Ts Madison goes viral with her take on audience’s shocked reaction to ‘The Color Purple’

A tweet from trans performer Ts Madison has gone viral. It concerns the newly-released movie version of The Color Purple.

Alice Walker’s classic, harrowing tale was first adapted into a movie by Steven Spielberg in 1985. It starred Whoopi Goldberg in the lead role of Shug. That movie hinted at a same-sex attraction between Shug and singer Celie. However, it resisted stating it as boldly as the original book.

The new movie, adapted from the Broadway musical and starring Taraji P. Henson and Fantasia Barrino (as Shug and Celie respectively), is more explicit in depicting the true relationship between the two characters.

This seems to have taken some viewers by surprise.

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Online, many have commented about noting the shocked audience reaction to the sapphic love.

Ts Madison posted a tweet asking why people were horrified by the same-sex love, but not by the abuse Shug suffers at the hands of several men in her life.

“So yall more upset that Mrs Celie and Shug Avery was exploring their sexuality but didn’t draw the line at her being molested at 14 by her stepfather and having his kids?

“This really shows me why yall still let that ‘Fresh’ uncle come to the family reunion but throw your Gay kids on the street!”

So yall more upset that Mrs Celie and Shug Avery was exploring their sexuality but didn’t draw the line at her being molested at 14 by her stepfather and having his kids?

This really shows me why yall still let that “Fresh” uncle come to the family reunion but throw your Gay…

— Ts Madison (@TsMadisonatl1) December 26, 2023

Madison’s tweet has had over 17,000 likes and prompted hundreds of comments. Many applauded her take on the criticism of the movie.

‘The Color Purple’ wins over holiday audiences

Released on Christmas Day, The Color Purple has proved a box office hit. Taking $18 million on its opening day. It proved the second biggest opening on Christmas Day in history, behind 2009’s Sherlock Holmes.

The movie is directed by Blitz Bazawule.

One person happy with how the new movie explores the relationship between Shug and Celie is the story’s original author, Alice Walker.

“I really love it that [audiences] have to take away the reality that Shug and Celie become lovers, because I think that we have really needed help there. We really needed to see that love is love. You know, that people love whoever they love, and it is their right to do that,” Walker told the Hollywood Reporter.

Watch a trailer for the movie below.

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