I've been thinking a lot of about the 12 year old me seeing the scenes of domestic violence played out in the movie Purple Rain.

I was experiencing similar violence in my own home at that time. And like in many familys--No one talked about it. There was no processing.

I'm not sure how much I thought about it at the time--but watching those scenes was an inviation for me to process those feelings--and feel a little bit less alone.

And then--it was an amazing example to see that pain transmuted into great, great art.

This is the power of this music.

Art (and artists) provide the model for each of us to work with our own pain and humanity.

And then, not only process it--but to turn it inso something beautiful.

I am forever grateful...

In retrospect, i couldve done without Prince backhanding her. first black woman i've ever seen who took that......

"aw hell no!"

friend2001 said:

In retrospect, i couldve done without Prince backhanding her. first black woman i've ever seen who took that......

"aw hell no!"

That was shocking scene--no doubt--But it did make sense in the greater context of the movie.

I thought the same thing when I went to see Purple Rain last week. A quarter of the movie would have to be cut out to be released today. I had never seen anything like that but it was shocking!! And would be left on the cutting room floor today.

I have to wonder if that hurt is image a bit and cost him some mainstream acceptance. I was watching old clips of 80s shows with people from Purple Rain and other associates on talk shows and such, and it seemed like the topic of whether Prince actually beat women kept coming up. And of course a lot of the movie reviews pointed to the misognystic overtones. I think if they had cut the scene with Morris throwing a chick into a dumpster, and had Prince maybe start to backhand Apollonia but then stop himself and never connect, that would've related the struggle without tarnishing the "brand" (as they call it now). You'd still have the backstory of the Kid's dad beating his mom and the Kid having to break that chain.

I don't understand why people make such a huge deal out of this scene. It's a movie; it's to entertain and tell a story, not to teach your children morals. We don't need to psychoanalyze and shame movies just because someone saw something uncomfortable.

[Edited 5/10/16 12:01pm]

The dad was more or less blaming the mom for not achieving his dreams of being a musician, but how much of that was based on Prince and how much of it was complete fiction, the family would have to answer what was going on. I don't remember if there were any siblings in PR.

IN the movie, his mom stayed in an abusive relationship, he did what he knew, only Applolinia left him the first time it happened. That's the message behind the scene, that it's not right to do that and on the other side of it, don't stay with someone that abuses you. The whole movie is about the growth of the Kid/Prince as a person and that scene is an important part of it.

speakeasy said:

I've been thinking a lot of about the 12 year old me seeing the scenes of domestic violence played out in the movie Purple Rain.

I was experiencing similar violence in my own home at that time. And like in many familys--No one talked about it. There was no processing.

I'm not sure how much I thought about it at the time--but watching those scenes was an inviation for me to process those feelings--and feel a little bit less alone.

And then--it was an amazing example to see that pain transmuted into great, great art.

Right there with you. Before Purple Rain, I thought my brother and I were the only kids in the world dealing with that shit. It was so inspiring to see The Kid take those circumstances and feelings, and turn them into beautiful art.

As a kid watching this movie, I remembered not only the stage performance scenes, but the one scene that I remember having stuck in my head was of the 'kid' hanging by the rafters. It kinda freaked me out.

weirdozmedia said:

I have to wonder if that hurt is image a bit and cost him some mainstream acceptance.

.

Huh? Hurt his mainstream acceptance?

.

Were you around in 1984? Prince was one of the top three biggest stars on planet Earth. That movie where he backhanded a girl was one of the top box office films of the year and the soundtrack album from it sold 14 million copies! I don't think that scene hurt his mainstream appeal at all.

Cloreen said:

weirdozmedia said:

I have to wonder if that hurt is image a bit and cost him some mainstream acceptance.

.

Huh? Hurt his mainstream acceptance?

.

Were you around in 1984? Prince was one of the top three biggest stars on planet Earth. That movie where he backhanded a girl was one of the top box office films of the year and the soundtrack album from it sold 14 million copies! I don't think that scene hurt his mainstream appeal at all.

Yeah Purple Rain was huge, and for a lot of people it was their main exposure to Prince - most of what they knew about Prince came from that movie and its soundtrack. For the rest of the 80s he seemed to struggle to maintain that level of popularity, despite the fact that he was releasing some of the best material that anybody released during that decade. The Under the Cherry Moon and Sign o the Time movies flopped, and his albums post-Purple Rain never reached those sales numbers, where as every album Michael Jackson would drop during that time would sell at the Purple Rain level or more.

I'm saying that since most people knew him from Purple Rain, maybe if he was portrayed more favorably in that movie then the projects he released after Purple Rain would've been more successful.

[Edited 5/10/16 12:54pm]

weirdozmedia said:

Se7en said:

weirdozmedia said:

where as every album Michael Jackson would drop during that time would sell at the Purple Rain level or more.

Prince's popularity didn't wane after Purple Rain because he was portrayed in a negative light. He lost popularity because his next album basically went 180 degrees from what everyone expected (and wanted). Parade went even further away from Purple Rain.

.

That's it right there.

.

"Purple Rain" sold 14 million...his next album which sounded nothing like "Purple Rain" sold three...the next album which was a soundtrack to a film that was nothing like PURPLE RAIN was down to one million in sales. He didn't give the people what they wanted and make a PURPLE RAIN II either on film or on vinyl, and that's why his sales fell. As for Michael Jackson, his follow up to "Thriller" ("Bad") was really just "Thriller II" and thus his sales were still huge.

times were different, abuse of partners and children was almost the norm in those days, i said 'almost" so don't rake me over the coals. Like teen idols before him, Prince made us feel less alienated by touching on topics we were ashamed of and could identify with, I know I could.

Those seens made both me and Michael Jackson cringe . . nobody wanted to see Prince hit a woman

AnonymousFan said:

people always got to have something to ride. I remember eddie murphy ruling the world and all people could talk about was his language. Human nature.

I didn't like it when he hit her like that But the whole point of the story was that the Kid had to change his ways or he would end up like his old man. That's how I saw it.

Prince could have easily thrown together a Purple Rain followup from his 1999 and Purple Rain outtakes and kept touring.

Cloreen said:

Se7en said:

weirdozmedia said:

Prince's popularity didn't wane after Purple Rain because he was portrayed in a negative light. He lost popularity because his next album basically went 180 degrees from what everyone expected (and wanted). Parade went even further away from Purple Rain.

.

That's it right there.

.

"Purple Rain" sold 14 million...his next album which sounded nothing like "Purple Rain" sold three...the next album which was a soundtrack to a film that was nothing like PURPLE RAIN was down to one million in sales. He didn't give the people what they wanted and make a PURPLE RAIN II either on film or on vinyl, and that's why his sales fell. As for Michael Jackson, his follow up to "Thriller" ("Bad") was really just "Thriller II" and thus his sales were still huge.

ya, it's been said he really didn't like being that big and just scaled down everything for the next few years. It can't be all fun and games to live like that.

friend2001 said:

In retrospect, i couldve done without Prince backhanding her. first black woman i've ever seen who took that......

"aw hell no!"

SHe isnt black

Throwing the woman in the trash was unnecessary and disrespectful against women. I really hate that scene in the movie.

friend2001 said:

In retrospect, i couldve done without Prince backhanding her. first black woman i've ever seen who took that......

"aw hell no!"

she wasn't black

ludwig said:

Throwing the woman in the trash was unnecessary and disrespectful against women. I really hate that scene in the movie.

In one of the Prince 'tribute' magazines out now, Lisa Coleman talked about what she felt about that scene. Very interesting.

Thizz said:

Those seens made both me and Michael Jackson cringe . . nobody wanted to see Prince hit a woman

those scenes were a movie, acting.
Portraying something that happens in families all the time.

But at that time rarely talked about.

Did U C 'the Burning Bed' with Farrah Fawcett?

I do appreciate all of this discussion--but it seems so far from my original post.

Basically what I'm saying is that at a very young age (for me and a lot of folks) Prince's ART taught us about experiencing the full range of human emotions (some not very pretty) and then through love and forgiveness--how to process those experiences in a way that UPLIFTS and INSPIRES and HEALS people.

As I said in my original post, I am forever grateful....

OldFriends4Sale said:

friend2001 said:

In retrospect, i couldve done without Prince backhanding her. first black woman i've ever seen who took that......

"aw hell no!"

she wasn't black

And still isnt' LOL.

ludwig said: