To make matters worse, Steven Spielberg did not get a Best Director Oscar nomination. The outrage over his snub was so high that Spielberg ended up winning the DGA (Directors Guild of America Award) for this film and becoming the first ever person in the process to win that award without getting a corresponding Best Director Oscar nomination. This was significant because usually the winner of this award usually goes on to win the Directing Oscar about 89% of the time (DGA and Directing Oscar have disagreed only 8 times since the DGA's have started the awards in 1949), and the fact that Spielberg managed to win this without an Oscar nom is a sign of just how big of a deal this was.
Mindblowing how this didn't win a single award. Especially on Whoopi's behalf because this was one of her all time best performances, and I think it was her first, or one of her first at least
@@nataki8776 absolutely! Her Oscar for Ghost… I mean, memorable performance, sure, but I’m still convinced that was the Academy’s “our bad” for not giving it to her for The Color Purple.
You didn't realize that it was "Mister" who arranged for Nettie and Celie's children to come back to the U.S.? Shug was the only one who figured it out and knew, that's why they showed her looking over at Mister with that look at the end. It was one of those things that shows that even a downright bastard can have a redeeming moment.
My breaking point is when Shug Avery marches Harpo's patrons into her father's church while she's singing the most affecting Gospel song I ever heard in my life. Then she tells her Dad that sinner's got soul too, I'm done!
Tremendous work and amazing effort, that was something else like "out of body" not just acting. (Danny Glover's portrayal of) His character changed up alot but looks the same throughput.
As a black woman, I love beautiful storytelling regardless of race. Btw, race and culture does matter when it matters. Love being a black woman. Love you countrified accents
Another movie that very near and dear to my heart is watching "Waiting to Exhale". 4 beautiful strong women deal with the shit that life throws at them. Favorite scene is the birthday party at the friend's house.
Sadly, here in Idaho, there is no age limit to marry a girl but she is not allowed to divorce until she is 18 because you can't sign a legal document until you are 18, make that make sense.
They do a really good job of showing the cycle of abuse, from Old Mister to Albert to Harpo and even to Celie, who has absorbed the idea that abuse is the only way to succeed.
Everyone is phenomenal in this, but I think Danny Glover gets overlooked. Albert is the villain you just hate, but Glover also shows you his weakness, frustration, and hints of the decent man he could have been.
@@ronbo11 Yes but also the after effects of slavery, how black people were thought to hate themselves and and and I can go on. It was a cycle of abuse by everyone. Even Shug in the beginning. Just putting it in the father is not it. The father was also a survivor and victim of his times. Bad times/bad people
Alice Walker personally chose Whoopi Goldberg after seeing her stand-up. She gave an audition for Steven Spielberg where she did a comedy act about a stoned E.T. getting arrested in Oakland, California for possession. The audition was attended by many of Spielberg's famous friends, including producer Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson.
I was crying for a different reason this time. Always a hard watch, but this is the first time watching even a reaction video of this since my mom died, and never realized how much Celie reminds me of my mom. She was just as mousy when she was young. Always real skinny too. She married an abusive man before she married my dad, but sometime between, she became a strong, take no shit woman. She was always my biggest ally against the toxic majority of my family, along with my dad and younger sister. She was my hero. I really miss her.
I was 13 years old when this movie hit theaters, and I was DYING to see it, because it was directed by Steven Spielberg. I was a HUGE fan, because of "Jaws", "Close Encounters", "1941" (don't at me, I friggin' LOVE that movie), "Raiders", and of course his 1982 1-2 punch of "E.T." and "Poltergeist". So, I was BEGGING my parents to see it, but they were all like, "No, you won't like it." So, I saved up my money, and got myself my OWN ticket! This was the first time I bought my own movie ticket, AND it was the first time I went to the movies ALONE. I was SO excited! I'm 13 years old now! I'm my own MAN, now! Plus, it was a movie about black folks, and it wasn't often that I'd see people that looked like me & my family on the big screen! Well, needless to say, I was an emotional WRECK by the end of the movie. The house lights came back on, the curtain closed, and I was by myself. Too shook to move. The usher had to help me out of my seat, and had to calm me down in the lobby. His name was Patrick. Thank you, Patrick, if you're reading this, and remember. It was a quiet bus ride home. It was raining, too. Walked in the front door soaking wet, and pretty much collapsed into my parents arms, BAWLING my eyes out! My dad was all like, "See, we told you that you would like it," and I was like, "no, it was one of the best movies I have ever seen!" To this very day, even watching clips from "The Color Purple", including your reaction video, sends me into a fit of tears. I don't even need to see the whole movie to get my face soaked. Spielberg is the MASTER of emotion, and he was able to get Oscar nominated performances out of two first time actresses! Anyway, I haven't seen the 2023 musical yet, and I don't feel like I need to. The original 1985 one is MORE than good enough for me. I'm sure it's a well made movie, but... I'm good, thanks.
Growing up, I didn’t even realize that they revealed Celie’s father wasn’t her father. It’s still messed up how she had to bring kids in the world, but at least her real daddy loved her. And he cared enough to leave something to her , even though he wasn’t able to raise her.
I believe the music was made to be light , to balance out the harsh, raw content. Imagine watching this movie with matching music... I honestly think they did that to help comfort the audience as they witness trauma.
When Celie told Harpo to beat Sophia, it's most likely since that's all she knows. For me, I see it also as if she told Harpo anything otherwise and he mentioned it to his father, Celie would have gotten massively in trouble. For Albert keeping the letters instead of disposing of them, it wouldn't be uncommon for someone like that to do so just because of them having the knowledge that they're right there, within her reach and she doesn't know it. 👍
I hoped that Albert knew it was *so wrong* to steal Celie’s precious letters that he couldn’t bring himself to actually destroy them. But I’m probably wrong!
The fight scene with squeak and Sophia to me has me laughing every single time. That old man heading out before everything gets started. He already know some shyt is about to go down....he don't want to be involved nowhere 🤣🤣🤣
Emily, your reaction touched me. More than any other reaction I have seen. Your reaction actually gave this film justice. Thank you. And I would argue The "God is Tryin' to Tell You Something" scene is one of the greatest moments in the history of music as presented in film. THAT is the scene that gets me every time.
Fun fact: in the book, the love scene between Celie and Shug was much more explicit. Alice walker, an onset consultant, didn’t like the toned down nature of the theatrical scene. But she came to understand Spielberg‘s way of interpreting it, especially with the setting and the colors. Walker said, in the end, that the scene he created, really showcased the love between them, and made it even more sweeter and softer.
Spielbergs very personal masterpice is Schindlers List. In school, in my english class we first read the book of Color Puple and then watched the movie... no dry eye in the room...
I saw this in a theater in 1985 at the age of 15 with some friends on a weekday. I was asked by a different group of friends to see the movie with them the following weekend. I started crying. They thought I had lost my mind. I just knew I would not be able to sit through the movie again so soon. I wasn't able to watch it for a number of years after. Even when it came out on VHS. I don't think I watched it again until 1995.
That scene at the table has always, always stuck with me. And for the most part it usually does work out like she said, anyone who's genuinely mean or bad to you has a tendency to screw themselves over unless they change their ways.
Saw this as a senior high school field trip in '85. I forced myself to sit through the first 10 minutes, sick to my stomach, anxiety attack - it was hitting too close to home - but I pushed through, and watched it until the end. Truly appreciate that you forced yourself to continue as well, Emily.🖤
Great movie! For context, Black people have often sought moments of relief, joy and hope in the midst of horrible circumstances. That might include singing, dancing, telling jokes or playing "the dozens," fellowshipping together with food and laughter - whatever we needed to bring some levity into our lives. So even though the music seemed out of place for you, it would have been an important escape for people at the time. Appreciate your review and reaction! btw, LOVE the idea of viewing the other best picture noms from the same year!
I always felt that the music was light like that to underscore how innocent and childlike Celie still was in that moment. The opening scene really showcases the fact that she is an innocent while showing that something bad has already happened to her.
I really like your channel because many of the movies you react to aren't usually reacted to on RUclips (Malcolm X, etc.). Of the reactors I've seen, very few of the white reactors shed a tear over this movie. Your empathy really, really speaks volumes.
I watched this movie twice in theaters when it debut. I was 13. I was taken by my sister. Needless to say, they were robbed of all the awards. Thank you for pointing out the risk that Spielberg took. I never even considered that until today. I’m 51. Great video. Subscribed.
My favorite movie since I was a ten year old. It’s simply beautiful and never fails to make me cry. I’ve seen it a hundred times and I’ve cried every single time. I even cry at reactors watching it. The pain/struggle Celie endures while surviving and eventually thriving is something anyone can relate to.
I suspect that Spielberg not being even nominated for best director may actually be something he would have been ok with, even thought is right, i mean, he didn't think it was his place to direct in the first place. If there was controversy regarding him being director, then imagine the controversy around him personally getting the recognition from the movie rather than the movie itself getting the recognition.
Loved your reaction, so heartfelt and empathetic. I cannot watch this movie without busting into tears multiple times as well. It's so well done. Have a wonderful day
Certain films I weep just thinking about. This is one of them. Spielberg got criticism for toning down the story from the book to get an Oscar. He said he didn't have the guts or the maturity to film certain scenes. Personally I think this was his transitional film into a very serious film maker.
I've heard him talk about that and I think that even for his first time with a serious dramatic project, he did a great job and this along with Empire Of The Sun prepared him for the monster that we all know which was Schindlers List
@@robertjacques4117 Very true. I have noticed something strange in his film making since the mid 90's. He now seems more at home with serious subject matter but has lost some of his family friendly talents. His family films recently seem almost generic compared to to the ones he made in the 70's, 80's and early 90's.
@ashleywetherall I think I agree, like I did love The Fablemans but his sentimentality was at its best in the 70s 80s and 90s, although he did a wonderful job with The Terminal and Catch Me If You can, I consider those his modern classics along with Minority Report. Also, even with his signature sentimentality, there was a level of grit and darkness to them, he balanced everything so perfectly, his last truly gritty film to me personally was Munich, which I believe is woefully underrated as well and he hasn't done anything to that level since, almost 20 years, I hope he can do something like that again, I miss it.
The Color Purple is one of those movies that when they give it the moniker, "tear jerker", it is 100% accurate. Another film that is very good in this sense, when you really feel what the main character is going through, is "Imitation of Life" (1959).
No just act it, but live it. My grandmother would have been Ceilies children’s age. (She’s still around), and her father’s house looked like a mix of the main house and the Juke Joint. A lot of these things were still and are still happening, albeit less. We are from Alabama. Black and indigenous. I didn’t grow up in Alabama but when we’d go visit…it was nearly exactly like this. I saw this with my mother for the first time at age 11. We both lost it at the God is trying to tell you something. My great grandfather was a mainstay in church. Only part of church I liked, was when I’d get to see him. He’d pipe up, stamp his foot and start singing. He was a soft spoken man, until he sang. My grandmother and mother sang in the choir. I didn’t sing in church choir, but joined a gospel choir. Gospel music from black churches have an off, lamenting and hopeful tone at the same time. Love it! So that scene wrecked us.
I don't know the author's intention exactly, but this always felt to me like a story about trauma being passed down through generations going back to the days of slavery and Reconstruction. Celie's father and Danny Glover's as well were probably alive just after or during slavery. They probably had absolutely horrible childhoods. And violence begets violence. It's heartbreaking either way, but that's how I kind of interpreted it.
I think you would have had to grow up with this film in order to not be thrown off by things like the stark contrast of the serious tone of it with the, at times, almost whimsical music. As a kid, you don't really understand what's happening, but by the time you become an adult, you've seen it so many times that everything about the film is just viewed through a nostalgic lens and it takes fresh eyes to catch certain things. I think in some way, that contrast was used to make the difficult parts a bit more digestible. Now, of course, the musical performances of Shug were stellar! The last shaving scene juxtaposed with the village scene of Adam and Tashi was phenomenal and the music was out of this world. So much of Quincy Jone's scoring paired with Spielberg's cinematography was just brilliantly beautiful.
Spielberg had reservations about directing it, but from what I've read Qincy Jones insisted. The book is definitely worth reading. It's a very different experience with the entire story being told in letters.
This movie is one of my favorites. I cry at the reunion scene and the church scene every time. No matter what traumas or abuse Celie experienced her kindness and perseverance she learned in sisterhood with Nettie and shared with Shug and Sofia is what got her to the other side.
I believe the reason for the juxtaposition of the light almost whimsical music is in line with the theme of the movie. It's like what Shug said about the color purple. Does God get upset when people walk through a field and don't acknowledge and recognize the beauty of the colors surrounding them?? Celie is like the color of purple in the field of flowers. The field is her life. We are walking through this field of trauma but at the same time, are we noticing how beautiful this person is? Do we understand the value of her life? That is where the music plays. You might see the trauma, but at the same time, do you hear the beauty? Are you just seeing the weeds and thorny bushes in this field, or are you also acknowledging the beauty of the color purpled flowers that are all throughout the field despite the harshness of the overgrowth? Duality..
The Color Purple lost out to Out of Africa, a meh of a movie with great cinematography and big stars (Robert Redford and Meryl Streep). It was as typical a Hollywood Establishment movie as there ever was. Saw it once; never saw it again. All the hatred of Spielberg at that time (mainly from Old jealous Hollywood elites) and the ruckus stirred up by the NAACP made The Academy run for the hills. They weren’t gonna touch it. Other contenders that year were Kiss of the Spider Woman, Prizzi's Honor and Witness. The Color Purple flies so far above them all yet Hollywood couldn’t muster the balls to give it its due. So utterly pathetic. Thank you for recognizing its greatness.
Once again I knew this would be a tough watch for Emily, but I'm glad you chose to watch a great film. I enjoy the way you guys react to movies. Keep up the great work.
I loved the book and couldn't believe Hollywood could ever do justice to that story. I was wrong and promised myself not to cry in the theater. Ha! I sobbed and laughed all the way through it. The songs from the movie are still on my playlists. 11 Oscar nominations and not one win. I haven't watched an Oscar broadcast since!
This is my favorite movie of all time. I am so glad more people are reacting to it. Loved your reactions!!! Cried with you :) In answer to how they made this movie: Stephen Speilberg asked Quincy Jones for some advice. He said "I have never been black" and he wasn't sure he should make this movie, to which Jones replied "You ain't never been an alien neither." And that is how we got "The Color Purple" :)
Watching people react to seeing this movie for the first time, and feel emotions I've felt since I was a toddler for over 30 year's, and still feel whenever I watch it is always awesome for me.
A film/story like this is about finding the beauty in the midst of the ugliness. Hence, the color purple... despite the ugliness of people, the beauty in the world is still all around you, you just have to reach out and experience it, and then realizing that you two are a part of that beauty. It just takes an (often) unexpected ray of sunshine to peer into your dark corner to guide you out. For Celie, Shug was that ray of sunshine that she hadn't known since Mister snuffed out the light she had in Nettie when he ran her off, and then hid her letters from Celie. Celie had to find her strength, and realize that she was far more than what Mister led her to believe via his oppressive abuse of her. Even from when she was a child, all she knew (from her stepdaddy) was being used and to feel like nothing.
Thanks guys. Appreciate your reaction/ and re watch reaction. It’s a very hard movie but I feel everyone should try to watch it. It’s a good reference for perspectives sometimes.
Dang he be knowing all the black movies we grew up on 😅. I appreciate the insight because as a millennial I was just forced to watch it.. Never wanted to understand it deeply or read the books as a teenager 😢😢😢😢
So many of the situations and such hit, cause our grandparents and great aunts told us about many things about what they went through. The history can be just... wow!
Fun fact: There was so much divine energy behind the making of this film. I cannot stress it enough! You should definitely watch a documentary on the making of it. Because how Oprah got to be Sofia and Whoopi got to be Celie are stories you wouldn’t believe if they weren’t true… 1. Neither Oprah nor Whoopi were known names at the time of this filming. Oprah wasn’t even an actress. But it just so happened that the color purple was her favorite book. It was so much her favorite book that she would often use it as a conversation starter when meeting people. When she heard that they were making the movie, she wanted anything to be a part of it in someway. At the time, though, she didn’t have her own show nationally. She hosted a small talk show in Chicago. She would’ve worked on the crew if she could. Then she found out that they were auditioning actresses, and got in touch with the casting Director. He told her, “I have REAL actresses auditioning for this role.“ So he wouldn’t give her the time of day. Strangely enough, Quincy Jones had been in Chicago because of some music lawsuit against Michael Jackson at the time, and he saw Oprah on her talk show. Having not even known her to ever act or anything, he looked at her, and immediately thought of the character Sophia. She got to audition, but didn’t hear anything about it. She got so depressed thinking that she had lost the role that she checked into a weight loss facility. One day while she was walking on the track, she cried praying and singing to God “I surrender all” so that she would stop obsessing over it. She surrendered that need to God. Then she gets a phone call and it’s Steven Spielberg, saying, “so I hear you’re in a fat farm. If you lose a pound, you could lose the part.“ So she immediately left the facility and went to get a burger. after her audition, Spielberg had her and the actor playing Sophia’s husband Harpo in his office. It’s at that time they all realize that Oprah is Harpo spelled backwards. So on top of giving a stellar audition, it seemed like fate. And so they both were told them that they got the parts together. 2. Whoopi had been a fan of the book, the color purple by Alice walker. So much so that she wrote a letter to Alice Walker, expressing how much she loved the book. Alice Walker then replied back to her, I know who you are. I’ve seen your show. At that time, Whoopi was gaining a lot of notoriety and praise for her one woman show that she had done in different places, such as California where Walker saw her, and where it gained prominence on Broadway. One night Steven Spielberg caught her show and told her that he would like her to play Celie. But Whoopi do it, because she was considered a comic, not a dramatic actress. So as an audition, he asked her to do her same show for him and a few friends. She agreed, not knowing who those friends were. So she gets to the place where she’s supposed to perform, and she picks from behind the curtains and sees that Spielberg‘s friends included Ashford & Simpson and Michael Jackson (to name a few) in the audience. She and her mother were stunned! So she put on her show for all of them, and they absolutely loved it! They asked her if there was any other material she had, and she said, yes, but it was a joke that they told her she could not tell under any circumstances. It was a joke about ET and what happened when he lands in the ghetto. You can find it for yourself, but Spielberg and the audience ask her to do it. it had everybody laughing on the floor. It was after this that she secured the role of Celie.
GREAT REACTION!!!! I believe there was intention with the music as to keep people from falling in to deep emotionally because racism, rape, pedophilia, etc. are very hard deep topics that we to this day have a hard time talking about.
Relentless is the perfect word to describe this....but you're right, it never gets easier to watch. It's very much like Fried Green Tomatoes, the trauma never stops.
I don't know if you guys caught it even though mister was a jerk and put Cealie through all that trauma but at the end he actually had something to do with that family reunion. that's why he was at the immigration office. and he was looking at them off in the distance. This movie is so amazing.
Sooooo glad you watched! I love the bond that Celie and Nettie had. And ooohhh how it hit when Sofia said, "A girl chold aint safe in a house of men"...I still believe and know in my heart to this day, that Whoopi deserved that Oscar . Just like Angela Bassett, who is not in this movie, but i will die on that hill!! Another phenomenal movie about coming through trauma and the human spirit is "12 Years A Slave"....extremely hard to watch, but worth it ❤
My sister and I use so many of these lines. "... I was feeling real down. I was feeling mighty bad. And when I seed you... I knowed there is a God..." I say this about shoes, cookies, etc.. If I have something I don't want to share "Don't touch my cake. I done fixed that cake so I knowed if it be messed with..." So many other lines.
I saw this in the theater , with my Grandmother and less than 20 people in the house. It is the only time where I ever experienced strangers , all sitting within 4 rows in the center of the room. Everyone present was well older than me and we all sat and cried with alternating sorrow, joy, sorrow, joy ...
Spielberg passed on the offered $15m for directing the film, taking the industry minimum $40,000 instead. Also, the other films considered for best picture were Prizzi's Honor, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Witness, and the winner, Out of Africa.
This movie is one of my favorites of all time. I know literally every spoken line in it, and I absolutely mean no shade by saying this, but after watching your reactions and your comments at the end, it occurred to me that I guess that I’ve never really paid that much attention to the music score during the scenes that I was all into. I didn’t even pay attention to it while watching it with you guys either. I’ve seen this movie so many times and even have the score/soundtrack in my phone…😂….it’s actually quite good, but I digress, I completely understand what you were saying and how it took you out of the moment. I guess in my past times watching it, I was simply so emotionally invested in most of the scenes that I guess I literally just blocked out the music during those moments….in other words, the score or background music had no effect on me during those scenes, ever, in the 100+ times I’ve watched it, but now I’ve got to watch it again and pay attention to the music this time. It may change the experience for me this next time around, but I hope not….lol. It was nice to watch this with you guys. Your channel is one of my top two reaction channel subscriptions. Keep up the awesome content!
Just last week, I introduced this movie to my mother-in-law for the first time -- she's Caucasian, by the way -- and she was amazed by it. Even more amazed that it took her 38-39 years to finally watch it.
Please, please, please consider reviewing Menace 2 Society, Higher Learning, and Gangs of New York. Loved your reaction to The Color Purple. New subscriber.
11:10. I just found this channel, but I haven't seen anyone break down like that at what Oprah's character Sofia said like that before. I'm sorry that that hit close to home for you.
My little sister and I used to watch this movie together and cry all the way through. It wasn't until I was older that I realized it wasn't a "sisters' love movie"... That it was a movie about larger things.
It’s a very hard film to watch, but so important. The age of consent in Georgia was 10 years old when the movie starts - 10 YEARS OLD... Women had limited options and lived at the mercy of the men around them. If your husband was abusive, there were no domestic violence hotlines, protection orders, restraining orders, or easily accessible shelters back then. Men could divorce women, but Women couldn't initiate divorce for the same reasons as men until 30 years after this film begins.
I LOVED your reactions and comments on this movie. This is my #1 movie ever! I was raised in GA (where the fictional movie took place). I'm 40 years old now and lucky enough to still have both of my grandmother's here. 79 and 84. They remember those times and I was raised on stories about them! I have watched this movie hundreds of times. I had it on VHS and I still have the DVD. I would watch it all the time, if I had nothing to do to pass the time! Even now, during y'all's review I cry at certain scenes! To this day I'm ANGRY about the Oscars! Whoopi should have won and would have been the 1st black woman ever to win in that category! That's why they gave her the Oscar for Ghost 🤔. Anyway, thank you for the heartfelt review. I've been a subscriber for about two years and I will continue to support all of your videos ❤!!!!!!
Look up interview with Whoopi telling story about her audition for Spielberg. It's a pretty good one. Didn't expect to be sobbing with you on a Thursday afternoon, but here we are! Thanks for all your reactions.
Matthew: Women drivers.... Emily: *death stare* For an extremely emotional reaction video, that moment made me laugh. You guys are my favorite reaction channel!!!! ❤
I've seen many RUclips reactions to this film, and nobody seems to realize that in the scene where Shug sings "God Is Trying to Tell You Something", that the girl singing opposite, in the church choir is supposed to be Shug's daughter. Her father was raising her. That's one of the reasons her father was angry with her. The resemblance is that she has a great singing voice like her mother.
I think the reason for the music is to bring attention to the light nostalgia of the south that tries to lighten the ugly of the time period. So the disconnect of the music seems intentional to create that what why feeling. It's brilliant to me.
Man just watching bits and pieces of the movie during y’all’s reaction got me tearing up! 😢 I liked the movie musical but it just didn’t give me the same emotional journey as this movie.
In that day and time, NO director would have been able to show the FULL relationship between Shug and Celie, because homosexual acts were not allowed to be shown on screen.
Great reaction. I can kinda see why you all felt the music was out of place but you have to understand music is a huge part of the African American culture. Especially back then. Despite all the trauma endured we still can sing a joyful noise. That's why I never put much thought into this movie's music placement. In real life, African Americans will sing anywhere at any time.
I saw this movie (and then read the book) at twelve. I was so in love with this story. I was singing Ms. Celie's Blues constantly. Many would say it's not appropriate for a 12 year old but great stories like this made me want to read. I think it was important to learn at twelve years old what other people had suffered through. Books like this can make a young person more empathetic.
This film was nominated for 11 Oscars. Won ZERO. THAT was. a crime!
Damn shame😡😡
To make matters worse, Steven Spielberg did not get a Best Director Oscar nomination. The outrage over his snub was so high that Spielberg ended up winning the DGA (Directors Guild of America Award) for this film and becoming the first ever person in the process to win that award without getting a corresponding Best Director Oscar nomination.
This was significant because usually the winner of this award usually goes on to win the Directing Oscar about 89% of the time (DGA and Directing Oscar have disagreed only 8 times since the DGA's have started the awards in 1949), and the fact that Spielberg managed to win this without an Oscar nom is a sign of just how big of a deal this was.
Mindblowing how this didn't win a single award. Especially on Whoopi's behalf because this was one of her all time best performances, and I think it was her first, or one of her first at least
@@nataki8776 absolutely! Her Oscar for Ghost… I mean, memorable performance, sure, but I’m still convinced that was the Academy’s “our bad” for not giving it to her for The Color Purple.
@@andirandolph8830It was. She and the picture both deserved the Oscar.
You didn't realize that it was "Mister" who arranged for Nettie and Celie's children to come back to the U.S.? Shug was the only one who figured it out and knew, that's why they showed her looking over at Mister with that look at the end. It was one of those things that shows that even a downright bastard can have a redeeming moment.
@@Whitebrowpriest I thought that was obvious in the movie...you see him going to immigration with the cash.
I've probably seen this movie 100 times, and cry like a baby EVERY time she reunites with her sister and children. EVERY time.
My breaking point is when Shug Avery marches Harpo's patrons into her father's church while she's singing the most affecting Gospel song I ever heard in my life. Then she tells her Dad that sinner's got soul too, I'm done!
I've also seen it MANY times, and I cry so hard when they reunite. Like I've never seen it before...glad I'm not alone.
You're not alone 😢
Same. Every single time.
NeTIIIIIIEEEEE!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭
Danny Glover is just the sweetest man ever and it killed him inside having to play such a violent and unfeeling character.
This was one of those movies that a lot of people didn't like him after this movie because he played Mr so well in this one.
I met him shortly after this came out. He was cool and funny 😊
Tremendous work and amazing effort, that was something else like "out of body" not just acting. (Danny Glover's portrayal of) His character changed up alot but looks the same throughput.
I met Mr. Glover in Toronto years ago at TIFF. He's a dear.
@@shioriryukaze agreed. The Lethal Weapon series rehabbed that for him. He was a loving family man and an upright detective in that.
As a black woman, I love beautiful storytelling regardless of race. Btw, race and culture does matter when it matters. Love being a black woman. Love you countrified accents
Amen
Another movie that very near and dear to my heart is watching "Waiting to Exhale". 4 beautiful strong women deal with the shit that life throws at them.
Favorite scene is the birthday party at the friend's house.
Whoopie did this movie and said "That's my drama quota for life"
Sadly, here in Idaho, there is no age limit to marry a girl but she is not allowed to divorce until she is 18 because you can't sign a legal document until you are 18, make that make sense.
Wt actual F
Yikes 🤢
What in the actual craziness is going on in Idaho?
What! That's insane.
Ugh 🤢
They do a really good job of showing the cycle of abuse, from Old Mister to Albert to Harpo and even to Celie, who has absorbed the idea that abuse is the only way to succeed.
Everyone is phenomenal in this, but I think Danny Glover gets overlooked. Albert is the villain you just hate, but Glover also shows you his weakness, frustration, and hints of the decent man he could have been.
Albert's father was the reason why he grew up to be the way he was. That man was as evil as they come!
@@ronbo11 Yes but also the after effects of slavery, how black people were thought to hate themselves and and and I can go on. It was a cycle of abuse by everyone. Even Shug in the beginning. Just putting it in the father is not it. The father was also a survivor and victim of his times. Bad times/bad people
Alice Walker personally chose Whoopi Goldberg after seeing her stand-up. She gave an audition for Steven Spielberg where she did a comedy act about a stoned E.T. getting arrested in Oakland, California for possession. The audition was attended by many of Spielberg's famous friends, including producer Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson.
@@tevinwms1104 Wtf...
The fact that a film like this can still provide genuine moments of levity, despite how grim the circumstances are, is wonderful.
It had to have those or you would have been as depressed and full of anxiety as you could get!
I was crying for a different reason this time. Always a hard watch, but this is the first time watching even a reaction video of this since my mom died, and never realized how much Celie reminds me of my mom. She was just as mousy when she was young. Always real skinny too. She married an abusive man before she married my dad, but sometime between, she became a strong, take no shit woman. She was always my biggest ally against the toxic majority of my family, along with my dad and younger sister. She was my hero.
I really miss her.
Blessings ❤
I was 13 years old when this movie hit theaters, and I was DYING to see it, because it was directed by Steven Spielberg. I was a HUGE fan, because of "Jaws", "Close Encounters", "1941" (don't at me, I friggin' LOVE that movie), "Raiders", and of course his 1982 1-2 punch of "E.T." and "Poltergeist". So, I was BEGGING my parents to see it, but they were all like, "No, you won't like it."
So, I saved up my money, and got myself my OWN ticket! This was the first time I bought my own movie ticket, AND it was the first time I went to the movies ALONE. I was SO excited! I'm 13 years old now! I'm my own MAN, now! Plus, it was a movie about black folks, and it wasn't often that I'd see people that looked like me & my family on the big screen!
Well, needless to say, I was an emotional WRECK by the end of the movie. The house lights came back on, the curtain closed, and I was by myself. Too shook to move. The usher had to help me out of my seat, and had to calm me down in the lobby. His name was Patrick. Thank you, Patrick, if you're reading this, and remember.
It was a quiet bus ride home. It was raining, too. Walked in the front door soaking wet, and pretty much collapsed into my parents arms, BAWLING my eyes out! My dad was all like, "See, we told you that you would like it," and I was like, "no, it was one of the best movies I have ever seen!"
To this very day, even watching clips from "The Color Purple", including your reaction video, sends me into a fit of tears. I don't even need to see the whole movie to get my face soaked. Spielberg is the MASTER of emotion, and he was able to get Oscar nominated performances out of two first time actresses!
Anyway, I haven't seen the 2023 musical yet, and I don't feel like I need to. The original 1985 one is MORE than good enough for me. I'm sure it's a well made movie, but... I'm good, thanks.
Growing up, I didn’t even realize that they revealed Celie’s father wasn’t her father. It’s still messed up how she had to bring kids in the world, but at least her real daddy loved her. And he cared enough to leave something to her , even though he wasn’t able to raise her.
I believe the music was made to be light , to balance out the harsh, raw content. Imagine watching this movie with matching music... I honestly think they did that to help comfort the audience as they witness trauma.
And music is such a big part of Black culture especially in those days
When Celie told Harpo to beat Sophia, it's most likely since that's all she knows. For me, I see it also as if she told Harpo anything otherwise and he mentioned it to his father, Celie would have gotten massively in trouble.
For Albert keeping the letters instead of disposing of them, it wouldn't be uncommon for someone like that to do so just because of them having the knowledge that they're right there, within her reach and she doesn't know it. 👍
That's exactly why I thought he kept them, too. It satisfied his sadistic nature.
I hoped that Albert knew it was *so wrong* to steal Celie’s precious letters that he couldn’t bring himself to actually destroy them. But I’m probably wrong!
@@House0fHoot I hope so 🙏
The fight scene with squeak and Sophia to me has me laughing every single time. That old man heading out before everything gets started. He already know some shyt is about to go down....he don't want to be involved nowhere 🤣🤣🤣
Emily, your reaction touched me. More than any other reaction I have seen. Your reaction actually gave this film justice. Thank you. And I would argue The "God is Tryin' to Tell You Something" scene is one of the greatest moments in the history of music as presented in film. THAT is the scene that gets me every time.
Fun fact: in the book, the love scene between Celie and Shug was much more explicit. Alice walker, an onset consultant, didn’t like the toned down nature of the theatrical scene. But she came to understand Spielberg‘s way of interpreting it, especially with the setting and the colors. Walker said, in the end, that the scene he created, really showcased the love between them, and made it even more sweeter and softer.
Spielbergs very personal masterpice is Schindlers List.
In school, in my english class we first read the book of Color Puple and then watched the movie... no dry eye in the room...
I saw this in a theater in 1985 at the age of 15 with some friends on a weekday. I was asked by a different group of friends to see the movie with them the following weekend. I started crying. They thought I had lost my mind. I just knew I would not be able to sit through the movie again so soon. I wasn't able to watch it for a number of years after. Even when it came out on VHS. I don't think I watched it again until 1995.
Because you are an empath❤
That scene at the table has always, always stuck with me. And for the most part it usually does work out like she said, anyone who's genuinely mean or bad to you has a tendency to screw themselves over unless they change their ways.
Finally - reactors watching this with Heart... Made me cry even more... Thank you...
❤
Saw this as a senior high school field trip in '85. I forced myself to sit through the first 10 minutes, sick to my stomach, anxiety attack - it was hitting too close to home - but I pushed through, and watched it until the end. Truly appreciate that you forced yourself to continue as well, Emily.🖤
❤
Great movie! For context, Black people have often sought moments of relief, joy and hope in the midst of horrible circumstances. That might include singing, dancing, telling jokes or playing "the dozens," fellowshipping together with food and laughter - whatever we needed to bring some levity into our lives. So even though the music seemed out of place for you, it would have been an important escape for people at the time. Appreciate your review and reaction!
btw, LOVE the idea of viewing the other best picture noms from the same year!
I believe they meant the score. Not the songs and music the characters can hear. The main theme is very soft and sweet sounding.
Yes ❤
Well said ❤
I always felt that the music was light like that to underscore how innocent and childlike Celie still was in that moment. The opening scene really showcases the fact that she is an innocent while showing that something bad has already happened to her.
I really like your channel because many of the movies you react to aren't usually reacted to on RUclips (Malcolm X, etc.). Of the reactors I've seen, very few of the white reactors shed a tear over this movie. Your empathy really, really speaks volumes.
I watched this movie twice in theaters when it debut. I was 13. I was taken by my sister. Needless to say, they were robbed of all the awards. Thank you for pointing out the risk that Spielberg took. I never even considered that until today. I’m 51. Great video. Subscribed.
Harpo’s girlfriend was played by Rae Dawn Chong (Tommy Chong’s daughter)
My favorite movie since I was a ten year old. It’s simply beautiful and never fails to make me cry. I’ve seen it a hundred times and I’ve cried every single time. I even cry at reactors watching it. The pain/struggle Celie endures while surviving and eventually thriving is something anyone can relate to.
I'm less than 5 minutes in and already the rage and horror contained within that 'What?' at 3:18 is powerful.
I suspect that Spielberg not being even nominated for best director may actually be something he would have been ok with, even thought is right, i mean, he didn't think it was his place to direct in the first place. If there was controversy regarding him being director, then imagine the controversy around him personally getting the recognition from the movie rather than the movie itself getting the recognition.
Loved your reaction, so heartfelt and empathetic. I cannot watch this movie without busting into tears multiple times as well. It's so well done. Have a wonderful day
Certain films I weep just thinking about. This is one of them. Spielberg got criticism for toning down the story from the book to get an Oscar. He said he didn't have the guts or the maturity to film certain scenes. Personally I think this was his transitional film into a very serious film maker.
I've heard him talk about that and I think that even for his first time with a serious dramatic project, he did a great job and this along with Empire Of The Sun prepared him for the monster that we all know which was Schindlers List
@@robertjacques4117 Very true. I have noticed something strange in his film making since the mid 90's. He now seems more at home with serious subject matter but has lost some of his family friendly talents. His family films recently seem almost generic compared to to the ones he made in the 70's, 80's and early 90's.
@ashleywetherall I think I agree, like I did love The Fablemans but his sentimentality was at its best in the 70s 80s and 90s, although he did a wonderful job with The Terminal and Catch Me If You can, I consider those his modern classics along with Minority Report. Also, even with his signature sentimentality, there was a level of grit and darkness to them, he balanced everything so perfectly, his last truly gritty film to me personally was Munich, which I believe is woefully underrated as well and he hasn't done anything to that level since, almost 20 years, I hope he can do something like that again, I miss it.
I love you both. So glad you guys allowed yourself to be immersed in the story
Me: Knowing from the start that this movie would be a bawl-fest for Emily...
Matthew (reaching for tissue): Could you hand me one of these, please? 😢
The Color Purple is one of those movies that when they give it the moniker, "tear jerker", it is 100% accurate. Another film that is very good in this sense, when you really feel what the main character is going through, is "Imitation of Life" (1959).
No just act it, but live it. My grandmother would have been Ceilies children’s age. (She’s still around), and her father’s house looked like a mix of the main house and the Juke Joint. A lot of these things were still and are still happening, albeit less. We are from Alabama. Black and indigenous. I didn’t grow up in Alabama but when we’d go visit…it was nearly exactly like this.
I saw this with my mother for the first time at age 11. We both lost it at the God is trying to tell you something. My great grandfather was a mainstay in church. Only part of church I liked, was when I’d get to see him. He’d pipe up, stamp his foot and start singing. He was a soft spoken man, until he sang. My grandmother and mother sang in the choir. I didn’t sing in church choir, but joined a gospel choir. Gospel music from black churches have an off, lamenting and hopeful tone at the same time. Love it! So that scene wrecked us.
Blessings ❤
This was my mother's favorite movie. It's a great movie. You guys should watch "Jumping Jack Flash" with Whoopi Goldberg
Another underrated movie. I been into programming simply because of seeing this. Data entry days 😂😂😂
Or Theodore Rex!
I don't know the author's intention exactly, but this always felt to me like a story about trauma being passed down through generations going back to the days of slavery and Reconstruction. Celie's father and Danny Glover's as well were probably alive just after or during slavery. They probably had absolutely horrible childhoods. And violence begets violence. It's heartbreaking either way, but that's how I kind of interpreted it.
I think you would have had to grow up with this film in order to not be thrown off by things like the stark contrast of the serious tone of it with the, at times, almost whimsical music. As a kid, you don't really understand what's happening, but by the time you become an adult, you've seen it so many times that everything about the film is just viewed through a nostalgic lens and it takes fresh eyes to catch certain things. I think in some way, that contrast was used to make the difficult parts a bit more digestible. Now, of course, the musical performances of Shug were stellar! The last shaving scene juxtaposed with the village scene of Adam and Tashi was phenomenal and the music was out of this world. So much of Quincy Jone's scoring paired with Spielberg's cinematography was just brilliantly beautiful.
Honestly That final scene broke me..
❤🫂
@@ashleywetherall Every time
One of Spielberg's best films and with HIS resume that is saying a lot. Loved the emotions, loved the discussion
Spielberg had reservations about directing it, but from what I've read Qincy Jones insisted. The book is definitely worth reading. It's a very different experience with the entire story being told in letters.
Yeeeesssss I think the broadway show and a bit of the recent re-adaptation of the film goes more into the story.
I cry every time, but Celie’s strength & fortitude is redemptive 😭💜
Yes!
Mister was the one who paid to get them all home at the end that’s why he was in his field during that time
I hope Albert was trying to redeem himself. Or was it to lift Celie’s curse!
4:53 YES IT IS! But for all the pain, there are some *truly BEAUTIFUL moments* of sisterhood & friendship! Such a great story 💜💐🎬
Even having not seen this movie in... 20 years, maybe, and just seeing the bits you showed... just absolutely sobbing.
This movie is one of my favorites. I cry at the reunion scene and the church scene every time. No matter what traumas or abuse Celie experienced her kindness and perseverance she learned in sisterhood with Nettie and shared with Shug and Sofia is what got her to the other side.
I believe the reason for the juxtaposition of the light almost whimsical music is in line with the theme of the movie. It's like what Shug said about the color purple. Does God get upset when people walk through a field and don't acknowledge and recognize the beauty of the colors surrounding them?? Celie is like the color of purple in the field of flowers. The field is her life. We are walking through this field of trauma but at the same time, are we noticing how beautiful this person is? Do we understand the value of her life? That is where the music plays. You might see the trauma, but at the same time, do you hear the beauty? Are you just seeing the weeds and thorny bushes in this field, or are you also acknowledging the beauty of the color purpled flowers that are all throughout the field despite the harshness of the overgrowth? Duality..
The Color Purple lost out to Out of Africa, a meh of a movie with great cinematography and big stars (Robert Redford and Meryl Streep). It was as typical a Hollywood Establishment movie as there ever was. Saw it once; never saw it again. All the hatred of Spielberg at that time (mainly from Old jealous Hollywood elites) and the ruckus stirred up by the NAACP made The Academy run for the hills. They weren’t gonna touch it. Other contenders that year were Kiss of the Spider Woman, Prizzi's Honor and Witness. The Color Purple flies so far above them all yet Hollywood couldn’t muster the balls to give it its due. So utterly pathetic. Thank you for recognizing its greatness.
I suggest the comedy/drama Life starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence with Bernie Mac.
Another fun fact is that the girl sitting beside Oprah during the dinner table scene is Whoopi Goldberg's daughter.
Love your reaction to this film! It’s a classic
11:00 I'm not a fan of Oprah's, but she ATE in this scene! This is one of the most quoted scenes by Black folks who've seen this movie.
Luv it when a man is man enough to show his true feelings. Great reaction!
Once again I knew this would be a tough watch for Emily, but I'm glad you chose to watch a great film. I enjoy the way you guys react to movies. Keep up the great work.
I loved the book and couldn't believe Hollywood could ever do justice to that story. I was wrong and promised myself not to cry in the theater. Ha! I sobbed and laughed all the way through it. The songs from the movie are still on my playlists. 11 Oscar nominations and not one win. I haven't watched an Oscar broadcast since!
This is my favorite movie of all time. I am so glad more people are reacting to it. Loved your reactions!!! Cried with you :)
In answer to how they made this movie: Stephen Speilberg asked Quincy Jones for some advice. He said "I have never been black" and he wasn't sure he should make this movie, to which Jones replied "You ain't never been an alien neither." And that is how we got "The Color Purple" :)
Watching people react to seeing this movie for the first time, and feel emotions I've felt since I was a toddler for over 30 year's, and still feel whenever I watch it is always awesome for me.
A film/story like this is about finding the beauty in the midst of the ugliness. Hence, the color purple... despite the ugliness of people, the beauty in the world is still all around you, you just have to reach out and experience it, and then realizing that you two are a part of that beauty. It just takes an (often) unexpected ray of sunshine to peer into your dark corner to guide you out. For Celie, Shug was that ray of sunshine that she hadn't known since Mister snuffed out the light she had in Nettie when he ran her off, and then hid her letters from Celie. Celie had to find her strength, and realize that she was far more than what Mister led her to believe via his oppressive abuse of her. Even from when she was a child, all she knew (from her stepdaddy) was being used and to feel like nothing.
Thanks guys. Appreciate your reaction/ and re watch reaction. It’s a very hard movie but I feel everyone should try to watch it. It’s a good reference for perspectives sometimes.
Dang he be knowing all the black movies we grew up on 😅. I appreciate the insight because as a millennial I was just forced to watch it.. Never wanted to understand it deeply or read the books as a teenager 😢😢😢😢
When you see lists of Greatest Villains in movies, Danny Glover's character not mentioned enough.
He has a redemption arc at the end, but bleep him.
So many of the situations and such hit, cause our grandparents and great aunts told us about many things about what they went through. The history can be just... wow!
Fun fact: There was so much divine energy behind the making of this film. I cannot stress it enough! You should definitely watch a documentary on the making of it. Because how Oprah got to be Sofia and Whoopi got to be Celie are stories you wouldn’t believe if they weren’t true… 1. Neither Oprah nor Whoopi were known names at the time of this filming. Oprah wasn’t even an actress. But it just so happened that the color purple was her favorite book. It was so much her favorite book that she would often use it as a conversation starter when meeting people. When she heard that they were making the movie, she wanted anything to be a part of it in someway. At the time, though, she didn’t have her own show nationally. She hosted a small talk show in Chicago. She would’ve worked on the crew if she could. Then she found out that they were auditioning actresses, and got in touch with the casting Director. He told her, “I have REAL actresses auditioning for this role.“ So he wouldn’t give her the time of day. Strangely enough, Quincy Jones had been in Chicago because of some music lawsuit against Michael Jackson at the time, and he saw Oprah on her talk show. Having not even known her to ever act or anything, he looked at her, and immediately thought of the character Sophia. She got to audition, but didn’t hear anything about it. She got so depressed thinking that she had lost the role that she checked into a weight loss facility. One day while she was walking on the track, she cried praying and singing to God “I surrender all” so that she would stop obsessing over it. She surrendered that need to God. Then she gets a phone call and it’s Steven Spielberg, saying, “so I hear you’re in a fat farm. If you lose a pound, you could lose the part.“ So she immediately left the facility and went to get a burger. after her audition, Spielberg had her and the actor playing Sophia’s husband Harpo in his office. It’s at that time they all realize that Oprah is Harpo spelled backwards. So on top of giving a stellar audition, it seemed like fate. And so they both were told them that they got the parts together. 2. Whoopi had been a fan of the book, the color purple by Alice walker. So much so that she wrote a letter to Alice Walker, expressing how much she loved the book. Alice Walker then replied back to her, I know who you are. I’ve seen your show. At that time, Whoopi was gaining a lot of notoriety and praise for her one woman show that she had done in different places, such as California where Walker saw her, and where it gained prominence on Broadway. One night Steven Spielberg caught her show and told her that he would like her to play Celie. But Whoopi do it, because she was considered a comic, not a dramatic actress. So as an audition, he asked her to do her same show for him and a few friends. She agreed, not knowing who those friends were. So she gets to the place where she’s supposed to perform, and she picks from behind the curtains and sees that Spielberg‘s friends included Ashford & Simpson and Michael Jackson (to name a few) in the audience. She and her mother were stunned! So she put on her show for all of them, and they absolutely loved it! They asked her if there was any other material she had, and she said, yes, but it was a joke that they told her she could not tell under any circumstances. It was a joke about ET and what happened when he lands in the ghetto. You can find it for yourself, but Spielberg and the audience ask her to do it. it had everybody laughing on the floor. It was after this that she secured the role of Celie.
THey had a reunion on Oprahs show for this movie Fun Fact Nettie the older nettie was a real Princess in Africa
GREAT REACTION!!!! I believe there was intention with the music as to keep people from falling in to deep emotionally because racism, rape, pedophilia, etc. are very hard deep topics that we to this day have a hard time talking about.
Relentless is the perfect word to describe this....but you're right, it never gets easier to watch. It's very much like Fried Green Tomatoes, the trauma never stops.
I don't know if you guys caught it even though mister was a jerk and put Cealie through all that trauma but at the end he actually had something to do with that family reunion. that's why he was at the immigration office. and he was looking at them off in the distance. This movie is so amazing.
The last shot with Mister was perfect...everything expressed with no words. Amazing performance by Danny Glover
Sooooo glad you watched! I love the bond that Celie and Nettie had. And ooohhh how it hit when Sofia said, "A girl chold aint safe in a house of men"...I still believe and know in my heart to this day, that Whoopi deserved that Oscar . Just like Angela Bassett, who is not in this movie, but i will die on that hill!! Another phenomenal movie about coming through trauma and the human spirit is "12 Years A Slave"....extremely hard to watch, but worth it ❤
In the end mister finally did right by her
My sister and I use so many of these lines. "... I was feeling real down. I was feeling mighty bad. And when I seed you... I knowed there is a God..." I say this about shoes, cookies, etc.. If I have something I don't want to share "Don't touch my cake. I done fixed that cake so I knowed if it be messed with..." So many other lines.
This movie has me laughing and crying in the same places every time i watch it. The end? I ALWAYS go through a box of tissues.
It won no Oscars, biggest snub ever.
I saw this in the theater , with my Grandmother and less than 20 people in the house. It is the only time where I ever experienced strangers , all sitting within 4 rows in the center of the room. Everyone present was well older than me and we all sat and cried with alternating sorrow, joy, sorrow, joy ...
Spielberg passed on the offered $15m for directing the film, taking the industry minimum $40,000 instead.
Also, the other films considered for best picture were Prizzi's Honor, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Witness, and the winner, Out of Africa.
This movie is one of my favorites of all time. I know literally every spoken line in it, and I absolutely mean no shade by saying this, but after watching your reactions and your comments at the end, it occurred to me that I guess that I’ve never really paid that much attention to the music score during the scenes that I was all into. I didn’t even pay attention to it while watching it with you guys either. I’ve seen this movie so many times and even have the score/soundtrack in my phone…😂….it’s actually quite good, but I digress, I completely understand what you were saying and how it took you out of the moment. I guess in my past times watching it, I was simply so emotionally invested in most of the scenes that I guess I literally just blocked out the music during those moments….in other words, the score or background music had no effect on me during those scenes, ever, in the 100+ times I’ve watched it, but now I’ve got to watch it again and pay attention to the music this time. It may change the experience for me this next time around, but I hope not….lol. It was nice to watch this with you guys. Your channel is one of my top two reaction channel subscriptions. Keep up the awesome content!
Just last week, I introduced this movie to my mother-in-law for the first time -- she's Caucasian, by the way -- and she was amazed by it. Even more amazed that it took her 38-39 years to finally watch it.
It was a shame how it got snubbed at the Oscars. Love your reactions that it still pulls at your heart strings.
I saw this for the first time around when the remake musical was coming out. And it’s really good!
Please, please, please consider reviewing Menace 2 Society, Higher Learning, and Gangs of New York. Loved your reaction to The Color Purple. New subscriber.
11:10. I just found this channel, but I haven't seen anyone break down like that at what Oprah's character Sofia said like that before. I'm sorry that that hit close to home for you.
My little sister and I used to watch this movie together and cry all the way through. It wasn't until I was older that I realized it wasn't a "sisters' love movie"... That it was a movie about larger things.
Loved you two’s reaction. I could elaborate, but everybody already knows what I’d say.
You are not ready for this one …. Matt get the tissue ready … you and Emily might need them today
It’s a very hard film to watch, but so important. The age of consent in Georgia was 10 years old when the movie starts - 10 YEARS OLD... Women had limited options and lived at the mercy of the men around them. If your husband was abusive, there were no domestic violence hotlines, protection orders, restraining orders, or easily accessible shelters back then. Men could divorce women, but Women couldn't initiate divorce for the same reasons as men until 30 years after this film begins.
I LOVED your reactions and comments on this movie. This is my #1 movie ever! I was raised in GA (where the fictional movie took place). I'm 40 years old now and lucky enough to still have both of my grandmother's here. 79 and 84. They remember those times and I was raised on stories about them! I have watched this movie hundreds of times. I had it on VHS and I still have the DVD. I would watch it all the time, if I had nothing to do to pass the time! Even now, during y'all's review I cry at certain scenes! To this day I'm ANGRY about the Oscars! Whoopi should have won and would have been the 1st black woman ever to win in that category! That's why they gave her the Oscar for Ghost 🤔. Anyway, thank you for the heartfelt review. I've been a subscriber for about two years and I will continue to support all of your videos ❤!!!!!!
Look up interview with Whoopi telling story about her audition for Spielberg. It's a pretty good one.
Didn't expect to be sobbing with you on a Thursday afternoon, but here we are! Thanks for all your reactions.
Omg where have you guys been all your lives! This movie is simply a thing of beauty
Matthew: Women drivers....
Emily: *death stare*
For an extremely emotional reaction video, that moment made me laugh. You guys are my favorite reaction channel!!!! ❤
I've seen many RUclips reactions to this film, and nobody seems to realize that in the scene where Shug sings "God Is Trying to Tell You Something", that the girl singing opposite, in the church choir is supposed to be Shug's daughter. Her father was raising her. That's one of the reasons her father was angry with her. The resemblance is that she has a great singing voice like her mother.
I think the reason for the music is to bring attention to the light nostalgia of the south that tries to lighten the ugly of the time period. So the disconnect of the music seems intentional to create that what why feeling. It's brilliant to me.
Really really enjoy your channel keep up the great work and all the best from here in Ireland 🇮🇪 👍👍👍
Man just watching bits and pieces of the movie during y’all’s reaction got me tearing up! 😢 I liked the movie musical but it just didn’t give me the same emotional journey as this movie.
In that day and time, NO director would have been able to show the FULL relationship between Shug and Celie, because homosexual acts were not allowed to be shown on screen.
Mister reminds me of my father. That's what makes it hard to watch but I did have my grown Celie moment when I was 16 years old (at Thanksgiving).
Great reaction. I can kinda see why you all felt the music was out of place but you have to understand music is a huge part of the African American culture. Especially back then. Despite all the trauma endured we still can sing a joyful noise. That's why I never put much thought into this movie's music placement. In real life, African Americans will sing anywhere at any time.
I saw this movie (and then read the book) at twelve. I was so in love with this story. I was singing Ms. Celie's Blues constantly.
Many would say it's not appropriate for a 12 year old but great stories like this made me want to read. I think it was important to learn at twelve years old what other people had suffered through. Books like this can make a young person more empathetic.
#movietitle I recommend a wonderful classic A Patch of Blue. 1965 Sidney Poitier, Shelley Winters, & Elizabeth Hartman. Such a wonderful film