The Color Purple Film : Responses, Clear Point of View - Movie Review Example

In the film The Color Purple, the main character is Celie Harris. Celie is followed through the story as her life of hardship and abuse unfolds before the audience. Celie is abused from a young age on, by her father. It is later discovered that this man is her stepfather, but he impregnates her twice before she is even fourteen years of age. He then takes her two children from her and forces her to marry a man named Albert Johnson, who is no less violent and predatorily than her stepfather. Albert had originally desired to marry Celie’s younger and more attractive sister Nettie. Instead, he is offered Celie by her stepfather. He resents her as she is not his first choice and therefore treats her as a slave. Celie’s life consists of caring for Albert’s poorly behaved children and tending to his unkempt home. She is raped and beaten on a regular basis. Because of this level of abuse, Celie reverts into a state of almost silence and withdrawal. She has really never known anything other than hardship, abuse, patriarchal dominance and rape. Unfortunately, these events are frequent and seem normal to her Celie as it is all she has ever known. A source of strength for Celie however, is her close friendship with her sister Nettie. In fact, Nettie comes to live with Celie and Albert for a time. During this time, Nettie and Celie share and enjoy a close sisterhood where Nettie teaches Celie to read. Albert however, consistently attempts to force himself on Nettie just as he does with Celie. Eventually, Nettie angers Albert when she rejects him. This causes Albert to throw Nettie out of the house which then separates the close sisters from one another. Celie is able to find closeness with another individual when Shug Avery comes to live with Albert and Celie. Shug is centrifugal in showing Celie how to find strength and acceptance within herself. Celie shares a close and almost romantic kinship with Shug but ultimately, Celie blossoms into a woman of tremendous character despite her terrible and unfortunate childhood and youth. Margaret Atwood has written several works in her career as a great essayist, which explore the concept of identity as well as loss of self. The two works in particular which depict such concepts and events are titled Great Unexpectations and Travels Back. The first work, Great Unexpectations is actually an autobiographical forward where Atwood discusses her origins as a writer as well as her fears surrounding writing as a woman. Atwood points out the cliché of writers around the time period of the sixties as being both “dead and English”(Atwood, pp.xiii). In other words, Atwood knew that the common assumption associated with being a good writer or a famous writer, was that one must be a white male, preferably British at that. Atwood details her evolution into becoming a writer despite the fears associated with being a woman in a male dominated world. Atwood also notes that her origins as a Canadian were actually to her advantage as far as her aspirations of being a writer went. She points out that male writers native to Canada, were often viewed as “sissies” but a female writer native to Canada was not as harshly ridiculed in the public eye. Atwood’s work deeply explores the notion of place of origin juxtaposed with gender norms and assumptions. She blends these notions then with a pattern of loss of self or perhaps redefining one’s self. Specifically in her essay entitled Travel’s Back, Atwood takes her reader on a trip back home with full access to inner monologue. Atwood’s works are heavily laden with her Canadian roots and her orientation as a woman and a writer. It is almost as though her essays are a means to retell her story of self discovery and rebirth through writing. In literary work written by Maxine Hong Kingston, she describes rituals which are specific to Chinese culture but yet are quite peculiar to those outside of such cultural traditions. Like all cultures, America also possesses cultural rituals which may seem to be peculiar to those to whom these rituals are unfamiliar and untraditional. The first example is perhaps the celebration of Thanksgiving. During this Holiday, we celebrate the breaking of bread between the Native Americans and the pilgrim settlers. This is done by gathering with one’s family and friends to consume a hearty feast of turkey, numerous side dishes and deserts. This celebration is infamous for the mass consumption of food and the inevitable sleepy feeling which follows the feast, due to the tryptophan content of turkey. The idea is to be grateful for all of one’s blessings but the celebration really centers around goring one’s self with rich foods. Another American tradition which may seem odd to those of other cultures, is the celebration of Easter. Easter is a holiday which celebrates the resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion. This is originally a Christian Holiday but is marked with pastel decorations, the idea of the “Easter Bunny” and a great deal of candy. It is interesting that a holiday which is religious in nature, can be traditionally acknowledged by a tale of a rabbit that delivers baskets of eggs and candy. Actually, the concept of a rabbit visiting homes and hiding baskets of treats for all children, is quite bizarre when one thinks about it. Many individuals who do not even embrace the Christian faith, will still purchase and hide baskets of treats for the children in their household, on Easter morning. Finally, the tradition of bachelor parties for men, prior to their wedding, may seem not only odd but inappropriate to many cultures. Bachelor parties are essentially drunken brawls which often times include strippers and brief sexual encounters between party goers and female entertainers hired for the party. Particularly in cultures where sex is beheld as a more sacred and intimate act than it is here in America, bachelor parties may seem immoral and contradictory to the concept of marriage. The documentary film Sick, by Michael Moore is both informative and shocking to any one who has ever felt anxious about acquiring health insurance or being unable to afford health insurance. In this film, Moore takes a close look at the horrific state of the health care system in America. He points out that America is number 37 in ranking global health care systems which is a lesser rating than even some third world countries! Moore closely follows multiple individuals who have rather severe health problems and limitations but are unable to acquire coverage. Near the end of the film, he takes a boat full of patients to Cuba where they are able to receive the care and medications for free which were completely out of their reach here in the states. Sadly, Moore points out that many politicians who have gained the trust of America, have actually been bought out by large insurance companies in order to discontinue their campaign towards socialized health care. Moore reveals that the tragic state of American health care is primarily the way it is because of greed and revenue. A multitude of individuals and companies are growing obscenely wealthy off of the current health care system. As a result, many individuals are being denied for health care coverage due to a loop hole known as “preexisting conditions”. Moore even goes so far as to show how certain individuals have died as a result of not receiving health care due to not being able to gain or afford coverage. This film is a revealing look at a crisis that affects everyone in the country in some way or another. He also emphasizes the inhumanity of America’s health care system and its desperate need for reform. In the film An Inconvenient Truth by Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, a revealing look at global warming is discussed. Perhaps the main reason for Gore’s decision to write a book as well as to make a documentary as well, is to oppose the idea that global warming is a myth. Gore has spent a great deal of his career studying the causes and effects of global warming. Because of his ability to not only raise awareness and pin point the problem but also to communicate his findings globally, he was awarded the Nobel Prize. Gore uses scientific data to illustrate a gradual increase in temperatures worldwide due to a slow erosion of the earth’s protective layer known as the ozone, by means of the overuse of fossil fuels. Gore attempts to drive home the point that the use of fossil fuels to the extent at which they are used, has literally caused the ozone to deplete thus interfering with a natural temperature balance world wide. Temperatures in artic climates are raising just enough to cause the melting of polar ice caps which then in turn allows cold water to spill out into parts of the ocean which are typically characterized by warm waters. This is resulting in a domino effect of natural disasters such as massive hurricanes (Katrina), Tsunamis, and avalanches. The effects of global warming are shown to be so massive that if these effects continue along the same path that are headed right now, the earth will be uninhabitable much sooner than we think. Although Gore’s work is well documented and supported with a large amount of scientific data, he is doubted by many, particularly those of a Republican persuasion. If Gore is correct however in his findings, mankind will essentially have self destructed by means of its own technological advancement and over consumption of natural resources. Annie Dillard’s work entitled An American childhood is marked by specificity and detail. Dillard’s attention to such detail allows for certain aspects of character development and motive to be made real to the reader. In the last paragraph of the first page of the book, Dillard describes men in cars moving through neighborhoods of children. Her description takes shape in such a way that the reader almost finds him/herself able to hear the clanging of the children’s elbows on the car fenders as the men drive slowly passed, “The boys banged the cars’ fenders with their hands, with their jackets’ elbows, or with their books. The men in cars inched among the children; they inched around corners and vanished from sight”(Dillard, pp.15). The imagery of cars as big metal machines and fragile children depicts an ideology of frailty versus strength as well as provides an almost immortal view of the cars which seem to “vanish” rather than simply growing smaller in the distance. A recent documentary film on the super retail chain Wal-Mart, took a revealing look on the inner workings of the corporation as well as its adverse affects on “mom and pop” operations. Wal-Mart is alleged to be rather unfair towards its employees, even though as a super chain, it employs many thousands of people. Unfortunately, because it is so large and financially stable, it is able to buy such mass quantities of stock for minimal prices therefore selling those items for prices much lower than what any small business could ever afford to do. When a Wal-Mart is erected in any community, it systematically shuts down small businesses by under selling them on almost anything. This causes a great deal of bankruptcy for small businesses and puts many out of work. Even though Wal-Mart provides jobs for a great deal of people, it still prevents them from the success of owning their own business thereby bringing in more money for their households. Wal-Mart’s super success as a virtual industry all its own, has been the topic of a great deal of economic debates as well as public scrutiny. The centrifugal problem is that competing with Wal-Mart prices is almost impossible for any other establishment in any given are thus allowing Wal-Mart a total monopoly. Works Cited: Atwood, Margaret, “Great Unexpectations”, Vision and Forms, Chicago Illinois, Illinois University Press, 1988 Dillard, Annie, “An American Childhood”, New York, NY, Harper and Row Publishing, 1987. Read More