There are mixed reactions to the trailer for “The Color Purple” musical remake. The trailer dropped Tuesday and garnered over 4 million views on YouTube.
Viewers took to Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to express their excitement over the remake.
Watching the Color Purple trailer got me choked up ?? Black women are gonna come out the woodwork for that.
— Natalia Tyndall (@TaliaTyndall) May 23, 2023
Some viewers were confused by the lack of similarities to the 1985 Stephen Spielberg-directed original starring Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, and Danny Glover as “Mister.”
The remake and the original are based on the 1983 Pulitzer prize-winning book by Alice Walker.
The reboot is based on the 2007 Broadway musical adaptation, starring Fantasia Barrino.
The remake is written by Alice Walker and directed by Blitz Bazawule.
The film stars Halle Bailey (pictured) as young Nettie, Ciara as adult Nettie, Fantasia as Celie, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, H.E.R as Mary “Squeak” Agnes, Colman Domingo as young Albert “Mister” Johnson, Louis Gossett Jr. as old “Mister”, David Alan Grier as Rev. Avery, and Corey Hawkins plays Harpo.
While Black women are ecstatic over the trailer, Black men say they will stay away when the movie debuts in theaters on December 25, 2023.
One commenter on a Manosphere board wrote: “Am I the only one that finds the color purple traumatizing? Why would there be a reboot. The original was more than enough.”
Another person wrote: “Don’t understand why they needed to remake this. Not even sure if they’re able to do justice to scenes from the original…”
A third person cautioned that the remake will demonize men all over again.
“Rest assured we’ll be shat on by our own women.”
Watch the trailer below.
