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STRONG CONTENT WARNING: Incest, rape, forced separation from children, forced separation of family, physical abuse, verbal abuse, gaslighting, racism, generational trauma, violence. Listener discretion is advised.

We weren’t ready for this week’s movie, nor were we disappointed. Spielberg’s first “serious” film packs one hell of a punch, telling a Black story of incredibly complex trauma and survival in a way that’s incredibly difficult to ignore. There’s so many movies in recent years that try to accomplish the balance of emotional impact, stark, disturbing reality, and tenderness - but they all get that balance wrong. Yet this film gets it so, so right, in the best possible way. Spielberg is on top of his game here, fusing his quasi-magical brand of filmmaking with an incredibly powerful and at times brutal story. And it’s never to the detriment or sentimentalizing of Alice Walker’s classic novel. it just draws the audience ever closer, so that when the final moments pay off, you’re weeping with these characters because you too care so much about them. We’re watching 1985’s incredible, powerful adaptation of The Color Purple on Macintosh & Maud Haven’t Seen What?!

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Intro and outro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive.

Excerpt taken from “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)” from the soundtrack to The Color Purple, written by Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, and Rod Temperton, and arranged by Quincy Jones. Copyright 1985 Warner Bros. Inc., phonographic copyright 1986 Warner Bros. Inc.

Excerpts from the film The Color Purple are © 1985 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpt taken from “Minority Report” from the soundtrack to Minority Report, composed and conducted by John Williams . Copyright 2002 Fox Film Music Corp., SKG Music LLC.