How did Whoopi Goldberg lose the Oscar for The Color Purple?

She didn't change her expression once in that film. She's an extremely limited actress. Not even sure she is an actress.

Jess and I both look very pretty here. (even though the bitch is nominated for my role)

The REAL question is how and why did Marisa Tomei win in 1993?

She sho' looked uglee in that film.

good question r3 but I don't know why you are asking it

I asked it because it's a similar situation. Goldberg didn't deserve it, and my gawd, Tomei didn't even deserve a nomination.

How dare you ask that question! Geraldine Page is the greatest actress in the English language!

C'mon. That was a star-making role for Whoopie, and she did her thing. She should have won, but Oscars for Black people are few and far between.

It's a pretty shitty movie to be honest. Whoopi was underwhelming. It won nothing right?

Tomei was quite funny. (plus she was the only American and Emma Thompson was taking lead so they felt some nationalism and gave it to Tomei)

Because they already gave an Oscar to black woman in 1940 and it was just too soon to let them have another one.

Look, I know Jada Pinkett Smith is a delusional Scientologist, but #OscarsSoWhite is a real thing.

[quote]but #OscarsSoWhite is a real thing.

So true.

Actually it has gotten much better. Half of the Supporting Actress winners from 2006 to 2016 were black. Plus a few supporting and lead actors too.

Whoopie was very good but Geraldine was great.

Geraldine was spectacularly good in that part. She deserved it by a mile.

It was Geraldine's year. She had seven prior nominations with no win. And she was an Actors Studio legend. She wouldn't be denied, especially to a beginner.

It's worth noting that "The Color Purple" didn't win [italic]any[/italic] of its 11 Oscar nominations. The epic snoozefest "Out of Africa," centering on white Africans, took home 7.

R16 is correct.

Her lack of eyebrows was too off-putting to Academy voters.

R16, The Color Purple should have at the very least won best song. That crap from White Nights was crap and could have been shoehorned into almost any film.

The Oscars weren’t PC back then. They didn’t do SJWs.

The Color Purple is a masterpiece. The real crime is that Oprah didn't win. Her performance is epic and heartbreaking, it's the best thing she's ever done.

Margaret Avery probably torpedoed everyone's chances for The Color Purple with her awful and tacky campaign.

I agree with R21 that Oprah is really the one who was denied here for her performance as Sofia. It holds up and is extremely good. Does anyone remember even one thing that Angelica Huston does in Prizzi's Honor?

[QUOTE]The epic snoozefest "Out of Africa," centering on white Africans, took home 7.

Meryl's character is Danish and Redford's character is supposed to be British. Who are the "white Africans" of whom you speak?

You are being intentionally obtuse, r23.

And you're being imprecise, R24. List even one character from that film that could described as a "white African."

The point the poster was making was it was a movie about Africa that only featured white people.

But you knew that and were just being a dick.

It's really not my fault that you were wrong.

Good god. They were Europeans who had settled in Africa, intent on making Africa their home, hence, "white Africans." Though, Blixen did return to Denmark, the big chunk of the movie is her life in Africa.

A "white African" would be someone like Oscar Pistorious. Karen Blixen never considered herself to be African and certainly never described herself in that way. Ditto all the other white characters in that movie.

I mean, we all knew what you meant but doubling down on it now doesn't make it any truer.

From what I can remember about that time is that "The Color Purple" was snubbed because there was an anti-Spielberg campaign.

Only on Datalounge would a thread about Whoopi Goldberg descend into a thread about the imprecision of the term "white Africans."

Well done, obtuse troll!

You're even using the term "obtuse" incorrectly! If you have put the word "deliberately" in front of it, it might have worked.

*had

F Murray Abraham’s oily and obsequious display when presenting to Page was the most embarassiingly pretentious moment in Oscar history.

Did she win for most popular though? Everyone on my Soccer Team got an MVP Trophy!

What did Meryl know about this, and when did she know it?? She’s a big part of the problem.

There was some anti Spielberg backlash involved too, I think. Whoopi was the best thing about TCP...the film was an uneven, sloppy mess because Spielberg castrated the novel to make the film more palatable to white mainstream America. The novel spoke loudly about racism, sexism, misogyny, sexuality and white folks from Flyoverstan didn’t want to see that in their shopping mall movie theater. Plus there was growing resentment for Spielberg’s success anyway...they weren’t about to reward him for making a movie about black people based on a controversial novel, Pulitzer Prize or not. And several prominent black men complained about the portrayal of black men in the movie, if they weren’t bullying, beating their wives or raping their daughters, they were cooning and engaging in slapstick pratfalls.

And Oprah was considered good in this? Wow, she plays this role in every movie she’s in. She slips into that stereotypical black vernacular that dies with Hattie McDaniel and Louise Beavers. NATIVE SON, BREWSTER PLACE AND EVEN BELOVED. She is a one note actress, much moreso than Whoopi.

Because Geraldine Page was a revelation in Trip to Bountiful.

R37. I agree with every word of your post. Good job.

She didn't win because her performance wasn't worthy of an Oscar. And "The Color Purple" wasn't ever a very good movie, which is why it was totally shut out at the Oscars. She didn't deserve the Oscar she DID win. Whoopie Goldberg has always played every role the same. She always plays a variation of Whoopi Goldberg.

Rebecca DeMornay was great in Bountiful as well. No one remembers Page's win except for Abraham's proclamation.

Whoopi said on TV a few years ago that she lost that Oscar to "Geraldine Fitzgerald". What a fucking idiot!

Whoopi was excellent in an episode of Law and Order SVU. She played a sketchy corrupt administrator of a child welfare agency and had a courtroom scene where she reveals her pent up anger and disgust that was so powerful she was unrecognizable. I am not much of a fan of hers but she has turned in a few good performances.

Oprah as an actress, just no. She does always seem as if she's playing the character from some bygone time and prescribed style of acting that was expected of big black women. The weary, soulful, wise but uneducated black woman. Old before her time from taking care of others. Mammy as a field slave. She needed to make some of Minnie's pie.

I love Rebecca DeMornay too R41. She's like Diane Lane. Unusually lovely with subtle talents.

I'm no big Whoopi fan, but come on, folks. "One note actress"?

Yes. Her performances in "The Color Purple," "Ghost," "The Long Walk Home," and "Sister Act" are exactly the same. Right.

Page also benefited from having one of the last screeners sent out to oscar voters which kept her performance fresher in voters minds.

"It's a pretty shitty movie to be honest. Whoopi was underwhelming. It won nothing right?"

It got a lot of Oscar nominations, and did win other awards.

I personally preferred Cicely Tyson's performance as Carrie over Page's but really, Page got it for both Bountiful and her body of work. Whoopi got the make-up for Ghost which should have been Jackee's.

[quote]which should have been Jackee's.

The part was originally offered to Tina Turner, who turned it down. She also turned down Margaret Avery's role in Color Purple.

The irony is that after I found out about Jackee Harry and Ghost, I could hear her line readings all throughout Whoopi's performance. It's bizarre to laugh just thinking about the way Harry would have read the famous "You in danger, gurl".

"She's an extremely limited actress. Not even sure she is an actress."

I know how to convert this Shug Avery pee into flammable gas.

[quote]It's a pretty shitty movie to be honest.

And Out of Africa isn't?

She's excellent in The Long Walk Home

Whoopi's performance in Ghost was a genius comedic performance. She was by far, the best thing about that movie. And she had more chemistry with Patrick Swayze than Demi Moore did.

Celie told Harpo to beat Sofia. I beat Celie.

She didn't have no talent. Geraldine page got talent.

r24, I agree. Don't you hate cunts like that.

I was going to say that years from now people will still be talking about Ghost and The Color Purple and no one will be talking about A Trip to Bountiful...but, fuck! When was the last time anyone talked about A Trip to Bountiful? It's already been forgotten.

They could have at LEAST given the award to someone wearing SHOES. (Page takes so long to rise because she’s putting some on.)

[quote]And Oprah was considered good in this? Wow, she plays this role in every movie she’s in.

r37 The Color Purple was Oprah's first movie. No one would have faulted her at the time for being one-note.

R55 Honey, we've talked about your double negatives...

I wasn't crazy about Spielberg's take on Purple. It just seemed he didn't have a real handle on the material. A lot of crucial scenes from the book were left out, others changed.

I think it's ripe for a remake, a tv miniseries. Maybe HBO, or Netflix. An adaptation that is much closer to the source material, (the novel). Oprah could produce it, Ava Duvernay could direct. Whoopie could be given some cameo role. I bet Spielberg would fully approve and give the project his blessing, possibly Executive produce.

(Anybody from Oprah's production company reading this??)

R61, that’s a good idea.

[quote] Whoopi said on TV a few years ago that she lost that Oscar to "Geraldine Fitzgerald".

She so shady!

r60, you obviously didn't get the reference to the color purple.

"And you're being imprecise, [R24]. List even one character from that film that could described as a "white African."

It's kind of funny that the first thing you do when an accusation of racism is coming down the pike. that you try to negate by citing "imprecision."

That's precisely what a racist would do: try to get off on a technicality.

Most have been satisfying of Page to beat Anne Bancroft since Bancroft was nominated for Page's Broadway role.

[quote]Meryl's character is Danish and Redford's character is supposed to be British. Who are the "white Africans" of whom you speak?

We are all African. Now stop fighting.

r61 Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry Present Celie Based on the Novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker

A film version by Spielberg that was more faithful to the novel would have been clunky, I think. And let's face it, not as many people would have seen it. The film he did make was far from perfect, but suitable for its time. I agree, it could use a remake. (An adaptation of the NOVEL, please, not the MUSICAL. For now.)

Barbra Streisand as Celie!

The Color Purple was a real problem for the academy. It was criticised as being racist for how sterotypical the characters were. The NAACP even denounced it. So having Page pop at the last minute in a small film and having never won was a good alternative.

The odd thing was then after Color Purple was shut out the NAACP complained about that too and over the years its shut out has been shown to be a part of Oscars so white when actually at the time the academy thought they were doing the right thing. (so to speak.)

In the clip at op you can see a young (and surprisingly gawky) Angelina Jolie in the white dress with Jon Voight.

(and yes Geraldine, you couldn't slip your shoes on before your category came up?)

"Her performances in "The Color Purple," "Ghost," "The Long Walk Home," and "Sister Act" are exactly the same. Right."

That certainly are. She's always "Whoopi Goldberg" and nothing else.

Make that "they certainly are." Her performances are all Whoopi Goldberg playing a version of Whoopi Goldberg.

wtf is similar about her performance in color purple and her performance in Ghost. nothing.

^^ she was black in both roles.

great novel.not a good movie.

"wtf is similar about her performance in color purple and her performance in Ghost. nothing."

She did her Whoopi Goldberg thing in both of them. That's the thing about her; no matter what she plays all the viewer can think is "that's Whoopi Goldberg." The ugly face, the smug voice...it's always the same.

I loved Out of Africa and Trip to Bountiful. The marvelous Geraldine Page won a much-deserved Oscar that year.

I never saw The Color Purple, as it never appealed to me, but I can’t believe the complaints that Whoopie didn’t win. Wasn’t it nice that she was nominated? You’d think they’d be grateful for that.

[quote]That's the thing about her; no matter what she plays all the viewer can think is "that's Whoopi Goldberg."

But with The Color Purple most people didn't know who she was. Unless they had scene her Broadway show they would never had seen her in anything.

In actuality though I can't figure out why Alfree Woodard didn't get the part. Oprah tells the story of calling the casting office to see if she got the role and the guy told her don't call us we'll call you. I'm auditioning real actresses like Alfree Woodard today. Alfree seems to thin for Oprah's role though. Confusing.

Whoopi Goldberg getting the role of Celie was some kind of stunt casting. Alfree Woodward would have been infinitely better.

r79 Moreover, her Celie was nothing like her in her Broadway show or any of her characters there. I don't get the argument that she's always Whoopi.

I loved Streep’s Karen Blixen.

Whoopi Goldberg's talent is pretty shallow. That broadway show and being discovered my Mike Nichols and all her initial fame is kind of beyond me and a bit before my time. She's not Lily Tomlin or Robin Williams or Richard Pryor. She's not even Bette Midler who would have been so much more fun in Sister Act. (but dropped out)

I will watch The Color Purple again when Alfre Woodard is Celie. Alfre is a GREAT actress.

Her one woman show was pretty great. Funny and even quite touching. She made too many bad movies after The Color Purple that by the time Ghost came about five years later the studio thought her presence would actually be a negative. They would have rather had a lesser known person in it. (Theressa Merritt was considered) because Whoopi had the stink of if she's in it it must be bad.

I thought Whoopi was incredible in this film. But the two young actresses who played young Celie and her sister were astonishing.

Nice to see the love for Rebecca De Mornay's performance at r41 and r43. It is extremely underrated. Page was obviously brilliant but with a lesser actor, the film wouldn't be as strong. De Mornay's performance strengthens Page's own performance because Page had to act off of De Mornay.

R85, one of DeMornay's best moments in the film comes when she encounters Jessie Mae and realizes she's every single bit as terrible as Carrie said. You can just see how pissed off she is on her face, yet she still put on the show of being a lady.

Geraldine Page was brilliant in The Trip to Bountiful. I'm I huge Jessica Lange devotee; I want her to win everything for which she's nominated. However, Geraldine Page owned the Best Actress Oscar that year. Whoopi was good, but not worthy of Best Actress. Geraldine all the way.

An odd footnote to Bountiful and Rebecca De Mornay was that at the time of this movie's release she was supposed to be co-starring with Page and an all star cast (Aidan Quinn, Harvey Keitel, Amanda Plummer etc.) in Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind. But De Mornay was fired for some reason in rehearsals.

Page would have still been in or just finished her run in the play at the time of the Oscars. It also explains Jessica Lange's saying to Shepard something like it's Geraldine during Abraham's "I consider..." stuff. BTW that is so self-absorbed. Who cares what you think Murray? It is the academy recognizing her we don't need to hear from you. Plus why does he qualify it with "in the English language?" was there some foreigner he thought was better?.

Whoopi overdoes her happiness for Page. It seems false. (Plus she once admitted on The View not to long ago that she only saw Bountiful recently. Made her seem bitter. Come on the performance beat you, you aren't a little curious? Can't you pick up the VHS? (and she shopped at the same video store I did in the 90s so she was a renter.)

Meryl really is quite pretty here. She's good at that moment of the announcement thing. She always has a happy reaction for the other person but doesn't over do it. Plus her outright cheering for Cher was always cool.

[quote]I was going to say that years from now people will still be talking about Ghost and The Color Purple and no one will be talking about A Trip to Bountiful...but, fuck! When was the last time anyone talked about A Trip to Bountiful? It's already been forgotten.

What I was going to say. . .which movie stood the test of time, we're still talking about The Color Purple.

Not to attack you personally, R8 R14 R40 R61 and R78, but her name is Whoopi, not Whoopie. It's in the thread title, and you've seen it in print as part of our popular culture for decades. R40 even spells it two different ways in their post!

It's all over The View thread as well. Why do people have such trouble spelling her name correctly?

Because her name is Caryn, also a dumb affectation. Whompie is a bit of a fraud.

I never thought Meryl Streep was that good of an actress, not worthy enough to win the amount of Oscars that she did win. No way. We need to figure out how many people of Jewish descent won Oscars, because Meryl isn't claiming Jewish anymore. See the link at #94.

Jewish actors nominated or winning an Oscar are in great numbers.

Oh, please! Because the Oscars were (and still are) racists. All this pandering they've been doing lately doesn't erase their sordid past. What's even worse is they tried to save face by awarding her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (of course) for Ghost just a few years later.

*racist

r81 I think some people have a mental illness where when they see black performers they only see black and race therefore they cant truly humanize them and the characters they are portraying.

Such a shame the Color Purple is being bashed on here. Datalounge hates everything. I love this movie with all my heart.

I hated the Color Purple only because of the way it got the Spielberg treatment. It would have been much more effective with a different director.

Poor Squeak got the shaft with the movie. She was the reason why Sophia got out of prison sooner and it wasn’t acknowledged in the movie.

But I still love the movie and the book.

I think the Color Purple is the best movie I've ever seen. Not my favorite, but the best execution of cinema. The acting from the central and supporting cast, the music, the visual style, the writing. I don't think there was a weak part of it

I was 10 when that film came out. It was the first time I had been to a movie where I didn't finish my popcorn. I was so enthralled with what was happening on the screen, popcorn was long forgotten. It was robbed of many Oscars.

R102 types fat. I’ve never finished my popcorn because there’s so much of it.

Nobody on this thread has even mentioned Quincy Jones' incredible score. One of my favorite scores of all time, up there with Vertigo and Gone With The Wind.

That's funny, I didn't think The Color Purple is a pop corn type of film. I never eat junk food while watching serious films like this one in cinema.

I loved the movie and Whoopi was robbed. Geraldine is bland.

[quote] The ugly face

Um...her looks are kindof important to the movie.

[quote] You’d think they’d be grateful for that.

Right, cause whatever scraps Massa done give us we should be happy fo'.

Fantasia was way better than Goldberg could have dreamed. By the same token, Cicely Tyson was better than Page. Both of those titles benefited from a musical and a stage revival/tv movie.

Is it true that Oprah and Rae dawn chong used to suck each other beavers?

[quote]I never thought Meryl Streep was that good of an actress, not worthy enough to win the amount of Oscars that she did win. No way.

Meryl is a very good actress. But yes, she has been way over-represented in terms of Oscar nominations.

It’s at the point now where she is just nominated for any role she plays, and this will likely continue until she dies.

Surely there are some better performances each year that should be nominated.

I have a hard time thinking of Oprah as an actress.

She’s primarily been known as a talk show host, and media “mogul”.

[quote]I think some people have a mental illness where when they see black performers they only see black and race therefore they cant truly humanize them and the characters they are portraying.

This might be true. But some black performers themselves make everything about race... in every interview, red carpet appearance, talk show, and print article they do.

[quote]I hated the Color Purple only because of the way it got the Spielberg treatment. It would have been much more effective with a different director.

We need a new “woke” version of The Color Purple for 2018, preferably with a SJW director.

R58, that’s a young Angelina Jolie sitting in front of Geraldine and Company.

"The Color Purple" was supposed to be heartbreaking, but I found it mostly hilarious. It was so overblown, so over the top. There's even slapstick in this movie! Harpo falls through the roof a couple of times and Mr. attempts to cook Shug Avery a meal, which literally blows up in his face. Neither of those incidents happened in the book. Neither did the supposedly heartrending scene where Celie and Nellie are forcibly separated from each other, both of them howling and screaming. The part where Celie is being dragged down some steps, bump, bump, bump, while hanging onto Nettie's dress is especially side-splitting. Mr. bodily throws Nettie off his land, while she wails "WHHHHHYYYYY?!" In the novel Nettile simply leaves with some missionaries and Celie asks her to write and Nellie simply says to her "nothing but death can keep me from it." There was no screaming, no crying, no hanging onto each other for dear life. That's was all Steven Spielberg's idea. He had NO idea how to do a movie about African-Americans, no idea how to put the novel to screen.

Someone please alert the press! I movie has scenes in it the book didn't!

You may also be shocked to find out, r115, that The Color Purple had a screenwriter named Menno Meyjes!

Her loss for "Purple" was made up for with "Ghost" but it should have been the other way around.

R115, there’s a documentary on the dvd release from around 2003. The actress who played Nettie said that “Whyyyyyyy?” you’re criticizing wasn’t in the script. Spielberg worked with the actresses on the scene and wanted it to be authentic. She said it came from out of nowhere and she just said it. Spielberg liked it so much it made the final cut.

***opens envelope, then abruptly moans with queeny orgasmic delight as he read it***

"I consider this woman the greatest actress in the English language! The winner is Geraldine page in A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL!"

--F. Murray "Who was he again?" Abraham, dissing Meryl Streep, Whoopi Goldberg, Jessica Lange and Anne Bancroft before an international audience

[quote] The part where Celie is being dragged down some steps, bump, bump, bump, while hanging onto Nettie's dress is especially side-splitting. Mr. bodily throws Nettie off his land, while she wails "WHHHHHYYYYY?!"

That was my contribution to the screenplay!

[quote]--F. Murray "Who was he again?" Abraham, dissing Meryl Streep, Whoopi Goldberg, Jessica Lange and Anne Bancroft before an international audience

Not to mention all the other actresses who regularly perform in the English language--Redgrave, Glenda Jackson, Maggie Smith, Judy Davis, Judi Dench, Kim Stanley, Julie Harris, etc. All of them surpassed by the legendary Geraldine Page.

Who was Whoopi’s date at the Oscars that year? Was it me?

No one was going to beat Page that year. Same way no one was going to beat Jessica Tandy when she was nominated for Driving Miss Daisy. They were the sentimental, career-capping vote.

It should have gone to Lange that year. That's her best of all her performances except for "Frances."

I think she lost because she only lipsynced Patsy Cline--the Academy seems to expect that if you want to win in a singer's biopic, you'd better do your own singing (or at least, like Jamie Foxx in "Ray," do your own instrumental work).

R124, actually a lot of people thought she shouldn't have been nominated including Siskel and Ebert on their Oscar wrap show. Pauline Kael loved Sweet Dreams and hated Trip to Bountiful which was to be expected.

By "she" do you mean Lange or Fitzgerald, r125?

*Sorry, I meant "Lange or Page."

After her season-long encouragement of Meghan McCain’s most insipid qualities, I am sad to say that Whoopi has lost my respect.

Geraldine Page should have won for "Sweet Bird of Youth" over Anne Bancroft in 1963 (though arguably that oscar should also have gone either to Katharine Hepburn for 'Long Day's Journey into night" or Bette Davis for "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"--it was one of those years when every nominee was first-rate, including Lee Remick for "Days of Wine and Roses").

Whoopi was fine in her film debut but it wasn't a great performance. Page was a brilliant actress and gave an outstanding performance. It was well deserved. Unfortunately, it was marred by Abraham's tacky gushing when he presented the award. It wasn't about him and his feeling that she was the greatest actress in the world and it was insulting to the other nominees. He should have read her name and shut the fuck up.

Best male cast in a film: The Godfather Best female cast in a film: The Color Purple

Whoopi has an EGOT ( Emmy , Grammy, Oscar , Tony) and nothing any of you can say will change that.

Until you all do right by her, everything ya'll do gone crumble!

Whoopi's Emmy wins are for Daytime Emmys... as host. Do those even count?

She was......o.k., r130.

R133, they count but her Tony is as a producer.

M stood up and enthusiastically applauded Page, even though Page had made some catty comments about Streep’s accents to the press while campaigning for Bountiful.

That bitch.

Color Purple is a great movie. Yes, it has its flaws, but it's classic Spielberg all the way. He was still finding his footing in terms of how to make a serious dramatic picture, something he perfected with Empire of the Sun two years later.

It's also a reminder of a time when Spielberg brought true distinctive style to the movies he was making. After Schindler's List, he lost his touch in his quest to become a respected director.

To give Abraham a little bit of the benefit of the doubt: he and Page were very good friends and had worked together before, and so he was genuinely thrilled she won (especially since by that time she had been nominated many times for an Oscar and had never won before).

But it came across as very "luvvy" and seemed a real slight to the other four actresses. It certainly did not help his film career any to have made that comment (though he was so weird looking it's hard to imagine how he could have received many more film roles than he did over his lifetime).

How is this even a thread? At best, Whoopi came in third after Page and Streep! Whoopi had about the same range of emotion as the mechanical puppet from ET.

[quote] Best female cast in a film: The Color Purple

Not even anywhere near close.

Michael Cacoyannis's 1971 [italic]The Trojan Women[/italic]:

Katharine Hepburn (as Hecuba), Irene Papas (as Helen), Geneviéve Bujold (as Cassandra), Vanessa Redgrave (as Andromache)

R139, I could never forget his performance as the queened out bathhouse patron in "The Ritz" with Rita Moreno. It also didn't help that his complexion was so bad that Edward James Olmos saw him and HE said "Damn!"

R130 - how was her performance marred by FMA? Her winning the award would have been marred but not her performance.

More importantly, what does the F stand for?

F Murray Abraham is also a sleaze

Did F assault women or men?

At the time, Whoopi was known as a foul-mouthed comedienne. They weren't about to let her get up there and speak off-script.

[quote] How is this even a thread? At best, Whoopi came in third after Page and Streep! Whoopi had about the same range of emotion as the mechanical puppet from ET.

The critics disagree

. . . And then, at the center of the movie, Celie is played by Whoopi Goldberg in one of the most amazing debut performances in movie history. Here is this year's winner of the Academy Award for best actress. Goldberg has a fearsomely difficult job to do, enlisting our sympathy for a woman who is rarely allowed to speak, to dream, to interact with the lives around her. Spielberg breaks down the wall of silence around her, however, by giving her narrative monologues in which she talks about her life and reads the letters she composes. The wonderful performances in this movie are contained in a screenplay that may take some of the shocking edges off Walker's novel, but keeps all the depth and dimension. The world of Celie and the others is created so forcibly in this movie that their corner of the South becomes one of those movie places - like Oz, like Tara, like Casablanca - that lay claim to their own geography in our imaginations. Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times

As the innocent but relentlessly brutalized Celie, an African woman living in the South, Whoopi Goldberg (in her film acting debut) was a beacon of pathos, while Danny Glover gave her abusive, callous husband Albert remarkable complexity.

Like the book, the film's fondest indulgences are its female characters, the most compelling of which is Whoopi Goldberg's Celie, of the slow, incandescent smile. Her growth comes with the sweet inevitability of stop-motion flower photography, from a clenched bud to a full-blown, heavy-laden flower. It is a most touching debut. As Shug Avery, actress Margaret Avery is electrifying: low-down and raucous when ripping off a number in the juke joint; still and tremulously hypnotic when instructing the adoring Celie in the ways of love. The third of the book's heroic women is Sofia, an impossible woman to cross. She smites whoever is in her path: Harpo (Willard Pugh), her wimpy young husband, or a condescendingly smarmy white woman (Dana Ivey, in the film's most excruciatingly directed performance). And she pays a dreadful price. In Oprah Winfrey's hands, Sofia is indomitable and unforgettable. And special notice should be taken of Desreta Jackson as the young Celie.

Saving grace of the film are the performances. As the adult Celie debuting Whoopi Goldberg uses her expressive face and joyous smile to register the character’s growth. Equally good is Glover who is a powerful screen presence. 1985: Nominations: Best Picture, Actress (Whoopi Goldberg), Supp. Actress (Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design, Art Direction, Original Score, Song (‘Miss Celie’s Blues’), Make-Up

The fact that F and G were good friends makes the comment even worse. But in what way did making it not help F's career? It's not as if producers went "He insulted Glenda fucking Jackson, we're not hiring him!"

Get over it Matt - no one liked her or the movie

[quote]Rebecca DeMornay was great in Bountiful as well. No one remembers Page's win except for Abraham's proclamation.

r41= Rebecca George "DeMornay".

[quote]The fact that F and G were good friends makes the comment even worse.

Who are F and G?

Because out of the five nominated performances, Whoopi's come in at a solid 5th.

"The Color Purple" is overrated; blame Spielberg's overly twee interpretation.

I think Whoopi deserved guest starring Emmys for her turn as Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was a tiny recurring role but she inbued it with mystery and weightiness.

R154, she was no Gates McFadden.

[quote] At the time, Whoopi was known as a foul-mouthed comedienne.

No, she wasn't.

It's amazing how far people on this thread will go to justify their irrational hatred of Whoopi and The Color Purple. We get it. You hate Whoopi. But saying things like, "she is ugly," and "she gives the same performance in everything," and "she was known as a foul-mouthed comedienne," which are either completely untrue or are not remotely relevant shows how little your opinions mean.

I loved that one review of Geraldine in "Trip to Bountiful": "Who would want that in the house?"

She's ugly, but she's not ugly-ugly.

Carlin Glynn was great in Bountiful (and 16 Candles too). She is almost 80.

Hahahha R155. But she WAS very good as Guinan. Every time she was on the screen I wanted to know where the character came from and what her connection to Picard was. Every other alien on the show seemed cartoonish. She was mesmerizing to me. Despite the hat.

[quote] At the time, Whoopi was known as a foul-mouthed comedienne. No, she wasn't.

Yes she was. This is from her Broadway show in 1985, before the Oscar ceremony in 1986.

Wasn't there some drama in the AA community that all the black male characters in the film were negative. Like all of them. Anyone think that contributed to it not winning a single of its 11 nods.

To me, Whoopi is a very talented comedic actress who can also pull off dramatic roles. She was dam good in Color Purple. Everyone has their own taste however. Its not racism that she lost to a veteran actress whose time had come. Most newbies do not win the best actor/actress nod upon their first nomination.

R163, well...

Spielberg's omission as Best Director said it all. The whole thing was just too "Song of the South". The wrong tone. Glossy.

She was excellent in The Color Purple. It’s fascinating to see her play someone so young and naive since it’s so contrary to her eventual public persona. Oprah is also a really powerful actor who the people of the DL trash unfairly.

R164 Marlee, you only won because the Academy wanted to see if you’d realize the auditorium was applauding you.

The clip at R161 just proves what a jive fake ass performer Whoopi is/was. There's no depth to that characterization and not much profound. Whoopi still thinks she's profound. She's been profoundly lucky because her talent is rather shallow and predictable. Hollywood Squares was the right gig for her, not movie stardom.

Whoppi’s not talented-talented.

Who is this whoopi basher here. WTF did she do, sleep with your man? Be gone, frau.

If you think her Broadway shows proves your point, r161, you haven't actually watched it.

What exactly do you guys expect from Whoopi Goldberg? Do you think she should measure up to Toni Morrison as an imaginary mind, Joan Rivers as a comedic mind and Olivier as an actor? Whoopi is Whoopi. She has her own perspective and she presents it in her own way. If you don’t like her creativity, fine, but you seem to be holding her to standards that very few other people are ever held to.

Is a comedic a funny doctor?

She’d be more tolerable if she stuck to comedy and acting... and quit all the political bullshit and got off The View.

Wait, sorry, I didn't see "mind" after "comedic".

[quote] quit all the political bullshit and got off The View

So you hate her because she doesn't blow kisses at Trump...and actually dont know shit about her acting? Got it.

No R176, she should just stay out of politics. As should all actors. Nobody cares about their opinions. They get paid to entertain us.

So entertainment should never be political?

R177 Actually she gets paid to share her opinions about current events and politics. And she is a US citizen, so she is entitled to her opinions. Or do you believe that only people who are paid to have political opinions should have them? And if so, please tell us what you do for a living. If you’re not a professional pundit, perhaps you should keep your opinions to yourself if you live by the rules to which you expect others to abide.

Academy voters tend to skew older and Page had been a working professional for years. Whoopi was a stand-up with very limited range in a not-very-good movie. She’s not a deep thinker, either.

[quote] Whoopi was a stand-up

No, she played multiple characters in a Broadway one-woman show. There is a difference.

Whompie is an asshole AND she's aggressively stupid. Erryday. She slept her way to the top, napping.

Which has nothing to do with her performance in The Color Purple, r182.

R182 I agree with Whoopi there. As un-PC as it sounds, it’s also common sense. And it’s also a feminist perspective. If you hit someone, whether you’re a woman or a man, expect to be hit back. Whether it’s in self-defense, reflex or rage, you have no excuse to say you didn’t expect to be struck if you strike someone else. And a real feminist should agree that women can’t go around beating up men and then claiming abuse because they were struck back in self-defense. Beating the shit out of someone is a different story, but in that clip Whoopi is saying that women don’t have special exemptions that allow them to abuse men without repercussions.

I love whoopi cuz everything is not always black & white. She points out that reality. Most fake people fail to understand that. She can be a bit fringe sometimes, but she's always authentic. Shit, sometimes it aint rape, rape lol.

THIS is what she was defending you fucking moron. Whoopi is contrary, not free thinking. She's a race traitor and a woman hater and she supports beating children & men who kill dogs, drug and rape women and directors who ass rape 13 year olds. She is not wise or free thinking or iconoclastic. She is deeply corrupt and always, always self serving. Bad actress, bad person, bad host, bad mood.

"Someone please alert the press! I movie has scenes in it the book didn't!"

Really stupid, unnecessary scenes. Making changes to bring a novel to the screen sometimes works out well. Not in this case. There's also the scene where Celie and Shug chastely kiss while wind chimes tinkle in the background. That was supposed to represent lesbian love, and it was SO lame.

[quote] a race traitor

You do realize you are using a racist term, right? You do realize that this completely undercuts any point you wanted to make, right?

[quote] There's also the scene where Celie and Shug chastely kiss while wind chimes tinkle in the background. That was supposed to represent lesbian love, and it was SO lame.

You are so right. They should have scissored right on screen.

[quote]Margaret Avery is electrifying: low-down and raucous when ripping off a number in the juke joint

Bitch was dubbed.

"You are so right. They should have scissored right on screen."

It would have been a more interesting and realistic if they had. But I guess that would have been asking too much. At any rate, as least they could have been show kissing passionately. Instead they were kissing like sisters. But I guess Margaret Avery was relieved the scene was so tame. I think she was probably grateful not to have a passionate love scene with Whoopi Goldberg.

Didn't Patti LaBelle turn down the Shug part because of the lesbian kiss?

R177, it could be argued that reality stars are also paid to entertain us and should also definately stay out of politics.

It was Tina Turner who turned down the part of Shug.

But Patti turned it down too.

Color Purple was stuck with Spielberg's tendency toward sentimentality and could have been a much better film with a better director; Goldberg did well but could have given a better performance with someone who approached the material differently.

Boutiful is just unwatchable. The material and Page's performance was simply too stagey and I have never been able to watch it all the way through--the sentimentality is just overpowering. I saw it on Broadway with Tyson, because I've always wanted to see her on stage and I figure it worked better as a play than as a film, which was true. The women in the cast were well cast, but Cuba Gooding Jr was a weak link. Paghe won as a career award to make up for her past nominations that had't won.

I saw the TV version with Tyson and noticed she was actually quite funny in the role whereas Page was a bit maudlin. Tyson running around the bus station hiding from her son and daughter in law was actually very humorous.

[quote]There's also the scene where Celie and Shug chastely kiss while wind chimes tinkle in the background. That was supposed to represent lesbian love, and it was SO lame.

It was the mid 1980s and the movie had to appeal to a white audience to bring in the $$$. In 2009, Precious had to tone down the lesbian pedophilia. Black, lesbian sex is just not something people want to see in their movies.

R197 and she gave the reveal such power. When Ludie finds her, she comes out a changed woman. But then you see the old Carrie when Vanessa Williams is reciting her list of what she wants so there can be peace in the house.

Spielberg is mostly a sentimental, sappy director who makes formulaic crap to sell to unthinking masses. He’s not even a Madonna of movies. He’s a Britney Spears of movies, and sometimes a Celine Dion.

Why were there so many movies in the 80s about old women? Trip To Bountiful, Whales of August, Driving Miss Daisy.

[quote]Spielberg is mostly a sentimental, sappy director who makes formulaic crap to sell to unthinking masses. He’s not even a Madonna of movies. He’s a Britney Spears of movies, and sometimes a Celine Dion.

And once or twice, a Siegfried and Roy.

R201 Because Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn and other great actresses were old ladies. It’s not as if Judi Dench and Helen Mirren haven’t cranked out a lot of old-lady movies.

R202 AND Roy?

Don't forget Who the Fuck Was I?, r203.

To date, Toni Morrison's novels do not hold up when adapted to the screen; her themes are much too complex and layered for Hollywood. If only the Merchant Ivory trio had produced, written and directed "The Color Purple."

Bette Davis was robbed of an Oscar nomination for Whales of August. Truly brittle and heartbreaking work. Lillian Gish did her same old schoolgirlish granny nonsense and yet she won the National Board of Review award.

r201 Steel Magnolias, Mystic Pizza, E.T. Bwa ha ha.

“The Spook Show” did not debut on Broadway and before that, Whoopi did a standup act in NYC and Germany.

I'll stand up for Old School Whoopi six days a week and twice on Sunday.

Fontaine alone is an acting performance of tremendous skill and he's just one character. Her genius is right up there with Lily Tomlin and whatsherface the Brit who isn't Julie Walters. Tracey Ullman.

I never diss Whoopi, she's a genius. In a better world she'd have done more writing and playing her own characters but that's not the way it worked back then and it still doesn't work that way now.

[quote] Whoopi did a standup act in NYC and Germany.

The poster said "Whoopi was known as a foul-mouthed comedienne." She was not. She was known, if she was known at all, for her one-woman Broadway show which cannot be described as a show by a "foul-mouthed comedienne." And pointing to minor work in NYC and Germany (for gods-sake) hardly changes the fact that that was NOT what she was known for.

R210 agreed. She should be doing stand up now instead of the frau fest that is the View. She’s lost her mind though defending all her Hollywood buddies.

Everyone loved Geraldine.

The Color Purple is great. But Geraldine was more beloved than Whoopee. Comedians are not always loved by everyone.

"I never diss Whoopi, she's a genius."

The "genius" has the brains of a flea. Her "it wasn't rape-rape" comment alone is ample proof of that.

[quote] I think Whoopi deserved guest starring Emmys for her turn as Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was a tiny recurring role but she inbued it with mystery and weightiness.

And those are just the gigantic purple flat hats she wore!

I remember watching her in the HBO special and being blown away. Then when she was cast in “The Color Purple” I was so pleased for her, especially after it went on to be such a huge hit.

Then came “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”. Andy it’s all pretty much been downhill from there.

She was trying to earn a living. Most actors have made some crappy films.

Yes but she was really awful in them.

"I think Whoopi deserved guest starring Emmys for her turn as Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was a tiny recurring role but she inbued it with mystery and weightiness."

What horseshit. On ST:TNG she played Whoopi Golberg, as usual. Actually, she stuck out like a sore thumb on that show. She'd called Gene Roddenberry and gushed about what a big fan of Star Trek she was and how she'd love to be a part of his new tv series. So a role was written for her where she would be some kind of all-knowing, all-seeing bartender creature, always dispensing wisdom to the ship's crew and even Picard. She sat there in her big purple get up with the matching purple satellite dish hat, smiling smugly, a space version of Whoopi Goldberg. The same old performance she gives over and over again in everything she does. That character she played was one of the worst things on ST:THG. The last thing that show needed was an ugly bartender who thinks she knows everything.

Actually, STNG wrote the Guinan episodes so that Deanna Troi could read those lines if Whoopi was unavailable. So, if anything, Whoopi was playing Marina Sirtis.

Whoopi has always been a mediocre performer or talk show host. This thread is bizarre with people trying to argue otherwise.

r210, I agree. Whoopi is talented as fuck. Plus, she was the first black female that could actually open a film. You know how hard that is looking how she looks in America. She has natural comedic talents, and charisma on screen. Fuck her politics, the woman is gifted if you are a film lover.

r215, She shouldn't have said that but anyone with a brain gets her sentiment. Some teenage girls know what they want, and use sex for that advantage. I'm not saying that was the case with Polanski, but the waters are more murky and its not so black and white. Its not the same as raping a prepubescent child. I personally don't believe there should be laws again post adolescent teenagers and adults fornicating but i'm wild. 12year olds used to get married; that shit was common until the mid 20 century.

"Whoopi is talented as fuck. "

You're insane. I've seen her performances. They're all the same. ALL THE SAME. She can't do anything else except be Whoopi Goldberg. And that sure as hell doesn't constitute being "talented as fuck", you silly twat.

R51, IMO, OUT OF AFRICA was a crashing bore of a film and glamorized colonialism. Redford, being the ego driven movie star that he is, didn’t even attempt a British accent. Yes, I know Sydney Pollack told him not to, but if he were half the actor he thinks he is, he would have learned how to speak with one. He’s one of my least favorite American actors. He’s nothing but a waft of blond hair. Frau bait.

What did Geraldine the old bitch say about my accents? And why is she wearing drapes?

She said "The Devil made me buy that dress, honey."

R217 she went on to win EGOT after CP. Hardly downhill.

[QUOTE]To date, Toni Morrison's novels do not hold up when adapted to the screen; her themes are much too complex and layered for Hollywood. If only the Merchant Ivory trio had produced, written and directed "The Color Purple."

You do realize that The Color Purple was written by Alice Walker, not Toni Morrison, don't you?

R206 Morrison to me is like Faulkner. Can you imagine trying to make a watchable movie of The Sound and The Fury? Impossible.

But yeah, I hope you don’t think she wrote The Color Purple.

I enjoyed my performance in Plenty that year better than I enjoyed my work in Out of Africa.

[quote]Why were there so many movies in the 80s about old women? Trip To Bountiful, Whales of August, Driving Miss Daisy.

After "On Golden Pond", stars of a certain age in possible "grand finale" roles were a thing.

Norma Aleandro's performance in The Official Story was shamefully left off this roster this year. She was absolutely unforgettable. Surely it was better than Anne Bancroft in Agnes of God.

And need I bring up Cher in Mask?

[quote]How did Whoopi Goldberg lose the Oscar for The Color Purple?

Did she look behind the sofa?

Geraldine Page was a big old ham bone.Even in close-up she aimed for the back of the balcony

Was the "color purple" in the book/movie a reference to the color of bruises?

Don't be dissing Jumpin' Jack Flash. I love that movie. It's not great and it doesn't make any sense, but I love it. Whoopi was great back then.

Homosexual Michael J.Fox accompanied Whoopi to the Academy Awards the year she was nominated for TCP.

Homosexual Michael J.Fox accompanied Whoopi to the Academy Awards the year she was nominated for TCP.

R237

"The color purple represents all the good things in the world that God creates for men and women to enjoy."

"The color purple represents all the good things in the world that God creates for men and women to enjoy."

Sez who? Alice Walker? I don't remember that from the book. The only mention of the color purple that I remember comes from a scene where one of Mister's sisters goes out with Celie to get her a dress (she's woefully lacking in clothes). The scene goes like this:

She go with me to the store. I think what color Shug Avery would wear. She like a queen to me so I say to Kate, Somethin' purple, maybe little red in it too. But us look and look and no purple. Plenty red, but she say, Naw, he won't want to pay for red. Too happy lookin. We got choice of brown, maroon or navy blue. I say blue.

I agree with R234, both of those performances were better, especially The Official Story which has haunted me for years.

I always thought Norma Alejandro's supporting actress nomination two years later was compensation for being overlooked this year. (Never saw Gaby though. Was that a good performance?)

R244 it was good but Aleandro barely registered in it. Clearly a make up nomination.

Shug and Celie have a conversation about God at some point. I haven't read the book in years so I'm fuzzy on the details. But Celie has a bible-thumper's view of God. Her God is a strict god who wants to be obeyed and feared. Shug says God just wants to love and be loved; that's why he makes beautiful things like the color purple.

Google search turned up this quote:

" I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.

What it do when it pissed off? I ast.

Oh, it make something else. People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back."

You know how Snoop Dogg went off on Gayle King for discussing Kobe's rape allegation - and they WAY he went off on her?

"We expect more from you, Gayle."

"Why y'all attacking us? We yo people."

"Funky, dog-haired bitch, how dare you try and tarnish my motherfucking homeboy’s reputation, punk motherfucker," Snoop Dogg said.

“Respect the family and back off, bitch, before we come get you"

That's what the reaction to the book of The Color Purple was. Black women treating black men like king and them being treated like serfs in return was the dirty little secret of African American culture. And Alice Walker blew the doors off.

Whoppi's Oscar loss was a travesty. And Danny Glover was magnificent - handsome, smooth, frightening, weak, pathetic, a dangerous nothing of a man.

OP, you heard F. Murray Abraham. He considered Geraldine Page the greatest actress in the English language. That's how she won.

[quote] Sez who? Alice Walker? I don't remember that from the book.

Near the end of the book, Shug says that it "pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it."

Um, just one of the many reasons why Page won over Goldberg - Case No. 1

Case No. 2

Carlin Glynn was phenomenal as Jessie Mae. She should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actress instead of Amy Madigan.

I can't stand people snoopin' in my dresser drawers!

I refuse to read the rest of this thread by I ache to make my opinion heard, so.....

She's a lousy actor and it's a meh performance.

(Also: Oprah was a huge hambone.)

Not only is Geraldine Page a far superior actress to Whoopi Goldberg, she gives an incredibly moving performance in that film. She was immensely deserving. Goldberg was not.

r251 - meh.

Whoopi Goldberg gave a more indelible in The Color Purple. And Out Of Africa was one of M's best.