Prior to the release of 2023’s The Color Purple, I had been meaning to time the non-Oscar-nominated performances in the 1985 version for years, so I’m glad to have been given an excuse to finally do so. As I set out to time both casts, I reflected on my dual West Side Story project from two years ago, naturally expecting these findings to differ greatly from those but ultimately discovering that not to be the case. Despite their many dissimilarities as adaptations of two different direct sources, the first film’s influence on the second is remarkably palpable, particularly when looking at the screen time data.
I haven’t seen the Color Purple stage musical, but I do know that about half of its songs were cut for this adaptation in a clear effort to appeal to moviegoers. Most viewers signed up for a reasonably musical retelling of a familiar, marginally musical story, and that’s just what they got. As an amalgamation of the show and first movie, the new soundtrack succeeds in coming across as cinematic and nostalgic, with its unique incorporations of Miss Celie’s Blues and Maybe God Is Tryin’ To Tell You Somethin’ not feeling forced. In general, the plot and characters don’t differ much from what we’ve seen before, and neither do most of the performance sizes.
Of course, “Celie” in the above chart refers to the character as a whole, and the same applies to “Harpo” (whose adult version gets a nearly 12% boost) and “Nettie” (whose 2023 child/adult division is about 72/28). Additionally, since Margaret Avery didn’t do her own singing in 1985, “Shug” factors in Táta Vega’s vocal work. As it happens, the old and new Shug’s formal entrances (not counting appearances in Mister’s photos and records) occur at almost exactly the same points: 31.44% and 31.40%.
What’s most interesting to me about this data is that it reveals an intentional perspective shift toward the story’s heroines and away from its villains. Despite the fact that they all perform fewer songs here than on stage, Celie, Sofia, Shug, and even Squeak are afforded more narrative focus than they had in 1985. The protagonist’s growth is primarily due to a heavier focus on Adult Celie, with Fantasia Barrino’s performance being 5.05% longer than Whoopi Goldberg’s, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi’s being 1.51% shorter than Desreta Jackson’s, and her child/adult switch happening 1.85% earlier.
Given that Mister’s character development on stage is a whole lot less subtle than what Danny Glover conveyed on screen, I admire the compromise demonstrated in the new movie and appreciate how the difficult role was handled. Axing his songs – and thus creating a 33% gap between him and Celie as opposed to the original 24% – was the right move, and I respect it even more knowing that, besides Nettie, every character whose presence decreased is an antagonist.
Oddly enough, my West Side Story data indicated a deliberate shift toward the female characters (including Doc surrogate Valentina) and away from literally all of the main male ones. Since no one’s time changed by more than 2.85% then, the adjustment isn’t super noticeable upon casual viewing, but it is a bit easier detect in this new case. As with West Side Story, I like the old Color Purple better, but the new one is fantastic and its carefully planned story execution deserves to be celebrated.