Imitation Of Life Film Analysis
1- Referring to your notes on the film, Imitation of Life, explain how having the ability to pass is a blessing and a curse. Make sure to be specific and provide one blessing and one curse.
In the film, “Imitation of Life,” Sara Jane is a black young woman with the skin color of a white person. No one really knows that she is black except Susie, Laura and Steve. The people at her school thinks she is white and they don’t expect her to have a black mother, until she shows up there to bring Sara Jane something. Sara was passing as a white girl and no one really knew that either. Sara’s ability to pass as a white girl was effective only for so long. As she grew older she wanted nothing to do with her mother because she was black and
everyone would know she wasn’t white. I think it is good to pass for certain reasons like a job because no one knew her back round of where she was from. Sara did a good job passing as a white person because even her new friends didn’t think of her being black at any point throughout the film. When her mother did come looking for her in her hotel room, Sara told a friend that was her nanny not her mother. I think passing is more of a curse than a blessing. People may think you are white but then when they find out, they get upset that you may have lied about it. During the time of the film when her boyfriend found out she had a black mother he beat her and I think this was the case in real life for many people who did try to pass as a white. If someone passes as a white person to get a job, then there are consequences that will follow if they find out you are actually black. They will fire you and they won’t care because you are black. Even though people still do it today, I don’t think the consequences are as serious as they used to be during the 1950s.
In the film, “Imitation of Life,” Sara Jane is a black young woman with the skin color of a white person. No one really knows that she is black except Susie, Laura and Steve. The people at her school thinks she is white and they don’t expect her to have a black mother, until she shows up there to bring Sara Jane something. Sara was passing as a white girl and no one really knew that either. Sara’s ability to pass as a white girl was effective only for so long. As she grew older she wanted nothing to do with her mother because she was black and
everyone would know she wasn’t white. I think it is good to pass for certain reasons like a job because no one knew her back round of where she was from. Sara did a good job passing as a white person because even her new friends didn’t think of her being black at any point throughout the film. When her mother did come looking for her in her hotel room, Sara told a friend that was her nanny not her mother. I think passing is more of a curse than a blessing. People may think you are white but then when they find out, they get upset that you may have lied about it. During the time of the film when her boyfriend found out she had a black mother he beat her and I think this was the case in real life for many people who did try to pass as a white. If someone passes as a white person to get a job, then there are consequences that will follow if they find out you are actually black. They will fire you and they won’t care because you are black. Even though people still do it today, I don’t think the consequences are as serious as they used to be during the 1950s.