Catherine Brough

I felt this was an absolute travesty. Where is the evidence of the grinding poverty and unbelievable hardship? To make this novel into a musical seems almost perverse. The opening scenes were particularly disturbing. It was like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I have the UTMOST respect for Alice Walker. I believe her most overlooked novel was and is The Seven Lives of Grange Copeland. I have had to stop watching. Walker’s novel and movie in its original form influenced me so much as a young woman, I wrote my thesis on Alice Walker’s history and literary works. And, I was in a majority Caucasion, Welsh university. Yet, Walker’s work resonated with me, as a result of my own challenging childhood. I felt a universal female connection. THIS movie broke my heart and my spirit. It is obviously more my issue than Alice Walker’s, from reading her affirmations of the production regarding Celie and Shug’s relationship. But to me, the novel was that and SO MUCH MORE. I never put my views out there. I guess I am going to be slashed and burned. But, I just lost something, a very special something, that kept me going through years of trial and tribulation. A special gift from Alice Walker. I want it back. That is why I switched off.