In the film, ‘The Color Purple,’ the producer highlights the plight of women in a patriarchal society. The protagonist, Celie, is an African-American woman who was raised by an abusive father. She resorts to writing letters to God, explaining her suffering. In the film, Celie is frequently raped and sexually assaulted by her father. She sires two children, both of whom are taken away by her father and probably killed. The reason is that her father, Alphonso, did not want people to know that she impregnated her since it could deny him the chance of marrying her off. Gender roles and women insubordination is a major theme in the film.
Women characters in the film are portrayed as weak and submissive to men. Men in the movie possess much power over women and control almost every aspect of their households. Most of them rarely go to work and dominate women with any show of affection towards their women. Alphonso sexually abuses her daughter and ‘sells’ her to Albert, also referred to as Mister, to be his wife. It does not bother Alphonso that Mister already has a lover, Shug Avery. He had tried to marry off Nettie, Celie’s sister, to Mister, but she flees and escapes the predicament. Celie assumes that her younger sister is dead and accepts to leave in an unhappy and abusive marriage. In the film, Mister beats Celie a myriad of times. She is supposed to do all household chores by herself and lacks freedom.
The film also portrays women trying to challenge the prevalent notion of gender roles. Sofia’s marriage is different from Celie’s. Sofia does not submit to men. She sees society as unfair to women and believes that women can also be powerful and dominant. Her husband, Harpo, in many instances, attempt to beat her up into submission. However, he is unable because Sofia is, by far, more physically built. They later part ways, and she leaves with the children. Upon her return, Sofia is requested to become a maid of the mayor’s wife, Miss Millie, but turns down the offer. The mayor, in anger, attempts to slap Sofia, but she hits him back. She is arrested and sentenced to work in the mayor’s household for twelve years. In reference to Sofia, the film portrays male domination as unchallengeable. Despite attempts to challenge male domination, women are further suppressed into submission.
As the movie progresses, women characters start questioning gender roles and challenge male dominance. They become aware that they have been oppressed for a long time and devise ways of overcoming it. Female solidarity typifies new women relationships in the movie. Celie, Shug, and Squeak leave for Tennessee, where they begin tailoring clothes as a hobby and later as a business. Celie’s business booms, and she becomes both financially and emotionally independent. Upon her return to Georgia, she hears and witnesses the changes that her husband has undergone. They get back together and employ Sofia, who had also gotten back to her husband, Harpo. Nettie leaves with Corinne and Samuel for philanthropic work in Africa, where they reunite with Celie’s children, who had been sold off by Alphonso. She comes to realize that white men slew her biological father. Alphonso was only their stepfather, although he had already died.
In conclusion, the movie is a heart-wrenching portrayal of gender imbalances and male domination. Women are demonstrated as weak, submissive, and powerless while men are dominating and in control of almost all aspects of society. Attempts to challenge male domination are repeatedly thwarted. However, the women realize the importance of female solidarity and successfully challenge male dominance and become independent.