Pinky and Imitation of Life

I saw the same version of Imitation of Life when I was thirteen or fourteen. I remember watching it with my mom, it was on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) or something like that. I started watching at the part when they are moving into their new house, so when I finally saw Sara Jane and began to understand that she had “problems”, I assumed that the source of these problems had been addressed at the beginning of the movie, the part that I missed. However, after seeing the movie in its entirety, I now realize that Sara Jane was just pissed off. Yes, she was annoying and her self-hatred was completely offensive to me but I understood Sara Jane’s anger. I think that, for many of us, her intense feelings towards herself and her mother and her subsequent passing, were a little off putting. But when I really took the time to try to think about what it would be like to be black during that time (I didn’t have to think too hard), I realized that Sara Jane had probably witnessed her mother being treated like a second-class citizen her entire life. Sara Jane had probably also seen the way white people changed the way they treated her as soon as they found out she was black. I don’t think that we can expect a person like Sara Jane not to be confused and angry. And then when we think about Annie, I’m not totally convinced that she didn’t want her daughter to pass. She did die of “a brokenheart” but I think that she was just upset that Sara Jane had to leave her or wanted to leave her in order to pass. Just like Rena’s mother in House Behind the Cedars, I think Annie was “proud” of her daughters appearance and actually coveted it, which is why she was so attached Sara Jane (in the beginning she tells Laura that she never took jobs that wouldn’t allow her to bring her daughter).

And then there’s Pinky. A heartwarming tale that encourages African Americans of a higher complexion to stay within their communities and do well for their race. Whatever. Pinky is just as angry as Sara Jane but she’s smarter, because she doesn’t misdirect her anger. Its hard to compare these two movies because they deal with two different aspects passing: Imitation of Life is concerned with the effects of passing, not only on the individual, but also their family and the people they leave behind. And Pinky deals with an individual that has passed, come back, and is trying to decide whether or not passing is really worth it. But one thing that both movies have in common is that they present us with a depiction of Black people ( who don’t or can’t pass) that do not condone passing and are actually vehemently opposed to it (not so much Imitation of Life, but let’s just say that Annie wasn’t “ok” with it).

Unnecessary Admissions?

I thought it was interesting how Pinky chose not to strategically pass for white at times when it would have made the present situation far easier. Toward the beginning of the movie when Pinky goes for a walk and is followed by two leering, drunk white men in a car the, they ask her why she is walking in the “nigger neighborhood” at such an hour and she replies with out hesitation that she lives there, thus revealing that she is black. Of course it is admirable that she does not hide her blackness but at the same time it seems foolish to tell these men who clearly have bad intentions that she is black. There is another instance when Pinky gets into a fight with Jake and his wife and then admits to the police who are ready to haul away the noticeably black other two that she is also colored. It is true that it would not have been right to let Jake and his wife go to jail but it would have been easy and very tempting considering Jake was trying to swindle her out of money and his wife was violently accosting her. Pinky differs so much from Irene in Nella Larsen’s Passing who does not hesitate to allow her light complexion entry to white privaledge.

She Deserves It

The scene that made the greatest impression on me was right after Sarah Jane’s boyfriend finds out that her “mother is a nigger” and pummels her to the ground. Sarah Jane goes home, her face noticeably bruised and bleeding, and collapses on the stairs for Lora, Susie, and Annie to find her. Susie tells Annie and Lora that it was Sarah Jane’s boyfriend who did this to her but the reaction that it elicits from the two adults is absurdly underreacted. Annie and Lora are certainly concerned that Sarah Jane has cuts all over her face but they are alarmingly not appalled when they learn that it was another person, a man, more to the point, who did this to her. It is almost as if the harm done Sarah Jane was deserved, as if this is a worthy punishment for the crime of concealing one’s blackness. Lora seems more angered by Sarah Jane’s talking back to her mother about how she hates being black than by the idea that a man should physically mistreat her.

The Lighter the Better, Obviously

I watched the wrong version of Imitation of Life last week and blogged on it so hopefully this will make more sense now that I’ve watched the right movie. The first thing that stood out to me was in the very beginning when Annie tells Lora that Sarah Jane’s father was “practically white.” The way she says this is so whimsical and her face instantly lights up as if his lighter skin color is something sacred–and i suppose it is. This is interesting to me because the movie starts in medias res in the sense that at the onset of the film Sarah Jane’s racial issues as a child are seemingly full fledged. The fact that Annie’s tone is so reverent in referring to Sarah Jane’s father’s light skin makes me think that Sarah Jane learned self-hatred by osmosis, by subconciously picking up on her own mother’s intonations when talking about race. I also noticed that Lora is a single mother because she is a widow while Annie is a single mother because she must fulfill the stereotype of an unwed black single mother and because inherent in her blackness is promiscuity. We know nothing about Sarah Jane’s father except that he was light complexioned, we do not even know if Annie was married to him. Furthermore, Lora is unsullied by divorce, her reason for being a single mother is most legitimate.

Pop culture, Sarah Jane and Pinky

In Thursday’s class, I thought it was a really good point about connecting the films to popular thought (or pop culture) of the day.  Though the films, particularly Imitation of Life, could have have been progressive for the time it was made, someone pointed out that one could interpret the film as suggesting that the product of interracial relationships is a child with serious identity problems or “issues.”  I also thought it was interesting to learn that both (white) actresses from Pinky and Imitation of Life who played black girls who could pass for white  were unable to secure (steady) work after these films were released.  So passing–at least in some forms–is not only seen as transgressive in reality, but in film, too.  These actresses were simply performing a role–which is their job–and apparently, they were subsequently penalized for doing so.   

Like many others, I found the character of Sarah Jane incredibly annoying.  After thinking about it, I don’t think the fact that she wanted to pass bothered me as much as the fact that she wanted to deny her black racial identity (but then again, if she doesn’t accept her black identity, can we say that she has one at all?).  There are people who pass on occassion to gain some benefit (such as Irene from Passing) and some who choose to pass due to what appears to be self-hatred (Sarah Jane), so although passing is a common denominator, I think the reasons for choosing to pass distinguishes these two characters to some degree.  Someone pointed out that Sarah Jane wasn’t passing for any particular purpose (such as gaining entrance into a better school), but simply for the sake of not wanting to be black, which is in part why I find her an unsympathetic character.

On another note, a scene from Pinky in which the protagonist and Miss Em converse about the former’s racial passing reminded me of the SNL with Eddie Murphy that we viewed earlier this semester.  Pinky claims that whites hate her because she looks like them; later, Miss Em’s cousin remarks that it gives her the creeps to see that Pinky looks as white as any other “real” white person–the possibility of Pinky being mistaken for a white person (which does happen in the movie) creates a sense of fear in Miss Em’s racist cousin. 

Lastly, and not directly related to anything mentioned above, Pinky when pursuing the court case to maintain the property that Miss Em bequeathed her, is referred to as “Pinky Johnson, colored” which just reminded me of the invisibility of whiteness, because no white person in the film is referred to as “So-and-so, white.” 

Sarah Jane

Yea So I read the previous post and was confused as hell to what characters they were talking about, there was no way I watched a movie for two hours and confused the names lol. Then I figured out that it was the remake that I watched. So yea I want to start by saying that I thought Sarah Jane was one of the most ungrateful people in the world. Annie worked so hard so that Sarah Jane would be able to enjoy the same luxuries that Suzie enjoyed (of course with a few limitations). I thought I was a valid point when Sarah Jane was told that in the house no one treated her differently because she was black, even from the day Lora Meredith met Annie and Sarah Jane she treated them well. It was frustrating to see Sarah Jane hate herself and her mother because they were black, it hurt to see that she had these feelings from such a young age. The truth is that black people were clearly treated differently from white people, but I feel like Sarah Jane made it so much harder for herself when she passed for white instead of easier.

In order to pass and be sucessful one needs to to leave behind their past, Sarah jane didnt do that very well. So when people found out that she was black, to me she was seen as a confirming the belief that black peopel are liarsan deceitful. And also Sarah Jane was not passing in order to live a better life financially because she had so many privileges. So it was hard to understand why she had this somewhat intrinsic resentment against black people. Why not direct this anger towards the white people in the movie that treated her differently? When her boyfriend beat the crap out of her she didnt direct her anger towards him, all she did was cry in a puddle of water. Instead she went home and blamed her mother for letting everyone know that she was her daughter, she faulted her mother for being proud of her daughter and being black. The thought crossed my mind about why didnt Annie backhand Sarah Jane at some point for speaking that way to her (im sure my mommy wouldve), instead it was Lora who had to tell her not to speak to her mother that way. But then I realized that it was painful for Annie to see her daughter beat up and bruised and to blame and hate her so much for it.

In the end I was so sad to see Sarah Jane deny her mother (like Judas!) in Harry’s Club. It was even more sad to see Annie eventually accept her daughter’s terms of never seeing her again. I was sad to see Annie pass away but I notice how she had so many people at her funeral, black and white people alike, who all showed their reverence for Annie regardless of her race. It was a lavish funeral that was clearly fit for Annie because the person she was completely overshadowed her race.

Parallels Between Bea and Delilah

I like the parallels that Imitation of Life draws between Delilah and Bea. The two women are remarkably similar in the sense that both live for their daughters and hold them first and foremost, slaving away for them constantly. Bea worked relentlessly so that Jessie would not be deprived of anything; so that she could afford to send her daughter to the best schools and buy her anything she would ever need. Delilah’s wants for Peola are different, on account of her race, but only in theory. Rather than opting to send Peola to the best schools, Delilah’s grandest hope for Peola is that she not have to labor away in someone’s kitchen like her mother. I also thought it remarkable that from the beginning of the movie, before Bea and Delilah struck gold with their pancake empire, Delilah’s only desire for herself is to have a grand funeral, while Bea dreams of more earthly luxuries like vacations and elegant houses. This is so apt because perhaps this is the best thing that a very dark black woman could wish for in the early 20^th century in
America.