How do you think The Color Purple portrays African American men? When the book came out, followed by the movie, people (especially African American men) were outraged. They said that Alice Walker was being too feminist, slanderous, and using insulting stereotypes, because most of the violence done in the book was done by African American men.
Tony Brown, a journalist, complained on a life show that the film version was “the most racist depiction of black men since The Birth of a Nation and the most anti-black family film in the modern era,” and attacked Alice Walker’s book and involvement of the movie by saying, “She has done it at the expense of black people and black men.” After this statement, an African American woman from the audience defended the book and movie until Brown was forced to admit that he had neither read nor watched The Color Purple, but that he was “black before he was a journalist.”
I personally don’t think that all the outrage is justified, and that it’s mostly based on rumors than actually reading the book. I mean, there were characters like Jack, who Celie praised for being such a good man. And Walker shows that no one is too far gone to not come back and get redemption. Mr._____ was so awful, but by the end of the book he had changed his ways and temperament, and even asked for Celie’s forgiveness. And they are FRIENDS by the end of the book. I think that is really powerful.
Also, the people who abused Sophie were all white. I don’t think Walker portrays a negative or untrue stereotype, because things like this did happen, and she was trying to show it through the African American community.
How do you think The Color Purple portrays African American men? When the book came out, followed by the movie, people (especially African American men) were outraged. They said that Alice Walker was being too feminist, slanderous, and using insulting stereotypes, because most of the violence done in the book was done by African American men.
ReplyDeleteTony Brown, a journalist, complained on a life show that the film version was “the most racist depiction of black men since The Birth of a Nation and the most anti-black family film in the modern era,” and attacked Alice Walker’s book and involvement of the movie by saying, “She has done it at the expense of black people and black men.” After this statement, an African American woman from the audience defended the book and movie until Brown was forced to admit that he had neither read nor watched The Color Purple, but that he was “black before he was a journalist.”
I personally don’t think that all the outrage is justified, and that it’s mostly based on rumors than actually reading the book. I mean, there were characters like Jack, who Celie praised for being such a good man. And Walker shows that no one is too far gone to not come back and get redemption. Mr._____ was so awful, but by the end of the book he had changed his ways and temperament, and even asked for Celie’s forgiveness. And they are FRIENDS by the end of the book. I think that is really powerful.
Also, the people who abused Sophie were all white. I don’t think Walker portrays a negative or untrue stereotype, because things like this did happen, and she was trying to show it through the African American community.