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Purple Rain

Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Movie

By Carlos GonzalezPublished 7 years ago 8 min read
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Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

I was a mere 'kid' of 12 years when the late Prince debuted with his first ever motion picture entitled Purple Rain. Frankly, I wasn't sure what to make of it - or him. I vaguely remember the trailer, save to say that it was broadcast on one of those network TV 'music video' programs that ran in the afternoons because I was too broke to afford cable TV, which, of course, had MTV. How else was I supposed to be in the loop on any and all things, pop music?

Truth was, I wasn't. I had been raised a Fundamentalist Christian and wasn't allowed to listen to any secular music of any kind. NOT even Prince's alleged arch-rival Michael Jackson, who was enjoying massive success with his groundbreaking album Thriller. Nope - not allowed to have a 45 RPM of any popular artist and the list was big! Madonna, Culture Club, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper and Van Halen to name a few. I wasn't even allowed to watch movies. My mother basically fun-blocked me at the age of seven when she converted to Adventism. Talk about suffocation! One of the movies that I gravitated towards was Brian De Palma's seminal high school horror movie Carrie in which Sissy Spacek; the lead character, was subjected to the crazy religious fanaticism of her whacked-out mother, played by the legendary Piper Laurie. No wonder Sissy went nuts on her senior prom! But, I'm getting off the beaten path here.

Back to 1984 and the film's release. A strange, almost magical thing happened. "When Doves Cry" was played on massive rotation on rock FM stations and its video was indeed seen by me at some point of my restless, Christian youth. Here was a man of relatively short height, sporting Gheri curls, an almost etheric face and soulful eyes, wearing purple velvet jackets and frilly, puffy shirts; gyrating, kicking, shredding his guitar to bits and wailing like a happy loon in every performance I ever saw him in. He was a performer unlike any I'd ever seen; or have since. Sure, Michael J. had the moonwalk and zombie-danced his way into millions of hearts; but, man! For sheer shock appeal, energy, charisma and musical diversity, Prince couldn't be beaten!

So, eventually I bought a copy of the Purple Rain soundtrack; the format escapes me (probably cassette), and of course, Mama Christian never once heard me play aloud. From the rousing dance/rock anthem, "Let's Go Crazy" on down to the blatantly sexual "Darling Nikki," which landed the Purple One in hot water with a certain former First Lady who I thought was even coconuts to allow her then-young daughter to even listen to it - which created the now, infamous 'Parental Advisory' stickers seen on many CDs and even LPs today. "When Doves Cry," which was his most autobiographical song to date (and noted also for not having a bass track) and of course, the searing title track. I ate it up like purple Pez... or maybe grape jam straight out of the jar.

But, after my 17th birthday, which was my year to finally view R-rated movies without adult supervision - much less, from my mother's freaky God-messenger line-of-sight, I decided to rent a copy of Purple Rain and unveil it to my then-high school friends. The opening with "Let's Go Crazy" was everything I had imagined it would be, with a much longer mix than what I remember. It was introducing all the main characters: The Kid, Morris Day and the Time, Apollonia, the pretty ingenue of the piece, Chick, the burly, frightening bodyguard of the Minneapolis First Avenue Club and Jill, the testy 1st Avenue waitress who has a literal run-in with Apollonia.

Great! Then, The Time do their thing. I did enjoy "Jungle Love" and may have even tapped my toes when it played. Suddenly, the plot kicked in and... [crickets, crickets, crickets] I got thrown for a loop. Morris, was, of course, The Kid's arch-nemesis; scheming with the club manager, Billy Sparks to oust The Kid and his band, The Revolution, comprised of at least a few white faces and the very vocal Jiminy Crickets in the form of Wendy (guitarist) and Lisa (keyboards), due to tension and differences within the group. His father, Francis L., played by the imposing Clarence Williams III (Mod Squad fame), is a failed musician/alcoholic who chronically beats both wife and son drunk out of his head (an earlier scene establishes this) is mentioned as the reason for The Kid's crack-up. Then, a scene where Morris' valet and confidant Jerome B (enton) disposes Morris' jilted ex-girlfriend quite literally in a trash bin for being a nuisance, is where I lost patience with the film.

Apollonia (Kotero), The Kid's would-be love interest; God bless her, was easy on the eyes to be sure, but her "acting" was for lack of a better word, disastrous! I guess it was her first role and maybe she wasn't used to playing a character and could I guess only play herself? The pivotal scene where she supposedly baptizes herself in the "not" Lake Minnetonka, could've been a very funny scene, I suppose, but came off tacky and yes, I did find her irritating whenever she spoke. Mind you... I will not talk about her singing. It was clear that Prince's then-protege, the late Vanity, who died a month before he did, would've been perfect for the role. What happened that that fell through, I guess we'll never know. I also suppose, the writers, director Albert Magnoli and William Blinn, probably wrote the dialogue just to make way for the musical numbers - of which, many were powerful indeed. "Computer Blue" which delineated the strained relationship between The Kid and his troubled father and of course, "Darling Nikki", which was a blatantly nasty response to Apollonia's business dalliances with Morris was frighteningly electric!

If there was a rave anywhere, it was the musical sequences which were shown a lot of love and a lot of patient choreographing (and storyboarding). The plot, or perhaps, a perceived lack of one, may have been its downfall. Also, a special mention to Morris Day, who, despite being a novice actor, still managed to hold your attention with his charm, his comic timing, his hilariously patented cackle and his willingness to be upfront about his intentions, endeared him to me tremendously.

Needless to say, the heartfelt climax with the title song came and yes, it was quite moving. But, my friends were looking at me as if I had horns on my head. They proceeded to make fun of the film and me for bringing it over to watch. I'm not sure what happened, but my ego got the best of me and I stormed out of my friend's house with the rental copy firmly in my hand. They followed me, trying to half-heartedly apologize to me, all the while singing the Dionne Warwick song about "Friends." Yeah, it was the 80's - I think. From that point on, I swore never to watch the film again; but my Prince album and music catalog grew immensely from that point. I was caught up with all of his musical opuses: "1999," "Dirty Mind," "Controversy," "Around The World In a Day," "Parade," "Sign O The Times," "Lovesexy," and "Batman" and all his 90's albums, were enjoyed by me as was his incredible and god-like musical genius.

Fast forward to April 21, 2016. My heart stopped beating a millisecond when I saw the news that he had passed away in his Paisley Park compound in Chanhassen, Minnesota. I didn't know what to think. We had already lost Michael in 2009 - so, why him? Why now? We were losing a slew of musical legends like David Bowie, Glenn Frey of the Eagles and Natalie Cole, to name a few in 2016. I mean, seriously?! He was only 57 years old. To my knowledge, he was a non-drinker, a non-smoker and a Jehovah's Witness (to my amazement, he, like me, grew up as a Seventh-Day Adventist as well); I figured, he wasn't a drug addict. Was he? Once revealed about his bouts with chronic joint pain and his opiate addiction, the brutal and sad truth hit me. He too, my musical god had a dirty secret and I knew nothing about it, until it was too late.

I revisited "Purple Rain" just days after he passed away. The sheer joy and abandon of "Let's Go Crazy" still packed it's wallop and then... the rest of the film played on. As all the things I remembered hating about the film was just now a bittersweet memory and all I felt was...

bliss.

Here it was, seen by me with a fresh pair of eyes. A film that took us to new heights with its melding of music, drama, heck, even melodrama, laughs, tears, conflict, rage, punishment and subsequently, redemption and, of course, music. Yes, I deliberately mentioned it twice. Without music, we don't have a soundtrack. We don't have a backbeat, a percussive step, a pulse, a natural rhythm, a toe-tap, a heartbeat-skip and even a note to hum to. I didn't have to understand the plot before me. Music WAS the plot. It was the soul of the film. All the rest was flashes of imagery as we often experience in our own daily lives. And as we all know, "Dearly beloved... we better live now, before the Grim Reaper come knocking on our door."

Rest in Peace, Purple One. The "rain" will live on.

1958-2016

80s music
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About the Creator

Carlos Gonzalez

A passionate writer and graphic artist looking to break into the BIG TIME! Short stories, scripts and graphic art are my forte! Brooklyn N.Y. born and raised. Living in Manchester, Connecticut! Working on two novels now!

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