Why Fantasy Beauty Takes Center Stage in 'The Color Purple'

When Fantasia Barrino was asked to reprise her role as Celie in the latest film adaptation of The Color Purple, she originally said no. She couldn't imagine stepping back into the weight of a character who experiences such unrelenting tragedy. But then she learned more about the vision director Blitz Bazawule had in mind for this iteration. This reimagination played with fantasy, allowing viewers to glimpse into Celie's daydreams, where she envisions a more glamorous version of herself. Through Celie's mind's eye, audiences get to see the character, who spends most of her life overlooked, in a new light. And Barrino's performance is so magnetic you won't dare look away.

The Color Purple began as a novel written by Alice Walker and published in 1982. It was adapted into a movie (starring Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery, and Oprah) in 1985 and a Broadway show in 2005. It follows the story of Celie, a woman who overcomes abuse and heartache as she grows into becoming her own woman. In this new version of the film, a musical that is nominated for the Critic's Choice Award for Best Hair and Makeup, audiences see Celie own her power like never before, particularly in her visual self-expression.

"Celie's imagination and her daydreams helped me to develop her character," says Lawrence Davis, the film's hair department lead. "Going through her head and her fantasies, we see Celie in a glamorous light. We see her with her hair pressed out in a 1930s bob for her flapper-style performance. We never saw that in the original version or the Broadway musical. So having Celie and some of these other characters evolve into these more glamorous looks was such an amazing and exciting experience for me."

To round out Celie's visual story, Davis ensured that her everyday looks maintained an intentional, albeit quieter, version of that esteem.

"Although she worked in the house and she wore hair scarves at times when she was at home, when she went out into public, she cleaned herself up, and she made herself presentable," says Davis. "I always wanted the hair to be part of the story, but I also wanted it to look like the characters did their own hair. I didn't want it to be too perfect. I wanted to be period-appropriate, well-groomed, but not so, so perfect to tell the story of each and every character."

Hair was a major factor that helped solidify the contrast between Celie and Shug Avery, played by Taraji P. Henson, who donned statement-making chignons and finger waves throughout the film. Shug is a strong, sultry woman who commands attention everywhere she goes. This was rare for a Black woman navigating the South in the 1930s and 1940s.

"You have to think of that time and location, that era when they were pretty much just getting off the plantation in some states," says Tym Wallace, the hairstylist who styled Henson throughout the film. "Shug, because she was no longer a small-town woman, she had seen what beauty was and incorporated that into who she was. She's a free spirit, a free-flowing sexual being. So that had to be conveyed as well, the glamour. She had the fur coats and this elaborate feather headpiece adorned with pearls and red sequins. It had to be elaborate."

Both characters demonstrate the power that's exuded through self-expression. "The Color Purple is a movie that focuses more on the beauty within that then shines out, and each person is able to see their worth, value, and place in this world," says Lisa Price, founder of Carol's Daughter, the film's exclusive hair-care partner. (To celebrate the film, the brand is releasing two new bundles — The Purple Bundle, featuring the Black Vanilla line, and The Strength of Gold Bundle, featuring the Goddess Strength line.)

The beauty looks are part of what makes this adaptation so joyful. The film tackles a storyline filled with tragedy, violence, and injustice with an overarching sense of resilience and empowerment. Building on the solid foundation of the previous versions, the 2023 version of The Color Purple allows us to enjoy these characters like never before.