The Color Purple

image for The Color Purple

Short takes

Not suitable under 13; parental guidance to 13 (violence, adult themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for The Color Purple
  • a review of The Color Purple completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 31 January 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 13 Not suitable due to violence and adult themes.
Children aged 13 Parental guidance recommended due to violence and adult themes.
Children aged 14 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: The Color Purple
Classification: M
Consumer advice lines: Mature themes and violence
Length: 141 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Set in the first half of the 20th century, Celie (Fantasia Barrino) is a young, unmarried woman, about to give birth to her second child. She lives with her abusive father Alfonso (Deon Cole) and sister Nettie (Halle Bailey). Celie’s baby is immediately taken away from her and given up for adoption. Celie is bereft and finds solace in Nettie, the only person in the world who loves her. Nettie is clever and attractive and draws the attention of Mister (Colman Domingo) who asks her father for his permission to marry her. Alfonso refuses and gives him Celie instead. Celie moves from one abusive relationship to another, where she is expected to raise Mister’s three children, cook, clean and have sex with him when required.

Celie is also separated from Nettie who goes to Africa as a nanny. She writes frequently to Celie but her letters are never received as Mister keeps them a secret. Celie is influenced by Sofia (Danielle Brooks), who marries Mister’s oldest son Harpo (Corey Hawkins). Sofia is defiant, strong and brave at a time when women had no rights. Celie is also greatly affected by the appearance of Shug Avery (Taraji P. Hanson), Mister’s glamourous lover. Shug, a well-known singer, takes a liking to Celie and the two become lovers. Shug teaches Celie a lot about her own sexuality and to have confidence in herself. The two eventually leave Mister and go to Memphis to live, although Shug has married musician Grady (Jon Batiste) by this time. Life finally takes a better turn for Celie, who goes on to have a rewarding and fulfilled life.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Incest; Women’s rights; Abuse and neglect; Forced adoption; Racism; Redemption and forgiveness.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Alfonso is an abusive and intimidating man. He constantly yells at Celie and makes her work hard.
  • Mister repeatedly beats Celie, knocking her down. Sex is non-consensual.
  • Sofia and Harpo have a fight and Harpo is seen with a swollen eye.
  • Squeak, Harpo’s new wife, hits Sofia, who hits her back and a fight breaks out.
  • A war scene is briefly shown in Africa, where Nettie is. Soldiers are seen with rifles and shooting is heard. Nettie and the family she works for are taken to a refugee camp.
  • A bar room brawl breaks out and characters punch each other.
  • Sofia is rude to a white woman who wants her to work for her. The woman’s husband hits Sofia for speaking to his wife like that and Sofia hits back. Several men then gang up on Sofia who is knocked unconscious.
  • Mister comes into Harpo’s Juke Joint, drunk and disorderly. He knocks things over and makes a nuisance of himself. Harpo has to remove him.
  • Celie nearly cuts Mister’s throat but is prevented at the last moment.
  • Celie threatens Mister with a large knife.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • Many scary looking scenes of poverty and neglect.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • A swarm of birds arrives in town, scaring the residents. Ominous music is played.
  • A cotton crop is infested by insects and has to be burnt to the ground.
  • Mister walks drunkenly through a bare field. It’s pouring with rain and there’s thunder and lightning. He hears voices and finally collapses in the dirt.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

  • Celie is seen giving birth – not too explicit but she is in obvious pain.
  • Alfonso is an intimidating man who immediately takes Celie’s baby away. She’s worried that he might kill babies.
  • Celie is ordered by her father to marry Mister. She is seen walking behind him on his horse, like a servant girl.
  • Nettie kicks Mister in the groin when he tries to have sex with her. He then attacks her, picks her up and physically throws her out of the house. He shoots a rifle and threatens to kill both of the girls if she ever comes back.
  • Celie tells Harpo he should beat Sofia to keep her in line. She later regrets saying this.
  • Celie tells Shug about her two babies and that she’s not sure if they’re still alive.
  • Shug finds a box of Nettie’s letters to Celie who cries when she knows she has been prevented from reading them all those years.
  • Sofia is sent to prison for six years. She is seen with red eyes and a swollen mouth, leaving her unable to speak properly.
  • Celie sees her dead mother in a mirror.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

  • Some younger children in this age group could be disturbed by the above-mentioned violent and scary scenes.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Celie’s babies were fathered by her father Alfonso.
  • Nettie tells Celie that Alfonso tried to touch her so she had to leave home. She moves in with Celie and Mister who also tries to take advantage of her, but she fights him off.
  • Sofia sings about having to fight men off all her life. She says they ‘climb on top and start to rock’.
  • Mister and Shug dance very closely in a sexualised way.
  • Mister’s dad says that girls just have to spread their legs.
  • Shug sings about how to treat a man and dances provocatively. Couples on the dance floor simulate sex.
  • Sofia flirts with Harpo, although they are both remarried.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Mister forces himself onto Celie in a disturbing sex scene.
  • Shug is seen in a bubble bath but nothing is shown.
  • Mister removes Shug’s top dress and smacks her bottom.
  • Shug and Celie dance closely, kiss and end up in bed together (nothing explicit). Shug is wearing a negligee.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Mister drinks regularly and is often drunk.
  • Shug drinks out of a flask and collapses in Mister’s arms, drunk.
  • Drinking at various venues, in pubs, at home, etc.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Damn/damned
  • Whore
  • Hell no
  • Shit.
  • Name calling such as:
    • Stupid
    • 'Cuntry' Arse.
    • Poor, black and ugly.

In a nutshell

The Color Purple is a musical drama, adapted from the stage show and based on the classic, Pulitzer prize-winning book by Alice Walker. The dance/music scenes are quite spectacular and the cast is first class. The film covers some deep subjects, such as the lack of women’s rights back in the early 20th century and the abuse and neglect suffered by women, particularly in 'Black America'. Therefore, it is not suitable for under 13’s and more suited to older teens and adults.

The main messages from this movie are to stand up for yourself and to have confidence in who you are and not be brought down by others.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Strong female characters
  • Sisterhood
  • Empathy
  • Forgiveness
  • Redemption
  • Resilience
  • Perseverance.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • How dreadful life was for women back in the early 20th century and how women’s rights have been gained by much perseverance from women’s groups. It is important not to take things for granted and to hold on to values that women have fought long and hard for.