Hate on musicals all you like, there remains an artistic reason for this "The Color Purple" singing. The relationship between Celie and Shug Avery, the alluring chanteuse played by Taraji P.

The 1985 Color Purple film featured a brief kiss between Celie and Shug, played then by Whoopi Goldberg and Margaret Avery.

Just watching "The Color Purple," though, Spielberg's direction ... A lot of people didn't understand Celie's connection with the singer Shug Avery (Margaret Avery) was meant to be romantic ...

Much like the first movie adaptation, The Color Purple leaves out a very important part of the book: Celie and Shug’s queer relationship. The flirtation is still there, and there’s chemistry ...