The Wonder of Purple
I'm Here - Fantasia Barrino-Taylor (Official Lyric Video) #TheColorPurple #Fantasia
“I’m Here” - Fantasia (The Color Purple 2023, Rehearsal)
Take yourself as you find yourself; start from that. —Dom Chapman
I found myself alone in a theater on a Tuesday morning to see The Color Purple. I was apprehensive because of how hard the last version was for me to watch. I avoid anything that portrays abuse even when it’s made in service to healing. I have always leaned toward poetic and imaginative paths to heal, and perhaps to insulate me from brutality. But, I hoped the music in this version might make it different.
So I tried to prepare myself to stand back and see a new version of this sad story.
Unfortunately we are all becoming more acquainted with cruelty, but there is nothing like experiencing it first hand, especially coming from those we are torn to love and are supposed to be our caretakers. It is something you never fully heal from. It impacts your trust in the world. But, even more, there is nothing like the deep historical and cultural context that somehow separated me from claiming any healing in this story as my own. Who was I, a little old white lady from Idaho, to look to this story for anything for myself? But I have also learned that there is a lot of power in seeing the commonalities we have in what it takes to heal.
“Poetry and music are sister arts…It’s as if the eye and the ear were related through poetry...”
—How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry by Edward Hirsch
From the first note of music I knew a mystical experience was on its way. It was like a 2 dimensional poem flat on a page breaking into the 3 dimensional world of music. It led to an unknown place that I didn’t even know was still in need of healing. I felt myself being taught at the feet of Celie how to heal more and love in spite of massive efforts to deny one’s personhood. I was not only able to feel and absorb her resilience, but I was able to internalize her strength even though I find myself cloaked in privilege by comparison. Not to minimize the depths of her repression and/or the denial of her spirit, still I found myself rising along with her hope that basic human rights can transcend our colors, genders, or positions of power. From Sophie’s refusal to be struck, to Celie’s unending love for children she had never been given the privilege to raise, these women acted out what it means to be humane and powerful. Did I connect to every single scene and/or character? Of course not. Healing is never so neat and prepackaged. But Fantasia Barino, who plays Celie, said that the movie was for anyone “who has been through something” and the focus on radical forgiveness was universal…
…and being alone in the theater I found myself freely crying my way through it.
However, in the days since I have read about some who did not feel inside this circle of healing and who, perhaps, refused to embrace it or even give it a viewing. My heart goes out to them, because I have often felt outside many potentially or prescribed healing moments. I also know that more trauma often takes place on the road to healing, and, of course that road is full of twists and sometimes even its own abuses. I also used to idolize Oprah but in growing up I’ve learned better. All I know is that healing has come for me in a string of events that are intensely personal, that I have had to open up to, bit by bit, to somehow piece myself back together again, and often come from the most unexpected places.
All I know is that this moment was one of those for me.
Here it was. Here I was.
“Life can never break your soul”
The Color Purple (2023) | Keep It Movin' | Warner Bros. Entertainment
#powerofmusic #thecolorpurple #healingjourney #letmusichealyou #musicheals
Fantasia explains how she learned the power of forgiveness through her role and why she believes women, men and families will be healed by watching The Color Purple. To watch the Oprah and Fantasia interview visit https://www.oprah.com/own-thecolorpur...
The Color Purple | Official Trailer 3
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