Were there racism cries when Whoopi didn't win the Oscar for The Color Purple?

She wasn’t that good.

But she wasn't an actress actress yet.

No, but 1985 was a different time.

People pretty much knew that Meryl Streep would win, because .... well, she wasn't black.

I think TCP was one of the first all black cast blockbuster movies ever made in Hollywood. It was a big deal.

It rightly deserved all the nominations, and it also deserved Academy Awards.

But Hollywood being Hollywood at the time, everyone knew it wouldn't happen.

Let me just say for the record that Meryl Streep and her "Out of Africa" movie were both BORING AS FUCK, and did not deserve the win.

No fucking way.

Some say that Whoopi got the Ghost Oscar because many felt she robbed for TCP.

Anyway, Twitter wasn't around. So there was no racism cries or any other cries.

Geraldine Page won r3.

Let's just put it this way.

NO ONE remembers "Out of Africa."

EVERYONE remembers "The Color Purple."

Enough said.

Jada wasn't spewing her bile yet.

I've heard that the movie was snubbed due to the dislike of Steven Spielberg at the time. It was a great film. I will see Danny Glover in something and immediately dislike him. Then I remember that it's only because he did such a good job in "The Color Purple".

I think the Color Purple is a beautiful, perfect film. It’s so good. I think they should have swept every award.

Why do people keep bringing up Out of Africa and Streep when it was Geraldine Page who won, and rightfully so, that year? It was her final nomination out of 8 acting nominations in total. She wasn't far below Hepburn or Davis and when you consider how long they'd been acting in movies compared to Page, that's a real testament to Page's prowess as an actress.

Even Whoopi said that Page deserved the Oscar that year.

OP is the race-baiting troll who bitches about "woke" shit and spews GOP talking points

[quote]Even Whoopi said that Page deserved the Oscar that year.

Really? What as a career award? She admitted on The View to only seeing Bountiful recently.

Yes r11. Best Actress awards are a key GOP talking point.

It’s a prettified film of a truly devastating novel—the only good one Walker wrote.

Actually I thought Oprah did well in that movie…

Before "The Color Purple" came out, certain groups cried racism when Steven Spielberg was selected to direct the film (even though it was Quincy Jones who chose him). When the movie came out, certain groups cried racism at the "unflattering" depiction of black men. Then when the film failed to score a single one of its 11 Oscar nominations, certain groups cried racism. This movie created controversy at every turn.

I was given a free ticket to see that movie and I started cringing after 5 minutes of all that nauseating sentimentality. I only stayed out of respect to my escort,

Oprah did better than "well" in TCP, R15.

Her performance was definitely Oscar worthy.

But because she was "Oprah," you just know the old queen Academy voters didn't take her seriously.

R12 Apparently she also mixed up Geraldine Page with Geraldine Fitzgerald somewhere else. What a sad, bitter woman.

It was all about Hollywood politics and sentiment. Geraldine Page was on her way out and they gave her the Oscar for her body of work and because she was circling the drain.

what R16 said - there were several Black Organizations that were thrilled when the movie won zero oscars

There was more controversy about the depiction of Black men - then Whoopi losing the Oscar

There were so many Black Organizations that just hated the movie - and didn't see it being a reflection of Black Culture

It wasn't a movie that Black community could rally around, it just created divisions within the Black community

Despite her looks Page was only 60 when she won.

Geraldine Page was an excellent actress.

I've always been a fan of Geraldine Page since she was kind to Joan Crawford.

[quote] Despite her looks Page was only 60 when she won.

and she would die a year later

None of this changes the fact that Out of Africa SUCKED DONKEY DICK!

I think it pissed God off

Out of Africa won the Oscar because it had the word "Africa" in it, so there was no need to have actual black people in the movie.

They earned diversity points just by having the word AFRICA in the title.

That way, they could have an all white cast, but it still acknowledged the blacks.

It was a win-win for Hollywood. Everyone is happy!

Tina Turner - why i turned down the role of Shug Avery - it was too depressing

[quote] Tina Turner - why i turned down the role of Shug Avery - it was too depressing

Bullshit.

She just didn't want to play a lesbian/bisexual character.

I give Whoopi and Margaret Avery a lot of credit for "going there" back in 1985.

[quote] Bullshit. She just didn't want to play a lesbian/bisexual character.

uh you realize she spent 16 years being beat-up by Ike, and you want to do that all over again on film?

Linked article pretty much lays out why Whoppi Goldberg didn't win Oscar for "The Color Purple". Those who know the industry also knew Ms. Goldberg's chances at a second Oscar win were nil to none that year.

Long story short winning an Oscar is not always about whatever film role that year which brought the nomination. Rather an actor is really competing against entire body of work done to date. As wont to happen when you have an established older actor like Geraldine Page, who had been nominated (but never won) many times before, give an exceptional performance that year, they are likely to win.

On another note the "black community" were not universally behind "The Color Purple" neither as a book or film. Many felt the author air too much dirty linen about things that went on in African American community (child rape, adultery', wife beating, rape of AA women, etc..) and now.

Considering above it is safe to say not everyone was willing to cry foul over Whoppi Goldberg's loss that year.

Shug doesn't get beat up.

[quote]As wont to happen when you have an established older actor like Geraldine Page, who had been nominated (but never won) many times before, give an exceptional performance that year, they are likely to win.

Tell me about it.

[quote] Shug doesn't get beat up.

You don't want to be in a movie where the lead character gets beat-up - it just hits too close to home. It triggers you

r35 was from G

"Best Actress awards are a key GOP talking point."

Accusing others of whining about racism while pretending racism doesn't exist is a key GOP talking point, OP.

Black actors have lost all the time without any complaints

R36

Instead we see lead character (Celie) victim of child rape giving birth in a barn, subsequently married off to an older man who also rapes her and then beats her as well. This all occurs within first hour or so of movie.

R38 Joy Reid raised up a stink on Twitter when Chadwick Boseman and Andra Day lost last year.

[quote] Instead we see lead character (Celie) victim of child rape giving birth in a barn, subsequently married off to an older man who also rapes her and then beats her as well. This all occurs within first hour or so of movie.

After being beat-up by Ike for 16 years, you think Tina Turner would want to be in a movie like that - even if it is not her character. It hits too close to home

Viola also lost. Please don't deny Viola her suffering.

There was far more raping and beating of women in book Color Purple than what made it into film.

Squeak is raped by local sheriff when deputized by community to get Sofia out of jail.

IIRC Sophia is beaten and possibly raped while incarcerated.

And so it goes....

Tina always wanted to be white, she idolized Jackie Kennedy and only associated with white musicians like Mick Jagger and Elton John. She recorded a duet with Bryan Adams ffs. She was obviously never going to do a movie that recalled her own impoverished, rural upbringing.

There were no cries because there was no internet to cry on.

"Joy Reid raised up a stink on Twitter when Chadwick Boseman and Andra Day lost last year."

Because one black person represents every black person ever

"There were no cries because there was no internet to cry on."

Maybe you don't realize this but people were more than capable of complaining about things before the internet. Look at all the people who complained about an interracial kiss on Star Trek

R44 gets it!

Born in Brownsville, Tennessee, in 1939, Tina Turner needed no reminding of what life was like for POC back then in American south. Especially those who were living in poor sharecropper communities.

When you work your ass off to get out of someplace, you don't want or need reminding of how awful things truly were..

R44

It was those "white musicians" and Europeans in general who were largely made Tina Turner's comeback.

Prior to 1983 TT was considered largely a novelty throwback act, doing hotels and other gigs rehashing much of her old music. Her breakaway hit, a cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" did far better in Europe than USA.

It was off to the races ever since. European musicians and audiences were far better to TT than Americans by and large. This was one reason she eventually packed up and moved to Europe as well.

Tina Turner flatly turned down Color Purple, but landed far better role in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome’s.

TT's character in Mad Max has become iconic, and was far more positive than anything in Color Purple.

[quote] Viola also lost. Please don't deny Viola her suffering.

We're the only ones who suffered, having to watch this...

Forget Whoopi, Viola, and especially Halle. Angela Bassett deserved to be the first black woman to win an Oscar for a leading role.

[quote] Angela Bassett deserved to be the first black woman to win an Oscar for a leading role.

For?

As Whoopi’s first effort, the Academy on the whole felt the nomination was really the reward for her performance. I remember there being plenty of discussion also about Celie’s passivity not demanding much effort other than “look sad”.

I’m not a big fan of the book and Spielberg really is at his least nuanced in the movie. White people=bad, Black men=bad, black woman=good. I really like the juke joint songs but the movie is overscored and stylized to the point of fantasy. The book is something of a wish fulfillment fantasy but I don’t think the movie served the seriousness of the subject matter with its fields of flowers, comical juke joint brawl and literal and figurative whitewashed set of Mister’s house.

What’s Love Got to Do With It

R55 is in response to R53.

Although Angela could have had another shot with Monster's Ball, which is what won Halle her Oscar. Angela turned it down, thinking the role was beneath her. It wasn't a great movie but she could have elevated it.

r56 the producers denied they ever offered the role to Bassett and claimed her saying so was just out of sour grapes for Halle becoming the "first" when she thought it would be her

[...]

I don’t think there was a particular outcry that Whoopi didn’t win because the movie won NO awards. People were too shocked to pick a particular category loss to focus on.

That said, I agree Oprah was probably the best shot at a win and a real missed opportunity. She was just getting famous for her talk show and things could have gone either way. She could have been the most successful talk show host in history or gone in a different direction and been a certified movie star. She was pretty amazing in that role.

I hate Oprah and I think she should have won that Oscar.

I thought Whoopi was wonderful in The Color Purple. She carried the entire film and I don't think she has ever given a better performance except for the excellent and underrated The Long Walk Home. She deserved to win the Oscar but so did Geraldine. They both gave incredible performances.

[quote]As wont to happen when you have an established older actor like Geraldine Page, who had been nominated (but never won) many times before, give an exceptional performance that year, they are likely to win.

Agreed. And I do not lose sight of the "exceptional performance" part. There's no doubt that Page's overall esteem, previous losses, and seniority were in people's minds when they voted, but she had a good showcase role and was in best form, and Horton Foote had written a lovely play that transferred gracefully. The Trip to Bountiful is not the best-remembered film of 1985, but it's a worthwhile one. I'm glad Page got her Oscar, especially considering that she didn't have much time left.

As for The Color Purple, I could criticize it for its softening of Walker's material, its prettification, its moments of comedy (Harpo falling through roofs, Mister's cartoonish attempt to cook), but then there's the other side of the coin. Spielberg could have done anything he wanted to do in 1985, and he took a tough, grim novel and made a movie with a nearly all-black cast, directed three little-known actresses to Oscar nominations, and helped a lot of other careers. He made a movie that was a huge hit, and one people still remember and watch again. For the screen version of The Color Purple its critics would have preferred, with a black director and nothing spared, we might have had to wait 25 years or more.

Spielberg also delivered a lot of new readers to Alice Walker. If they read her fiction attempts that followed The Color Purple, I hope they enjoyed them more than I did.

r62 well said. People can criticize Spielberg but he did direct three actors to nominations, the film has several powerful scenes, and we are still discussing it today. And, as you said, it introduced people to Alice Walker. I read the book myself and it's very different from the movie. But I still appreciate the film for what it is.

I'm sure there will be another adaptation one day, by a Black director, but nobody can take away the power of the scenes where Celie stands up to Mister or she is reunited with her sister.

" I'm glad Page got her Oscar, especially considering that she didn't have much time left."

That's it then isn't it?

Academy has no way of knowing if an actor will be around later or even have another role nominated to give them a chance at winning.

There is a not too short list of actors who never even got to starting gate (nomination), much less won an Oscar. Some died or retired from films before that one great performance in a role would cement their winning. Others just couldn't shake tough luck of always being nominated against very stiff competition.

Tagging onto above neither Kirk Douglass nor Barbara Stanwyck ever won Oscars awards.

This with fact Kirk Douglass could blow many modern so called "actors" out of the water.

[quote] Tagging onto above Kirk Douglas (...) never won Oscar.

Good.

Kirk Douglas violently RAPED Natalie Wood, he didn't deserve an Oscar for anything, he deserved being called out, he deserved being canceled, he deserved being imprisoned, he deserved a punch in the face. But none of that happened, he got away with it, mister big privileged movie star, and there was no justice for Natalie Wood. Kirk Douglas did not deserve an Oscar, he deserved an early painful torturous death, but of course he got away with it with no consequences, and lived a very long life, that corpse rotting pig... Kirk Douglas, I spit on your grave, I hope you are rotting in hell... :-/

I get the criticisms of The Colour Purple, but this film is part of my childhood. I love it, Whoopi, Oprah, Margaret, Akosua Busia (she played Nettie). I thought Danny Glover was amazing and should have gotten an Oscar nod as well. It sucks that he didn't, especially because the field was so weak that year (James Garner wouldn't have gotten nominated for Murphy's Romance in most other years). Instead of Glover getting his only Oscar nod, Harrison Ford got his (for Witness).

"God Is Trying to Tell You Something" is one of my favourite movie scenes of all time. It gives me chills every time I watch it on YouTube. When I was going through confirmation, I wanted that song to be part of the service and the cunty nuns completely ignored my request. It would have been awful (a bunch of white people singing this beautiful song), but I was one of the kids getting confirmed and it's all I wanted!

I love the film, despite its flaws.

Wasn't the BIG controversy that years the fact that Color Purple got 11 Academy Award nominations but Spielberg was shutout off a Best Director nom?

The Academy must of really HATED him

Whoopi overclapped when Geraldine won.

[quote]Whoppi

R32, you insist on posting in every Whoopi Goldberg thread on DL, can you at least learn to spell the name right?

[quote] The Academy must of really HATED him

Oh, dear.

No OP there were concerns about the negative depiction of black men in the film that was widely discussed including an article in the NY Times in 1986. Bill Cosby defended the film and made a comparison to The Burning Bed.

I’m aware, R49. Don’t forget the audiences she played to at Sun City casino during apartheid…

The worst thing about the novel is that in the end Celie and Mr _____ reconcile. The sequel novel has them as a happily married couple. Blech!

Well in film Color Purple "Maybe God's Trying To Tell You Something" number shows power of the Lord.

Shug Avery, the fallen woman reconciles with her father, and Mister begins to make amends for his whoring and abuse of Celie by paying for her sister and her children (Celie's) to return/enter United States.

I remember the big controversies regarding The Color Purple being:

1. Steven Spielberg not nominated Best Director for a film that received many nominations, including Best Picture. This did definitely seem personal.

2. Black men being portrayed as abusive. Well tough shit, if anything, the movie went easier on black men than Alice Walker did in her novel. Also, Mister redeemed himself in the end.

3. The film making history (at the time) as having the most Oscar nominations with zero wins.

I honestly don't remember anyone getting upset about Whoopi. It was her first film role and considered pretty incredible she was nominated for her film debut. Until then, she was known solely as a stand-up comedian.

[quote] Also, Mister redeemed himself in the end.

Harpo and Sophia have also reconciled at the end.

I LOATHED A Trip to Bountiful with the heat and passion of a thousand suns. And Geraldine Page's constant whining... I needed a Xanax after that one (had I known about it then, or if it existed).

[quote]3. The film making history (at the time) as having the most Oscar nominations with zero wins.

It didn't quite make history, as it co-holds that record with 1977's The Turning Point. Both were 0 for 11.

Three 21st-century films came close, going 0 for 10. Gangs of New York, the Coens' True Grit, and American Hustle.

I loved Trip to Bountiful. I've seen it twice many years apart and it holds up. Page is wonderful in it.

That being said it was done off Broadway with Lois Smith(the pretty barmaid in East of Eden) and a couple of friends went to see it. They asked me to come but I was happy with the film and I didn't want to bother with it in terms of money or time. After seeing it one of them said to me, 'Well you missed one of the greatest performances of all time!' I went to the final performance with Foote there. It was a great performance. Was she better than Page? I want to say reluctantly yes.

Thanks for the correction, R80. I knew I'd regret not googling!

[quote] Lois Smith

Or to younger people, the grandmother in Twister and True Blood.

Geraldine Page deserved that Oscar.

Nobody considered Whoopi a real actress just as they still don't.

Damn good!

You can see her peers were thrilled that Geraldine Page finally was rewarded with what she so richly deserved.

I remember Oprah from the film but not Whoopie.

People didn’t think of the Oscars as an institution that owed the public anything other than a red carpet parade of gowns in the ‘80s. Also, this was Whoopi’s first movie—a leading role in a Spielberg movie! For her to “expect” anything would have been ridiculous. Personally I liked the actress who played young Celie better than Whoopi.

Petty ass Oprah never forgave Anjelica Huston for winning; she refused to acknowledge her at parties and never had her on her show.

I like the color blue.

'Oprah never forgave Anjelica Huston for winning; she refused to acknowledge her at parties and never had her on her show.'

Seriously?

I remember seeing Oprah briefly interviewed at the end of the awards and while she was licking her chops at the juicy scandal of a billion nominations and no wins, she said she knew she wasn’t going to win because Roger Ebert had told her it was going to Anjelica.

If I remember correctly Oprah wasn't even billed on the movie poster. And Whoopi Goldberg didn't get top-billing. that went to Danny Glover

Whoopi got an end credit - and introducing Whoppi Goldberg

YEARS and YEARS later on her talk show Oprah was presented with a new movie poster of the "Color Purple" that had Oprah name on the movie poster - and Oprah Winfrey.

[quote]Or to younger people, the grandmother in Twister and True Blood.

For anyone who need something even more recent, Lois Smith at 86 was Saoirse Ronan's "cool nun" principal in Lady Bird. She has one of the best scenes in that film, when she and Lady Bird are talking about Lady Bird's writing and what it reveals.

Oprah did well in this film. I wonder if she simply imitated one of her Mississippi relatives to perform this role. As far as I know, Oprah never had any theater training nor acting experience until this.

Seriously, R90

[quote]Petty ass Oprah never forgave Anjelica Huston for winning; she refused to acknowledge her at parties and never had her on her show.

That's incredibly petty of Oprah. Besides, Anjelica Huston gave one of the most deserving performances to win in that category and wholly deserved her win. Prizzi's Honor hasn't been well-remembered, but Huston's performance towers over the others in her category, and it wasn't a bad group of nominees.

Color Purple was Whoopi Goldberg's first major motion picture IIRC. She didn't really have a body of work to compare, and was up against some very stiff competition that year. Anyone who believed she actually would win an AA wanted their head examined.

Wokeism had not yet infected the academy to any great extent that they were giving out awards for just showing up, and being a member of a minority.

For those who have forgotten, or just didn't know 1985 had several great films, and 1986 Oscar nominations were crammed with great talent/performances.

Besides Geraldine Page, Don Ameche also finally won an Oscar.

Oprah Winfrey actually had pretty good acting chops.

Catch her in Native Son

More....

Then there was "Beloved"

And of course television adaption of "The Women of Brewster Place".

Oprah can act but I find she doesn't have a lot of range. She is good in the dramatic parts. I'd like to see her in a comedic part.

I really did like Beloved but it was a film that wasn't going to be a big hit. It was too weird and too obtuse. I remember seeing it in a multiplex and it didn't last more than a week. Another film that made me appreciate Danny Glover (who had a nude scene and was hot as fuck).

The one quibble I have about The Color Purple is I wish they had given a little more time to Mister redeeming himself to Celie. I think Glover gave a terrific, nuanced performance but I think a scene or two of him making up to Celie may have helped him win a nomination. Still, what is onscreen was deserving of one.

Dear God,

Harpo be in love with a girl called Sophia, and she be a big girl.

Bless her soul, Sophia didn't take shit from anyone, and that included Mister. Sadly that was not way for any black person much less woman to be in deep south of 1930's. At least when dealing with whites, and we know what happens...

This!

[quote] Wokeism had not yet infected the academy to any great extent that they were giving out awards for just showing up, and being a member of a minority.

Nowadays if you are a minority (meaning black and only black), you are basically guaranteed a supporting acting Oscar.

[quote]I think Glover gave a terrific, nuanced performance

He did. In his scenes with Shug, with his father, and even with the (white) mailman to whom he's so obsequious, he shows us a rounded character. Mister might be intimidating and scary to Celie at first, but his kingdom is very tiny. Really, he's beaten down too.

[quote] Nowadays if you are a minority (meaning black and only black), you are basically guaranteed a supporting acting Oscar.

Wow.

That was in the deep dark days of the 80s when black actresses were still being lynched if they weren't sufficiently sassy.

Geraldine though she wasn't going to win so she took off her shoes to stink out the place