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Revisiting 'The Color Purple' wars : Pop Culture Happy Hour In the final chapter of our special documentary series Screening Ourselves, host Aisha Harris recounts the debates ignited by Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple. The 1985 film is remembered as a fan-favorite centering Black women's lives, but the acclaimed adaptation of Alice Walker's novel was received quite differently among female viewers and male viewers.

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Revisiting 'The Color Purple' wars

Revisiting 'The Color Purple' wars

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The Color Purple starred Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey.
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Mark Harris for NPR
The Color Purple starred Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey.
Mark Harris for NPR

In the final chapter of our special documentary series Screening Ourselves, host Aisha Harris recounts the debates ignited by Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple. The 1985 film is remembered as a fan-favorite centering Black women's lives, but the acclaimed adaptation of Alice Walker's novel was received quite differently among female viewers and male viewers.