The Study of Racialism Discussion of U.S. Racialism Please read The Rules before posting.    FAQ   Search     Register     Log in  ' Imitation of Life          The Study of Racialism Forum Index -> Women's Interests -- Women Only, Please Author Message Powell Guru Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2174 } Posted: Fri 18 Mar 2005 23:20    Post subject: Imitation of Life This is the best article I've found on the subject. Too many people cry over the black mother's death at the end and assume this film is about mother love. It is about the important of preserving white racial "purity" and the racial status quo. http://www.genders.org/g27/g27_pr.html Quote: (2 The intelligence which the film grants a young Peola is quickly characterized as a capacity for devious behavior and inappropriate longings. Upon overhearing the girls test each other for a geography test, Bea remarks to Delilah that "Peola's smarter than Jessie." Delilah's unbelievable reply: "Yessum. We all starts out that way. We don't get dumb 'til later on." The only alternative to stupidity the film has to offer Peola is deviance. When the girls return home from school Peola runs through the house crying, "I'm not black, I'm not black, I won't be black." Distraught over Jessie's accusations to the contrary ("She called me black, Jessie called me that!"), Peola weeps in her mother's arms while her mother comforts her and urges her "to learn to take it." While even Bea recognizes something "mean" and "cruel" in the treatment Peola faces, Delilah practices only passive acceptance: "It ain't [Jessie's] fault Miss Bea. It ain't your'n and it ain't mine. I don't know exactly where the blame lies." http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA02/rodriguez/thesis/34show.html Quote: When Bea tries to give Delilah 20% of the profits for her family recipe (and for cooking the pancakes), Delilah rejects her offer. Bea: "You'll have your own car. You own house." Delilah: :My own house? You gonna send me away, Miss Bea? I can't live with you? Oh, honey chile, please don't send me away." Delilah: :How I gonna take care of you and Miss Jessie if I ain't here? I'se your cook. And I want to stay your cook. I gives it to you (the pancake recipe), honey. I makes you a present of it." Of course, she is also rejecting advantages for her daughter as well as herself. Back to top sweetsister Guest { } Posted: Sun 19 Mar 2006 03:33    Post subject: Wow. In college, our "director of Minority Affairs" (a Black woman who disliked me at first sight and had special "meetings" with me throughout the first year to see if I was "fitting in" the way she thought a "minority" student should)informed me that she was arranging for the "minority students" to see a screening of "Imitation of Life". She emphasized that I (and the handful other multiracial undergrads on our Ivy league campus)should consider this "mandatory" viewing. I hated the film. It did not hold any "special social or historical" significance for me. It just pissed me off. And the fact that I refused to thank my "Minority Affairs" director or kiss her ass in any way for the rest of the year really MADE HER MAD. That was the beginning of my adult liberation from the tyranny of the ODR and the misdirected rage of Black women. Back to top mixedmom Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 776 } Posted: Sun 19 Mar 2006 03:43    Post subject: sweetsister wrote: Wow. In college, our "director of Minority Affairs" (a Black woman who disliked me at first sight and had special "meetings" with me throughout the first year to see if I was "fitting in" the way she thought a "minority" student should)informed me that she was arranging for the "minority students" to see a screening of "Imitation of Life". She emphasized that I (and the handful other multiracial undergrads on our Ivy league campus)should consider this "mandatory" viewing. I hated the film. It did not hold any "special social or historical" significance for me. It just pissed me off. And the fact that I refused to thank my "Minority Affairs" director or kiss her ass in any way for the rest of the year really MADE HER MAD. That was the beginning of my adult liberation from the tyranny of the ODR and the misdirected rage of Black women. You GO GURL!!! These anti-passing ODR inspired movies and novels do not represent any current social conditions that multiracial people like us face. African-Americans for the most part are no longer under these Jim Crow conditions either. How silly it was for your Minority Affairs director to imply that the multiracial people at that school NEEDED to see this type of propaganda. It amuses me that this movie had the opposite effect on you. GOOD FOR YOU!!! You've made my day with this post. Back to top mul2std Experienced User Joined: 23 May 2006 {Posts: 104 } Posted: Wed 31 May 2006 03:03    Post subject: i have heard a couple of people say this is one of their favorite movies to which i half-shouted "i HATE that movie!" these people were not racially mixed so when they asked w/ a dumbfounded look on their faces "WHY?!" i didn't go into detail... i despise the depiction of the tragic mulatto in the movie as well as the end where the girl is made to feel lowly and ashamed of herself for "denying her true indentity". UGH. Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         The Study of Racialism Forum Index -> Women's Interests -- Women Only, Please All times are GMT Page 1 of 1 Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group