Sweet tea and scandals: The Color Purple (1985)
If you know me, you know how I have fond memories of The Color Purple, mostly because of watching it with my grandma!
Happy Sunday, Brunchers! We’ve talked about one of my favorite writers before—Alice Walker—and some of her most famous works. But today, we’re diving into the time The Color Purple sparked so much controversy that it practically launched Spike Lee’s entire film career. Why? Because of how deeply misogynistic he—and many other critics—were in their response to it!
I’ll be honest, I’m not surprised that an elderly Black man took issue with a film centering Black women’s struggles. And sure, people love to say, "It was a different time," but misogynoir is always a choice. How hard is it to see women—Black women especially—as full human beings?
In researching this piece, I was shook to learn that even the NAACP had no compassion for Celie. Instead of standing up for a character enduring relentless abuse, they chose to paint Black men as the real victims. Celie is being mistreated in full view of others—including other men—and the only person who stands up for her is Mrs. Sofia.
I could recap the entire movie and book for you, but really, you should find out for yourself. Oh and, I’ll never acknowledge that musical Oprah put out of the same name that nobody asked for, chile… Let’s get into it.
When Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple hit theaters in December 1985, it was poised to be a cultural phenomenon. Based on Alice Walker’s groundbreaking 1982 novel of the same name, the film had a powerhouse cast—Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Danny Glover—and told a story of Black women’s resilience in the face of oppression. Critics loved it, and it racked up 11 Academy Award nominations.
But not everyone was applauding.
While The Color Purple was celebrated for bringing a Black woman’s story to the forefront, it also ignited backlash—particularly from Black men, prominent figures like Spike Lee, and organizations such as the NAACP. Many saw the film as an outright attack on Black men, a Hollywood-backed smear campaign that reinforced negative stereotypes.
Before it was a movie, The Color Purple was a literary sensation. Alice Walker, a celebrated author and activist, published the novel in 1982, and it quickly won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction—the first time a Black woman had received the honor.
Set in the early 1900s, The Color Purple follows the life of Celie, a poor Black woman in the rural South who suffers abuse at the hands of her father and later her husband, Mister. Through letters—some written to God, others to her long-lost sister, Nettie—Celie slowly finds her voice, her strength, and a sense of self-worth. The book explores themes of racism, sexism, domestic abuse, sexuality, and the power of sisterhood.
Walker, a staunch feminist and advocate for Black women’s stories, wrote the novel to center the experiences of Black women—particularly those who had been silenced in both literature and real life. But this focus on Black women’s struggles, especially their mistreatment at the hands of Black men, became the source of the film’s fiercest criticism.
Let’s start with Spike Lee. In 1985, Lee was still an up-and-coming filmmaker, but he didn’t hold back when it came to The Color Purple. He accused Hollywood of only greenlighting Black films that showed Black men as monsters. In his view, the movie fed into a long history of racist portrayals that depicted Black men as violent, abusive, and incapable of love.
Lee wasn’t alone in that concern. Many Black men felt the film reduced them to one-dimensional villains. The character of Mister (played by Danny Glover) was particularly controversial—an abusive husband who torments Celie throughout the film.
The problem, critics argued, wasn’t just Mister himself—it was that, in a time when Hollywood barely told Black stories at all, the few that made it to the big screen often leaned into the worst stereotypes. With few counter-narratives available, The Color Purple seemed to confirm what white audiences already believed about Black men.
Other Black male commentators went even further. Novelist Ishmael Reed called The Color Purple a “Nazi conspiracy,” implying that it was designed to destroy the image of the Black family. Columnist Tony Brown was just as furious, declaring that the movie was “the most racist depiction of Black men since The Birth of a Nation.”
That’s a heavy accusation. The Birth of a Nation (1915) was a notoriously racist film that glorified the Ku Klux Klan and portrayed Black men as rapists and brutes. So, for The Color Purple to be compared to that? It showed just how deep the wounds ran.
The NAACP also weighed in, echoing concerns about how Black men were depicted. While they didn’t call for a boycott, they were vocal about the film’s potential harm, warning that it played into Hollywood’s long history of negative Black male imagery.
Not everyone agreed with the criticism. Whoopi Goldberg, who played Celie in what would become an iconic role, was frustrated—especially with Black male filmmakers who had an issue with the film.
“I was really pissed off,” she said. “I was like, ‘Well, why didn’t you make the movie? John? Spike? Luke and Jesus?’”
Goldberg and others argued that The Color Purple wasn’t about tearing down Black men—it was about telling a Black woman’s story. And in that story, some men happened to be terrible. That didn’t mean all Black men were being vilified, just that Celie’s truth deserved to be told.
For his part, Steven Spielberg later admitted that he softened some aspects of the film—particularly the relationship between Celie and Shug Avery. In the book, their relationship is explicitly romantic and intimate, but Spielberg toned it down, worrying that a more direct portrayal wouldn’t fly with mainstream audiences.
Looking back, Spielberg has said he regrets that choice. But when it came to the backlash about how Black men were depicted? He stood by the film, arguing that he was simply adapting Alice Walker’s novel.
Despite the controversy, it remains a landmark film—especially for Black women, who rarely saw themselves centered in mainstream Hollywood stories. Over the years, some critics have softened their stance, acknowledging that the film opened doors for more nuanced Black storytelling. Others still believe it contributed to harmful stereotypes.
Alice Walker, for her part, has always stood by both the book and the film, arguing that The Color Purple tells a story that needed to be told. Walker’s work, which has always championed Black women’s voices, continues to spark important conversations about race, gender, and power.
The conversation surrounding The Color Purple is a reminder of how representation in media is never just about one film—it’s about the bigger picture. When stories about a community are scarce, every portrayal carries extra weight.
But at the end of the day, The Color Purple wasn’t trying to speak for all Black experiences—it was speaking for Celie. And maybe, that was enough.
What do you think? Because if you ask me, the backlash was nothing but misplaced anger. The outrage over The Color Purple “making Black men look bad” wasn’t really about the film—it was about the fact that Black women were no longer protecting them or excusing their behavior. That’s what really had them up in arms.
But hey, I’m just your regular degular womanist (with a sprinkle of misandrist). See you next time, I’s going sing with Shug!