
Archuleta is an author, poet, blogger, and host of the…
In December 2023, The Color Purple celebrated 36 years of changing the landscape of Black movies and how our stories are told. Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, the film displays the various problems and struggles Black women faced in the early 1900s. We were introduced to Whoopi Goldberg, whose portrayal of Celie Harris Johnson, earned her a Golden Globe award and Oscar nomination for Best Actress. The film also graced us with Oprah Winfrey’s portrayal of Sofia.
Even now, the film resonates deeply with audiences. I can truly say that no other film has impacted my life more. It places Black womens’ pain on full display yet highlights our strength and resilience — even under the absolute worst of circumstances.
Since 1985, The Color Purple has been adapted to a Broadway production, and now, we have a new musical film reimagining based on the Tony-winning play, starring Taraji P. Henson, Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, H.E.R., and several other powerhouses including Colman Domingo and Corey Hawkins.
The story follows Celie, a dark-skinned Black woman in the early 1900s, who transitions from girlhood to adulthood as the story progresses across decades. After surviving abuse and neglect, Celie eventually finds redemption, love, and the power of sisterhood.
So, how does the new 2023 film compare to the 1985 original?
The Color Purple is a communal experience — and the new film keeps this tradition alive. The beautiful imagery kept my eyes dancing on the screen; the music and choreography added a modern feel, without taking away the essence of the original film.
The first element that I missed though was Celie’s narrative. In the book, the narrative is told with each chapter written as a letter from Celie to God. In the original 1985 film, these letters become voiceovers that play throughout. In the new musical, this narration is not included.

In the original film, Celie’s mother never appears onscreen and is only referred to in the voiceovers. In the new version, we briefly get to see her mother in flashbacks at the beginning. I thought that it actually grounded Celie’s strength that later comes forward.
In the original, when Celie gives birth to her second child, no one but her sister Nettie is in the room with her. In the new version, Celie and Nettie are joined by an extra special midwife — played by Goldberg who portrayed Celie in the original film.
I admit that I was disappointed by the omission of some of the famous phrases and situations that made the original film so cherished — mainly the heartfelt hand-clap between Celie and Nettie.

“Me and you, us never part. Makidada. Me and you, us have one heart. Makidada. Ain’t no ocean, ain’t no sea. Makidada. Keep my sister away from me.”
Other iconic scenes I missed in the remake include the child telling Harpo, “It’s gon rain on yo head,” after looking up in the house and seeing the sky through the roof that Harpo barely put together. I also missed Shug Avery looking into Celie’s face for the first time and saying, “You sho is ugly!”; and the hallelujah church scene when God is trying to tell us something.
Some of our favorites remained, like the powerful “All my life I had to fight!” speech delivered by Sofia, and of course, Celie’s declaration of “Until you do right by me, everything you think about gon crumble.”
In this reimagined version, some relationships were slightly deviated from the original, whether added on or presented as a new perspective.
Shug Avery (played by Henson in the new and Margaret Avery in the original) is one of Celie’s closest friends. Their friendship enters a new territory when they begin to have an intimate relationship, though in the original movie, this is not fully brought to life and the two only share a kiss. In the new movie, not only do they kiss, but they sing an emotional duet and obviously spend the night together. Additionally, in the original, Shug serenades Celie in the juke joint with the song Miss Celie’s Blues. In the new movie, she serenades her on Celie’s birthday after they escape Mister’s house together.

Sofia (Brooks in the new and Winfrey in the original) is married to Harpo (Hawkins in the new and Willard E. Pugh in the original), who is Mister’s son from his previous marriage. She also serves as one of Celie’s closest friends. In the new film, when Sofia gets arrested for slapping a white man, Celie visits her in jail every week, and the entire family is there to greet Sofia when she’s eventually released. This is a different spin from the original.
Nettie is Celie’s younger sister and “the only person who loves her in the world.” In the original, we get the scene of Nettie teaching Celie how to read by placing names on different objects like “apple,” “iron,” and “kettle.” I missed this so much from the new film.

I believe the new version of the film places the central focus on the sisterhood surrounding Celie and how each of the women’s strength helps her out of her own situation. With that said, it’s expected to see their connections being delved more into.
Many of us were skeptical about this new version of such a classic film. I was 13 years old when the original was released, and I remember clinging to it for dear life. Even at such a young age, I recognized that The Color Purple was not about pain and suffering. Ultimately, it’s a story about love, family, sisterhood, and connection. At 13 years old, I was experiencing my own loneliness of just being a teenager. I felt unseen and unheard. It was something about being on that journey with Celie that connected me to her. I’ve seen the Broadway production and love the new musical film, but there is something incredibly special about the original film.
I realized that I don’t have to choose one or the other. I can embrace both versions and carry the power each holds. This latest version of The Color Purple is a different work from the Broadway show before it, and the film before that and the book before that, because every adaptation accomplishes its own purpose and appealing to different communities.
This is what The Color Purple, in all its iterations, is about. Alice Walker is not just a novelist, but an intellectual giant who has explored feminist and womanist theory. In In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens, Walker wrote, “To me, the black black woman is our essential mother, the blacker she is the more us she is and to see the hatred that is turned on her is enough to make me despair, almost entirely, of our future as a people.”
By the end of the film, you are well-fed through all the tears and laughter. This is the reason why Black women can laugh so much with a movie that on the surface seems dark. Because for Black people, especially Black women, laughter is how we heal. Laughter is how we find our way back — back home, back to each other, and back to ourselves.
Archuleta is an author, poet, blogger, and host of the FearlessINK podcast. Archuleta's work centers Black women, mental health and wellness, and inspiring people to live their fullest potential.