50 SHADES OF PURPLE??
Despite being presented as the guy viewers should root for, Prince isn’t the hero of Purple Rain. He’s actually much more of a villain.
Aside from the extended concert scenes, the main narrative that repeats itself throughout the movie is that Prince’s the Kid is an emotionally manipulative, abusive, egocentric, and insecure man. His antisocial tendencies surface throughout the film both as he relates to his bandmates and how he treats his romantic interest, Apollonia. Let’s first discuss his relationship with Apollonia. When the Kid first meets Apollonia, he walks behind her, puts on superfly bug-eyed shades, gets uncomfortably close, and just stares at her. She doesn’t seem terribly bothered since Prince is so damn sexy.This is intrinsically creepier, however, than sexting over Tinder or whatever other creepy things men do nowadays to seduce women.
To reduce the awkwardness, Apollonia tells him, “I really liked your song, too.” But when she turns around, he’s gone. Because the Kid thinks it’s super hot to be mysterious like Batman so that a woman can’t regularly expect much from him or hold him accountable for anything. The Kid is sending an early sign to Apollonia that she shouldn’t expect him to be consistently available.
Ten minutes further in the film, and the Kid begins his tactic of negging Apollonia, which can have the effect of bringing down a person’s self-esteem and making them emotionally vulnerable. When she says she’d like to “make it” as a singer, he demeans her with his scoffing tone and replies, “That’s what turns you on?”
The Kid acts as if her ambition is something she should be ashamed of. He also utilizes a sexual phrase, turned-on, because he uses sexuality to make his girlfriend feel unworthy. He does this again when Apollonia tells him they can’t go to her place (because her “place” is actually a dumpy hotel). His immediate response is to interrogate Apollonia if she’s having another man over. She replies, “Why do you always think there’s somebody else?” Because the Kid is so cold-hearted, it’s believable to viewers that he’ll leave Apollonia stranded by a lake after she attempts to purify herself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. When Apollonia gets out of the water cold, naked, and soaked, the Kid leaves her behind and takes off on his motorcycle. He eventually comes back to pick her up, but for a minute the audience is led to believe that the Kid is just going to leave her stranded there. Which isn’t a believable behavior for a hero. Of course, the Kid was just reminding Apollonia once again that he controls the relationship. He’s like the dom in an S&M relationship devoid of actual consensual kinkiness.
For whatever reason — maybe it’s Prince’s incredible sex appeal, maybe it’s because of past abuse during Apollonia’s psycho-sexual development, maybe it’s because Apollonia is lonely in a city she’s new in — Apollonia keeps coming back. Even though she’s so poor that she’s running away from cab drivers she rips off and is staying in decrepit hotel rooms, she scrounges up enough money to buy the Kid a guitar he wanted. So how does he repay this loving gesture?
Within a minute of receiving this gift, the Kid HITS HER IN THE FACE.
He hits Apollonia because she said she was going to join Morris Day’s group, who is the Kid’s musical rival. She says he should trust her, which seems pretty sensible. But instead of expressing trust, right after the Kid smacks Apollonia he turns the situation back onto her by asking, “Apollonia, don’t I make you happy? … Don’t you like the way we are?” Apollonia shakes her head, which probably has something to do with her just having gotten slapped around.
This event inspires the Kid to write “When Doves Cry.” A great song on its own (with an incredible music video you should check out), the movie gives the tune a much different connotation. It’s partially about how the Kid’s abusive relationship with Apollonia mimics the way his dad beats his mother.
Hezakya Newz and Entertainment