'Purple Rain' 35th anniversary: We dive into the Prince cult classic for the first time
A funny thing happened on the way to writing about this weekend's 35th anniversary of "Purple Rain": Nearly no one on USA TODAY's movie team had seen the 1984 Prince rock musical.
Well, that couldn't stand. So film critic Brian Truitt and music/movie writer Patrick Ryan hit their streaming services to watch the noteworthy throwback drama, which starred Prince as The Kid, the persnickety lead singer of Minneapolis band The Revolution.
His group is one of the top bands at a high-profile nightclub, along with rival Morris Day and The Time, and The Kid becomes enamored – as does every dude around – of an up-and-coming young singer (Apollonia Kotero). Sex, hard feelings and catchy tunes ensue.
The two staffers weigh in on their virgin "Purple Rain" experience:
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Patrick Ryan: So, Brian, what's your excuse for not having seen "Purple Rain" until now?
Brian Truitt: I was waiting to watch it with you, so you could be the Jerome to my Morris Day! But, really, to be totally honest, it's because I don't love Prince that much. (Ducks from the internet.) Plus, it came out when I was 8, so while I knew of "Purple Rain" the song, there was NO way with the cursing, suggestive lyrics and sexual everything going on that my parents would let me watch it. Heck, it's kind of scandalous now! How about you?
Patrick: I'm right there with you: As much as I admire Prince, I've always been more of a David Bowie or Michael Jackson guy. (Is that OK to say?) And for no discernible reason, my pop-culture blind spot is ’80s movies – I literally just watched “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” and “The Princess Bride” for the first time this month – and “Purple Rain” falls squarely in that time frame. Safe to say, it was not what I was expecting!
Brian: Nope! Not that it's all bad – I'm a big fan of "The Last Dragon," and it has that similar vibe/'80s-ness that I kind of live for. The Flock of Seagulls swept-up haircuts, the overboard makeup, everybody wearing jackets with shoulder pads. Dig all that cheese. But the acting is universally kind of terrible and there isn't a whole lot of plot there. Plus, our hero Prince is a big ol' jerk. That might have been the biggest surprise.
Patrick: Huge jerk! There were so many scenes where I couldn’t tell if The Kid’s cockiness was meant to be endearing or if he was really just that inconsiderate. Like when he drives Apollonia out to some random lake on his motorcycle, tells her it has "purifying" powers, and then pretends to ditch her while she’s stranded there nearly naked. Who does that? Or the first time they meet, when he just stands behind her staring for a solid minute before peacing out? Also, it really got me when he pulled out the hand puppet while his bandmates, Wendy and Lisa, were trying to have a serious conversation about not playing their songs (“You can really hurt people. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”).
Brian: He's pretty jerky to everybody around him, especially to his fellow musicians, as well as my personal favorite dude, Morris. But I was floored by The Kid slapping around Apollonia. Obviously, it was reflexive of his father's physically abusive tendencies, yet especially now in 2019, it's jarring.
Patrick: The blatant misogyny and violence against women – not only by The Kid, but when Morris literally has an ex-girlfriend thrown into a dumpster – was super-uncomfortable to watch. That said, I did almost appreciate that a would-be crowd-pleasing rock musical was willing to take on a subject as heavy as domestic violence, despite the often-questionable execution. How do you think the movie handled it?
Brian: As well as something in 1984 probably would handle it, I'd imagine. The stuff with his dad comes around in a surprisingly emotional way, and The Kid does make it up to Wendy and Lisa (I, for one, was worried) as well as Apollonia. Though I was left wondering why her group was called Apollonia 6 when there were three of them. (With their band uniforms being lingerie because it was the '80s.)
Patrick: Yeah, I found myself pretty misty-eyed during "Purple Rain." Not only because it's just a phenomenal song, but Prince's vulnerability on stage and all the stuff with his dad leading up to the performance really brought the whole movie home for me there at the end. It was a much darker film than I would've anticipated – the way people talked about it, I assumed it was a fun "Rocky Horror," throw-toast-at-the-screen-type of cult classic. But as problematic as it is, it's also unexpectedly moving and the soundtrack has since found its way onto my Spotify. (Bleak lyrics aside, "When Doves Cry" is such a bop.)
Brian: It's not a "good" movie – and let's not compare it to "Rocky Horror" because that's my jam – but agreed, the musical numbers are tight, and though I'm not a Prince fan, by the time "Purple Rain" kicks in, I found myself emotionally invested in The Kid.
Patrick: I was left with one burning question, though: When did The Kid find time to light 23 (yes, I counted) candles before bringing Apollonia to bed? Did he really hit pause on their makeout sesh to light them one by one or were those just always burning in his house? (Fire hazard, but it's Prince, so wouldn't surprise me.)
Brian: That's a good question. I'll ponder it as soon as I get "Jungle Love" out of my head.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Purple Rain' anniversary: Does Prince's cult classic movie hold up?
