'Purple Rain' and how problematic films of the past are helpful

On Sunday, my wife did something incredible -- she surprised me on my birthday by booking a theater at our local Alamo Drafthouse, wrangled a bunch of my friends, and held a special screening of the classic Prince movie Purple Rain. I was feeling down about turning the age I've turned -- and this was just the kind of exuberant change of pace I needed.

It was an amazing experience -- my second time seeing the movie in that format -- and just an incredibly thoughtful and touching thing to have happen, period. As a diehard Prince fan, the movie has always been essential viewing to me, even if there are elements of the film that are impossibly dated, and even worse, profoundly problematic.

I found myself, almost defensively, warning first time viewers that the film's rampant misogyny and unsubtle handling of domestic violence were likely to offend, while grappling with the fact that despite its clear defects -- I love this movie.

I recall afterwards someone telling me they'd never seen a film quite like it, and I think it's an accurate description. It's not really a musical or a necessarily grounded, realistic film. There are autobiographical elements (Clarence Williams III's cryptic "never get married" warning was allegedly delivered to Prince by his real life father) but it's not a biopic by any means.

Viewing it this time, with so many friends who had never seen it, really was like watching it with fresh eyes for the first time. And it was illuminatig to hear  relatively nuanced reactions from the first time viewers. They understood that context is key to viewing a film like this, some thirty-plus years after its initial release.

The conversations we're thankfully finally starting to have about consent and harassment, etc. were simply not happening in the mainstream in 1984. That doesn't excuse awful behavior but it does provide some explanation for why it's there.

And, in Purple Rain's defense, it does attempt to (admittedly not in a sophisticated way) present a link between Prince's character's abusive, controlling tendencies and the behavior of his father (played by Williams III in a performance I appreciate more and more every time I see it) towards his own mother.

I don't think the film ever quite condones what Prince is doing -- even if it does provide a forced happy ending where the violence Prince directs towards his girlfriend Apollonia is never directly addressed or apologized for (as gorgeous as it is, the title song ballad can't make up for a physical assault) -- which sets it apart for quite of few other films of that period where our 'heroes' hit women with impunity to 'calm them down' or to 'shut them up' whenever the plot called for it.

Films like this, and Saturday Night Fever (which also is steeped in toxic culture) are entertaining to be sure, but also instructive. They put the eras in which they were made in tighter focus and perspective, but also offer valuable evidence of just how backwards male mindsets were and often still are.

For many women, this may be a no brainer -- certainly, nothing new. But I am willing to bet that for many people movies like this can represent a culture shock. Apollonia has almost no agency in this movie, she is both literally and figuratively commodified. She is such a striking presence, so she doesn't exactly lose her dignity in the movie, but if it were to be re-made in some form today the way she was portrayed then would have been totally unacceptable and with good reason.

Prince, as mercurial as he is and was, often comes across as creepy when he should be cute -- although the sex appeal and powers of his onstage performances in the movie will likely never diminish. It's almost impossible to imagine a pop star allowing themselves to come across as possessive and condescending as he does here, but in 1984 I can easily see the studio thrusting these stereotypically masculine bad behaviors onto him, perhaps to contrast his androgynous persona.

Meanwhile, Apollonia does the kind of obligatory nude scene you don't really see leading ladies do anymore (unless it serves a plot function), she is never really given much of a backstory or motivation (besides a desire to 'make it') and she doesn't even have a true moment of triumph (unless you count her performance of the laughable but affable "Sex Shooter").

Do these flaws make me love the movie any less? Not really. Prince was just 23 when he made it, so I chalk a lot of this up to his immaturity and naivete amid his first burst of true international superstardom. It's such an incredible distillation of his talent and appeal at that time, and I am going to keep on loving it, while acknowledging that movies like it shouldn't exist anymore and if they have to they're going to need a real serious re-write.