The Best Picture winner for 1985 was *Out of Africa,* a sprawling, serious romantic epic starring Meryl Streep (doing yet another foreign accent) and Robert Redford. One of the other nominees that year was *The Color Purple,* an intensely felt drama about an African-American woman at the turn of the century, starring Whoopi Goldberg in her movie debut.
There's no mistaking the diva attributes of *Out of Africa.* *The Color Purple* has lots of earmarks of the diva as well, with the overt emotionalism and stunning visuals. Come on, it's directed by High Diva Steven Spielberg. But the thing that makes *The Color Purple* the mensch in this pair is that both films had 11 Oscar nominations - - *Out of Africa* won seven, including Best Picture, and *The Color Purple* won NONE. Not one. But in its own menschy way, *The Color Purple* has come out on top. It's stood the test of time, it holds up real good. *Out of Africa* does not. So there.
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