Graffiti Bridge is solidified in Prince’s legacy as the movie that ended his film career. Plagued by script and cast changes, the quasi-sequel to Purple Rain was critically panned and commercially unsuccessful.

But to Prince, the 1990 film was not a failure.

“It was one of the purest, most spiritual, uplifting things I’ve ever done,” he told USA Today. “Maybe it will take people 30 years to get it.”

Based on the presenter’s chapter in Theology and Prince, an edited collection on theology and the life, music, and films of Prince Rogers Nelson, this talk not only analyzes the Graffiti Bridge film, but considers the soundtrack, along with Prince’s media coverage. The speaker also utilized interviews she conducted with Prince’s colleagues, including Graffiti Bridge star Ingrid Chavez.

Erica Thompson is a features reporter at the Columbus Dispatch, the daily newspaper in Columbus, Ohio. Her articles have also appeared on Billboard.com, Mic.com and HuffPost.com. She has been awarded by the Press Club of Cleveland and the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Thompson has a master’s degree in journalism from Ohio University’s acclaimed E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, where she completed her thesis on Prince. She was invited to present her research on Prince’s spirituality at Purple Reign: An interdisciplinary conference on the life and legacy of Prince at the University of Salford, UK; the Prince from Minneapolis symposium at the University of Minnesota; and at the EYE NO: Prince Lovesexy Symposium at New York University.

She has been published in Theology and Prince, an edited collection on theology and the life, music, and films of Prince Rogers Nelson. She is currently finishing her first book, a comprehensive study of Prince’s spiritual journey.