The color purple: It's a new movie and an old hue that's rich in meaning and history

NEW YORK (AP) "I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it," Shug tells Celie in Alice Walker's Walker's "The Color Purple."

- Leanne Italie

In nature, among the priestly and royal, as a symbol of independence, pride, and magic, purple is weighty in history and culture. Now, with the Christmas Day opening of the second film based on Walker's 1982 book, purple takes a seat at the box office after the historic popularity of "Barbie" and all things pink.

Consider it a many-layered cultural counterpart to its frothier cousin.

Power, ambition, luxury. Purple reflects them all. It also expresses creativity, independence, pride, peace, mystery, and magic.

In contemporary history and fiction, it often represents something sought dearly. In the early 20th century, purple attire and signage signified loyalty and dignity among the suffragists. In Walker's novel, Celie the main character, wants a pair of purple shoes but can't afford them, so she settles on blue.

Oprah Winfrey, who played Sofia in the 1985 film version of "The Color Purple," has donned purple frequently to promote the new musical she helped produce. And she wore a purple taffeta gown by Christian Siriano in her recently unveiled portrait for the National Portrait Gallery.

To Oprah, purple is "seminal." To others, it's a shapeshifter, said Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, which analyzes and consults on color, including for the folks who made this year's "The Color Purple.

"It can take on so many contexts," Pressman said.

"It's a color that stands out, that makes a statement, that has a singular presence in the world." Some ways to think about purple, the hues nestled between blue and red:

PURPLE, THE DYE