. ARTS The Michigan Daily Thursday, January 16, 1986 Page 5 A not so bright 'Purple' By Seth Flicker T IS A VERY dangerous matter S when a director has to choose bet- ween serving the public, and serving Wimself. Steven Spielberg has this problem. After mega-hits such as' E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark and Gremlins, Spielberg made an unwrit- .en promise to his audiences - to produce high budget, overly sen- sational movies that reach beyond your wildest fantasies. What happens when lVMr. Spielberg wants to move on to more serious ventures but is afraid of breaking this promise to his audience? The ' product is an awe- inspiring spoof of a very serious topic such as seen in The Color Purple. As you enter the theater you think to yourself, "Wow, Steven Spielberg is directing a serious film. He's. finally getting out of his shell and, boy, are we in for a big surprise." Un- fortunately, the surprise is that Spielberg has not changed at all. The' Color Purple is as loud and as awesome as. E.T., but the difference between E.T. and The'Color Purple is that E.T. is supposed to be mind- blowing while The Color Purple is not. The Color Purple is based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning .novel. Walker's Purple examines the oppression 'of (black) women, the segregation of blacks and whites, and the different relationships that evolve in the early 20th century South. But Spielberg brings these all out but in a way that insults the audience. The most vivid example of this is .shown in the relationshop between Celie, the main character, and Mat- tie, her sister. Their deep love for each other is shown repetitively by a patty-cake type game they play. Mr., Celie's husband, tears them apart from each other (literally) in a scene that seems utterly endless. Celie and Nettie cling on to trees and poles, scrape across the ground until Mr.. finally tosses Nettie off his property. But the scene still continues as Nettie . and Celie once more play their patty- cake game as. Nettie stumbles down the road screaming too many times, "Only death can keep me away from your" Enough is enough. The viewer realizes their love for each other and the hurt felt when they are torn apart, but Spielberg drags this scene out'till' the point where it becomes a joke, and an insult to the audience. One just has to suppose that Spielberg thought that if he added the same awe-inspiring effects of Indiana Jones and applied them to a serious film, then an Oscar is on its way. This thinking was the actual pitfall of this movie. Celie is in a church reading a letter from her sister. She turns around then--Pow-Spielberg moves you to a church in Africa where a giant bulldozer breaks down a wall. Each scene was so drawn out that in-. stead of feeling'for the characters you just want to laugh at the over produc- tion. Celie, played by comiedienne-gone- actress Whoopi Goldberg, is an op- pressed black woman who is raped by her step-father and ' forced into marriage with Mr. (Danny Glover). Goldberg is Spielberg's E.T. Like E.T., Celie is also an outsider: she's black, she's a woman and she's ugly. Goldberg hardly says anything in the first half of the film. She hides her hand over her mouth, she goggles her huge eyes, but you like her. No matter what she does, you still come out of the theater liking her and for that reason, Whoopi Goldberg is the best actor of the cast. It is Spielberg him. self who desecrates the character of Celie. The Color Purple is basically how Celie views her world. Spielberg transforms this into how her .world views Celie. Because of this the movie is no longer The- Color Purple, but Spielberg's own concoction. Glover, who plays Celie's .abusive and destructive husband, is void of personality and at a complete loss for words. One could sense that Glover felt awkward in this role. The relationship between Celie and Mr. is another portion of the book which Spielberg transforms. We are looking through Celie's eyes and we feel what .Celie feels including her hatred of men. By the end of Walker's Color Purple, Celie comes to the realization that, all men are not bad but in Spielberg's Purple, Celie never gets to this realization. Because of this, we feel a sense of emptiness at the end of the film. The rest of the ensemble are merely. cartoon characters. There's 'Harpo (Willard Pugh), Mr.'s son. He's the klutz who trips down stairs and falls through roofs. His wife Sofia is played by Oprah Winfrey. Though having many strong, well-played scenes at the beginning of the film, she is the epitome of the loud, overbearing wife. " Shug, Mr.'s' lover who eventually releases Celie from her oppression, is played exuberantly and surprisingly well by Margaret Avery. Unlike most of the ensenible, Avery was well cast. She was both sexy and motherly, but not overly so. She was one of the only characters that could be taken seriously, proven in a very difficult scene that was surprisingly suc- cessful, the lesbian encounter bet- Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg stars in her first serious role as Celle in Stephen Spielberg's adaptation of Alice .Walker's novel depicting the rural Black South of the early 20th century, 'The Color Purple', playing now at Briarwood. ween Celie and Shug. Spielberg uses a fine balance of a motherly and sexual touch . to make this scene both plausible and serious. After viewing The Color Purple one has to ponder whether there actually is a serious side to Steven Spielberg.- We won't know until his next serious venture, but one thing is for sure, Spielberg will have to alter his promise to his audience. Ark floats with Crossland qw By Joseph Kraus U NIVERSITY junior and Bursley residential advisor Dave Crossland made a triumphant solo debut concert at the Ark on Tuesday in front of an audience of over 150. Having distinguished himself at last year's Starbound competition as well as at last seme'sters open -mike nights at the Ark, Crossland won the right to headline his own show. In spite of the rather steep admission price of $5, fie attracted a larger audience to the Ark established folk circuit performers. And judging from the two encores the audience demanded, most of them thought they.got their money's worth. Accompanying himself on guitar and occasionally. harmonica, he played a varied selection' of traditional, contemporary, and original folk songs. His versions of such lesser classics as "Streets of London" by Ralph Mc- Tell and. "Vegematic" by Steve. Goodman were lively and cleverly done. His "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya" and a pair of Woody Guthrie songs showed he knows the tradition he's working out of. But the highlights of the show were certainly his original compositions. Beginning with one named "Summer Song," which he called his first serious song, he demonstrated he had enough faith in his own material to overcome the nervousness that anybody in his shoe's would have felt. But the best was 'yet to come. "Seija," a song to an old girlfriend, was as beautiful as it had been when he was a surprise opening act for Tom Paxton last week. "I Don't Know Where I'm Going," which he claims was originally writ- ten to be played by an entire bluegrass band, showed he could work .with a fast-paced song as well as.his. rhore frequent ballads. His clever story of having to com- pose "The Drear.y Leary Blues" for an English teacher in high school as a last-minute homework assignment turned the lighthearted parody into one of the mostmemorable songs of the evening. Crossland's patter was often clever, but inconsistent. Where stories about his having snuck into Steve Good- man's dressing room last year made him seem a polished veteran, he was at a virtual loss other times. Early in the show he got some mnileage out of. his own tongue- tiedness by assuming. another voice and calling, "Just play it, Dave," but it often wasn't until he continued per- forming that he was able to fully regain his composure. Crossland probably made something of a tactical error when he invited audience members to suggest songs for him to play. As one or another of his fans suggested "City of New Orleans" or Cat Stevens' "Father and Son", he gradually lost his own sense of continuity. In addition, while "Early Morning Rain" and "Father and Son" were technically fine versions of the well- known songs, they tended to lack the inspiration of his more polished covers and originals. By the end of the show Crossland had so exhausted hiinself that he was unable to stay in the right key for. "Hobo's Ltllabye," - his second en- core - indicating he should have stopped a song or two earlier. But whatever flaws there were in - the show *hardly diminshed its suc- cess. In some cases, mistakes such as his forgetting the words to various songs seem to have endeared him to the audience, giving him a chance to let his exuberance make up for execution. The indisputable success of Crossland's show bodes well both for the future-of student folk music at the Un.iversity and for his own promising career.- It's hard to say, what's next for Crossland - his, brand of music doesn't usually receive the audience it deserves and needs to thrive - but he's made an auspicious. beginning. With the following he was able to muster for his show~, it looks as if he'll have a few more local gigs before the semester is through, and with the show he was able to put on, it looks as if those gigs will be something special. PART TIME EMPLOYMENT- NIGHTS The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts is interviewing students interested in working for a fundraising telethon calling LS&A alumni.across the country. The telethon runs five nights per week, Sunday through Thursday, February 2 through April 17 (excluding Spring Break). You work two of the five nights avail able eat h week with some 'opportunity to work additional nights. Hours: 8:00 =11.:00 p.m. First Five Weeks Hours: 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Last Four Weeks Pay: $4.00 per hour LS&A STUDENTS PREFERRED CALL 763-5576 FOR AN INTERVIEW The University of Michigan is on equal opportunity, Affirmative Action employer a =1.I 0 f Ii r i -..-~- .4 . omw 1 __f -mot in the North Campus Commons January17th&18th 9:00-6:001 Meet major electronics manufacturers'representatives! Reduced prices on: COME JOIN OUR STAFF The University of Michigan Housing Division RESIDENCE HALL POSITIONS 1I986-87 The Housing Division is looking for well-qualified candidates to serve as resident staff members in Residence Halls. We specifically are looking for students interested in: -Serving as positive academic and group living role models -Fostering a spirit of community -Developing and strengthening leadership, communication and group skills and -Developing programs for a diverse student population, THERE WILL BE TWO INFORMATION MEETINGS: Sunday, January 26, 1986 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 28, 1986 7:00 -9:00 p.m. IN AUDITORIUM 3 - MODERN LANGUAGE BUILDING Representatives from the Housing Division will be there to provide information and answer questions regarding candidate qualifications, selection processes and job expectations. Applications are available only at these meetings. ALL NEW APPLICANTS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND ONE OF THESE MEETINGS An EqualOpportunity, Affirmative Action Employer Computer Supplies & Furniture Computer Reference Materials Calculators .Audio Equipment Demonstrations on Zenith and ITTcomputers. - FREEREFRESHMENTS- BALLOONS RAFFLES! -.LOt .f1Anh04e it ni;v r ra iItnrir r,rhavc rf R92 M- t l 1 I '' "II., II mm wII