{"id":33432,"date":"2014-05-13T12:07:05","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T19:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=33432"},"modified":"2023-10-31T22:48:48","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T05:48:48","slug":"imitation-of-life-1959","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=33432","title":{"rendered":"Imitation of Life (1959)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;How do you explain to your child she was born to be hurt?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Imitation-of-Life-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Imitation-of-Life-Poster-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-33433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Imitation-of-Life-Poster-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Imitation-of-Life-Poster-83x128.jpg 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Imitation-of-Life-Poster-669x1024.jpg 669w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Imitation-of-Life-Poster.jpg 1117w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn African-American mother (Juanita Moore) with a light-skinned daughter named Sarah Jane (Karen Dicker) begins living with and working for an aspiring actress (Lana Turner) and her daughter Susie (Terry Burnham). As Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner) grows older, she becomes increasingly ashamed of her dark-skinned mother and hopes to &#8220;pass&#8221; as white; meanwhile, teenage Susie (Sandra Dee) &#8212; whose self-absorbed mom has become a famous actress &#8212; finds herself attracted to Turner&#8217;s on-and-off-again lover (John Gavin).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Actors and Actresses<\/li>\n<li>Douglas Sirk Films<\/li>\n<li>Friendship<\/li>\n<li>Lana Turner Films<\/li>\n<li>Race Relations and Racism<\/li>\n<li>Sandra Dee Films<\/li>\n<li>Suffering Mothers<\/li>\n<li>Troy Donahue Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that while &#8220;many Douglas Sirk fans consider [this] last film [in his oeuvre] to be a masterpiece&#8221;, he considers it simply &#8220;impeccably made Hollywood trash &#8212; a watchable, laughable, lamentable soap opera\/&#8217;women&#8217;s picture&#8217;\/&#8217;problem picture&#8217; that has women who&#8217;ll sacrifice all for their children but aren&#8217;t particularly good mothers (a soap tradition).&#8221; He writes that &#8220;the plot [only] superficially resembles <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=33444\">John Stahl&#8217;s 1934 film<\/a>, also adapted from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Imitation_of_Life_(novel)\">Fannie Hurst&#8217;s novel<\/a>&#8221; about widows who are both best friends <em>and<\/em> employee\/employer. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Taylor-Moore.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Taylor-Moore-1024x550.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"344\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Taylor-Moore-1024x550.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Taylor-Moore-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Taylor-Moore-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Taylor-Moore-768x412.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Taylor-Moore-1536x825.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Taylor-Moore-503x270.png 503w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Taylor-Moore.png 1823w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peary&#8217;s scathing assessment of the racial politics in Sirk&#8217;s film are spot-on &#8212; he writes that &#8220;the script is&#8230; infuriating because when Turner, Gavin, and Dee are nice to Moore and Kohner or act without prejudice, white audiences are expected, in a self-congratulatory gesture, to weep about the white characters&#8217; nobility&#8221;. He points out that &#8220;the most honest scene&#8221; &#8212; a lurid, distressing bit of melodramatic violence &#8212; &#8220;has white Troy Donahue brutally beating date Kohner, who he has learned is black&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Donahue2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Donahue2-1024x571.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"357\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Donahue2-1024x571.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Donahue2-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Donahue2-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Donahue2-768x428.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Donahue2-1536x856.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Donahue2-484x270.png 484w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Donahue2.png 1807w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peary&#8217;s extensive analysis of Kohner&#8217;s self-hatred as a young black woman is both no-holds-barred and astute. He writes that &#8220;Kohner is made out to be thoroughly insensitive when in fact her choice to pass for white has to do with her rejecting the demeaning black world that is presented to her&#8230; When Turner chastises Kohner for insinuating she&#8217;s been treated differently at home, Kohner acquiesces that Turner and Dee never showed prejudice &#8212; but the script should have had her attack Turner for treating Moore as her servant.&#8221; He points out that while &#8220;Moore is made into Kohner&#8217;s whipping post&#8230; that might [have been] different if she had suggested to her daughter not to go to a black teachers&#8217; college but to break down some racial barriers, be defiant, and improve the lot of her race rather than to be satisfied with the hand dealt with her&#8221;. Frustratingly, although &#8220;Moore may be the nicest woman in the world (which is why Kohner can&#8217;t help loving her)&#8230; she makes no attempt to teach Kohner pride in being black&#8221;.  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner-1024x557.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"348\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner-1024x557.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner-768x418.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner-1536x836.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner-496x270.png 496w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner.png 1825w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Oscar-nominated Moore gives a fine performance, but her self-sacrificing character is almost too much to bear &#8212; especially as the film nears its infamously maudlin ending. The same could be said about Oscar-nominated Kohner (though for different reasons): while her counterpoint in the original film (Fredi Washington) comes across as an appropriately tragic representation of racial self-loathing, Kohner&#8217;s characterization as Peola (as indicated in Peary&#8217;s assessment above) simply makes one want to slap her for her insolence; something clearly got lost in translation. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner2-1024x554.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"346\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner2-1024x554.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner2-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner2-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner2-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner2-1536x831.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner2-499x270.png 499w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Moore-Kohner2.png 1827w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Speaking of intentions, the film&#8217;s most startling and revealing line &#8212; Turner stating to an increasingly ill Moore, &#8220;It never occurred to me that you had any friends&#8221; (!!) &#8212; could easily have helped the movie segue into an absorbing drama about a deluded white woman recognizing her tendencies towards racial superiority, and working to rectify this paradigm. Alas, Sirk had other intentions for his melodrama: ultimately, it&#8217;s the &#8220;Ross Hunter gloss and glitter, fantasy lighting, and perfectly designed sets&#8221; &#8212; along with an impeccably coiffed Lana Turner, hunky John Gavin, and perky Sandra Dee &#8212; that are meant to draw one in, not a tale of authentic personal redemption.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Turner-Dee.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Turner-Dee-1024x560.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"350\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Turner-Dee-1024x560.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Turner-Dee-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Turner-Dee-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Turner-Dee-768x420.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Turner-Dee-1536x841.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Turner-Dee-493x270.png 493w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Turner-Dee.png 1829w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ross Hunter&#8217;s typically slick set designs<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Set-Design.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Set-Design-1024x558.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"349\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Set-Design-1024x558.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Set-Design-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Set-Design-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Set-Design-768x418.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Set-Design-1536x836.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Set-Design-496x270.png 496w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Imitation-of-Life-Set-Design.png 1831w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, once, simply for its notoriety. But please note that the original is far superior, and be sure to see that one, too. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0052918\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1959\/04\/18\/archives\/screen-sob-story-back-imitation-of-life-in-return-to-roxy.html\">NY Times Original Review (spoiler alert)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/79029\/imitation-of-life#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/imitation-of-life-1958\">Time Out Capsule Review (spoiler alert)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;How do you explain to your child she was born to be hurt?&#8221; Synopsis: An African-American mother (Juanita Moore) with a light-skinned daughter named Sarah Jane (Karen Dicker) begins living with and working for an aspiring actress (Lana Turner) and her daughter Susie (Terry Burnham). As Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner) grows older, she becomes increasingly ashamed of her dark-skinned mother and hopes to &#8220;pass&#8221; as white; meanwhile, teenage Susie (Sandra Dee) &#8212; whose self-absorbed mom has become a famous actress&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=33432\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33432"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92911,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33432\/revisions\/92911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}