature also in The Color Purple and act as signs of empowerment for women, and a uniting force (consider, for example, Celie scratching a song out of Shug's head, and Squeak's empowerment through song). Letter writing is just one method through which we perceive Celie's gaining strength.

The voices of Celie and Nettie, although united in their letters and woven together (to use an appropriate metaphor), contrast sharply with each other. Celie is undoubtedly the lesser educated of the sisters in formal terms. However, it has been noted that Celie's letters are all the more appealing. Nettie's language is formal and indoctrinated whereas Celie's is free and colloquial.

One may even wish to question whether Celie really writes all of what we read: are we, perhaps, to read some of Celie's "letters" as thought-patterns rather than actual written letters. If so, which ones does she write (we know she writes some, as they are returned to her unopened from Africa) and which are mere imagination? Spielberg's film challenges this also, perhaps unknowingly. In the film, Celie narrates her story from the beginning yet she does not begin to learn to read until Nettie comes to live with her and Mr___. It therefore follows that she cannot begin to write until this later stage.

However, despite the preoccupation with the epistolary form, one must not forget that the novel begins not with the words 'Dear God', but with the utterance 'You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy.' Likewise, Maxine Hong Kingston's novel The Woman Warrior begins with the suppression of story telling and the female voice: '"You must not tell anyone," my mother said'.

The marginalized voice is a recurrent theme on this course, but the suppressed voice is particularly central to Walker and Hong Kingston's novels (in my opinion, another link between Walker and Hong Kingston is the exploration of female castration: to me, the cutting of Maxine's fraenum, p.148, is an indirect act of castration; Walker has also explored this theme in her development of Tashi in her later works). However, in Walker's novel the suppression takes place in a patriarchal sphere and the theme of patriarchal power continues through the novel. Celie's rejection of God-as-listener is an act of defiance towards the ultimate patriarch.

Developing on, and concurring with, the ideas of other black American women writers such as Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, Walker claims that she writes 'all the things I should have been able to read' (In Search of Our Mother's Gardens p.13). Alice Walker has acknowledged the influence of Hurston on her and thus her work has been discussed as signifyin(g) on Hurston's. She acknowledges her debt to Hurston in In Search of out Mother's Gardens:

What I had discovered, of course, was a model ... she had provided, as if she knew someday I would come along wandering in the wilderness a nearly complete record of her life. And though her life sprouted an occasional wart, I am eternally grateful for that life, warts and all. (p.12)

Consideration of this literary influence on Walker is particularly useful, and comparisons have been drawn by critics such as Henry Louis Gates Jr.

A further literary influence on Walker, if not all African American writers, is the slave narrative. One may wish to compare Celie's narrative with these, drawing attention perhaps to the empowering use of the personal pronoun, and the power of naming. Furthermore it has been said that Walker refers to The Color Purple as a historical novel. Consider the ways in which we can see this novel as being historical and compare it to Morrison's historical novels. Thinking about The Color Purple as a historical novel invites a comparison with Jazz, which Morrison poses as a historical novel also.

On reading the section from In Search of our Mother's Gardens on "Writing The Color Purple", the reader is struck by Walker's creation of character. She distances herself from the creative process, assuming the role of medium, a role she acknowledges at the end of the novel. She claims that 'the characters of my new novel were trying to form (or, as I invariably thought of it, trying to contact me, to speak through me)' (p.356). Spirituality in The Color Purple has been exhaustively discussed, and the positioning of the author in this process is worthy of consideration.

This just gives you some points from which you may wish to tackle The Color Purple. Turning to In Search of our Mother's Gardens (which I have referred to here) is a good way to begin to understand Walker's modes of thinking and, in my opinion, a good starting point for your secondary reading.

1. Introduction

Adaptations of critically acclaimed novels are always a risky business to do. Especially if it´s a novel dealing with real life problems no one dares talking about. Alice Walker´s prize winning novel
The Color Purple was made into a motion picture in 1985. In this essay I´d like to compare the movie with the original work by the author raising questions like: What are the major differences? How are the characters portrayed? What are the reactions of the audience?
First I will give a short descripton of the circumstances of the actual production to show how the filmmakers approached their task. Next I will deal with a comparison between the major characters Celie, Shug and Albert in the movie and in the novel. A short description of the achievements of the musical score follows. In the third part different reactions on the movie are analyzed by comparing positive and negative arguments. After focusing on the public Alice Walker´s opinion is expressed in detail. The conclusion sums up the results and points out the disadvantages and the achievements of the movie.


2. A Hollywood production?

In 1982 Alice Walker wrote a highly acclaimed novel which won her the American Book Award and a Pulitzer Price for fiction:
The Color Purple. It was one of the first recognized books dealing with black women living in poor circumstances and being abused by men. As The Color Purple had reached a large audience causing both debate and positive recognition Hollywood had the idea of turning The Color Purple into a feature film. They approached Alice Walker who at first didn´t agree with the thought of someone else telling her story. But after meeting Quincy Jones who was entitled to be the executive producer she agreed and signed a contract. The reason for her giving in was the trust in Quincy Jones: “And he has a social conscience [...] That was very important to me.” (Dworkin, p. 174) Another explanation for setting The Color Purple on the big screen was the fact that many black people are illiterate and therefore are not capable of reading her story: “But I knew they would see the film.” (Dworkin, p. 175) The contract included that Alice Walker was bound to the project by working with the filmmakers at the set and having to decide about the screenplay. Another claim Alice Walker made was “ [...] the stipulation that half the people involved in the production, apart from the predominantly black cast, would be blacks, women and/or people of the Third world.” (Featherston, p. 183) Although this is very untypical for Hollywood productions the production company gave in. As The Color Purple meant a lot to Alice Walker she didn´t sell her story like so many other successful authors do and even wanted to make a point by including people from the Third World in the production. She worked mainly with Steven Spielberg who was hired to direct the movie and Quincy Jones. The decision to give the direction to Steven Spielberg caused a wide range of controversy as he was a white man of Jewish origin plus the fact that Alice Walker didn´t even know him. As Spielberg had only done fantasy stories like E.T. and Close encounters of the Third Kind he was not considered to be capable of making serious movies at that time. But Walker commented: “Well, maybe if he can do Martians, he can do us!” (Winchell, p. 85)
Throughout the production Ms. Walker gave instructions how to decorate the set using many specific items, for example what flowers and vegetables had to be planted in the front porch before Celie´s house. She also was entitled to write a screenplay that would be adapted by Steven Spielberg. As Ms. Walker had to suffer from Lyme disease, the ending of a long term relationship and the illness of her own mother it was quite a difficult task for her to resolve. She had worked on a script for three months when she finally realized she wouldn´t manage it. Therefore a Dutch screenwriter was hired, Menno Meyjes , whose script was used in the end. As he came from a part of Holland where people who speak folk speech are looked down by those who speak standard Dutch he could relate to the problems explained in Walker´s novel. (see Dworkin, p. 177)
If a movie is based on a novel there´s always the question if the spirit of the work survives through the process of becoming a Hollywood movie that is entitled to please the masses. Especially if it´s a personal and controversial story about Afro-American women the danger of transforming a widely acclaimed story filled with criticsm into a heart-wracking romantic idealized movie is high: “After all, Hollywood is notoriously insensitive to the concerns of women and people of color.” (Featherston, p. 183) Success at the boxoffice or with the critics doesn´t mean that the essentials of the story are captured. Many years after the release of the movie
The Color Purple Alice Walker expressed her opinion on the movie in the book The same river twice published in 1996. It includes a draft of her original screenplay and some aspects and thoughts on the making and the reception of the film: What became of the original story of The Color Purple?


3.
The Color Purple on the Big Screen

3.1 Characters

3.1.1 Celie: Letters to God?

At first sight the movie seems very similar to the original story expressed in the book. In the opening scenes Celie´s father even uses the same words: ”You better not never tell nobody but God. It´d kill your mammy.” (Walker 1982, p. 1) But at closer examination it´s obvious that one essential element is missing.
The main difference is that the film doesn´t show Celie talking to God about her problems. The epistolary style of the book allows Celie to first tell and share her feelings and problems with God and later on with her sister Nettie by writing letters. As the medium of film wouldn´t allow someone to write all the time Alice Walker developed a visionary version of Celie´s conversation with God. As Ms. Walker remarks: “Though it hurt to see in Spielberg´s film that Celie ceases to be a writer, which she is to her very soul, when I had sat down to re-create her, it bored me to make her a writer, and so I thought of something else.” (Walker 1996, p. 35) In the original screenplay she describes how Celie is sewing a quilt using pieces of fabrics that have some special meaning for her life, for example pieces of her father´s checkered bib, the dress she was wearing when raped, Nettie´s blouse she left behind and Shug´s dresses. Ms. Walker wanted the scenes to look like this: “As she works totally absorbed, cutting, placing, contemplating, sewing, we should have the feeling that in putting these poor scraps of her life together CELIE is in fact praying - and telling her story to God.” (Walker 1996, p. 63) By kneeling down in a position that is normally used for praying you can see that it is a purifying act of self-reflection. It can be compared with a form of meditation. Alice Walker points out that a major flaw of the movie is the lack of a process showing Celie´s reflections. She says that Celie´s character couldn´t develope into a self-conscious woman who stands up and fights in the end without the process of telling someone her feelings. The movie doesn´t show this process although you can hear Celie´s words as voice-over at the beginning. The words used are similar to the ones in the book but a connection to God is not made obvious. In Ms. Walker´s screenplay Nettie would ask Celie if she ever wrote back. Celie would give her the finished quilt with the last square showing a “large rising purple sun with yellow/orange rays, filling the square, filling Life.” (Walker 1996, p. 136) The quilt would also show the words “Dear God” in the first square as well as many symbols of Celie´s life - for example her mother´s illness, her rape, her children, being beaten by Albert, Nettie and Shug leaving and so on. (see Walker 1996, p. 114) The movie doesn´t underline the importance of these experiences in Celie´s life. Therefore there is a lack of self-reflection that changes Celie´s character and along with it her motivations.

3.1.2 Shug: Miss Celie´s Blues

The movie introduces the central figure Shug on a rainy day. Shug arrives with Albert and Harpo carrying her in the house. Played by Margaret Avery Shug is a very dark-skinned black woman (“black as tar”) wearing a huge hat. She first looks at Celie and starts laughing while telling her how ugly she is. The next scenes reveal Shug´s stubborness by portraying her domination of Albert. Nevertheless her first close encounter with Celie is the scene where she is bathed. While being bathed Shug starts to talk about her father who didn´t love her because of the promiscuous life she leads. Celie and Shug first feel a connection through the pain caused by the lack of love received from their fathers. While Celie combs Shug´s hair she starts humming a melody which is picked up by Shug. This melody will evolve into the theme song of the motion picture. Miss Celie´s song or Sister was written by Quincy Jones and is used in the juke joint sequence as well. There Shug wearing a provocative stylish red dress entertains the people. Celie and Albert both are watching her with admiration. Because of her wearing dark unfashionable clothes Celie is laughed at. But as Shug dedicates Miss Celie´s blues to her everyone is excited and Celie´s face begins to lighten up. The growing connectedness between these two women is eloborated in a scene with lesbian tendencies. Celie is wearing Shug´s red dress and tells her that Albert beats her up regularly. Celie´s defensive walls crumble as Shug starts kissing her softly.
The original screenplay and the book are close to the movie. At first Shug laughs at Celie (“What the hell
is it?” Walker 1996, p. 79, “You sure is ugly.” Walker 1982, p. 48) but gets closer to her after the bathing scene and the one where both hum the melody of Miss Celie´s Song in harmony (“Start hum a little tune.” Walker 1982, p. 55). The juke joint scene is described exactly like the one used in the movie. But the scene in which the women kiss each other is more explicit. Celie not knowing much about her sexuality is supposed to look at her vagina. The lesbian relationship is not obvious in the movie as Alice Walker remarks:
“In the movie almost all the women kiss each other, making the kiss between Celie and Shug less significant.” (Walker 1996, p.168). Obviously Hollywood wouldn´t accept a homosexual relationship on the big screen. Nevertheless because of the working chemistry between the actresses Margaret Avery and Whoopi Goldberg the close relationship and connection between Shug and Celie evolves beautifully.
Inspite of this one major flaw of the portrayal of Shug in the movie is the newly created subtheme of Shug´s father who is a preacher that doesn´t accept the life she leads. Throughout the movie Shug often attempts to please him. It is obvious that Shug suffers from the situation she´s in. Because of Shug´s wish of reconciliation with her father her character appears vulnerable. This is a major difference to the Shug we know from the book. Shug is the only woman in the novel who is totally free from oppression by men. She doesn´t give in to any kind of control:

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“In the book, Shug was a “wild woman” and quite unrepentant about it too. [...] To have this woman come back to the church and into the embrace of her father, the preacher who had done sermons about her lifestyle as sin incarnate, definitely undercuts the rebel image of Shug (which was a big part of what drew Celie towards her) and undercuts the movie´s overall strong stand against patriarchy.” (Dix, p. 197)


Alice Walker herself misses “[...] Shug´s completely unapologetic self-acceptance as outlaw, renegade, rebel, and pagan; [...]” (Walker 1996, p. 35)
The downplaying of the love relation between Shug ...

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