Film Analysis Of The Movie: Imitation Of Life

1743 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Strengths and weaknesses of sigmund freud's theory

Imitation of Life
Zakiaya Telfort
Alabama State University Abstract
This paper entitled, Imitation of Life is based on the movie Imitation of Life. This movie is set in the 1940s. In the movie, an African American woman by the name of Annie becomes the care taker of a Caucasian woman's (Lora) daughter, Susie. In the movie, the caretaker Annie has a daughter named Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane is the product of a rape, performed by a Caucasian man, which results in her being fair skinned and able to pass as a Caucasian woman, which she does for a long time. Due to the fact this movie focuses on the themes of identity and class, I will use the following psychological views and tests to discuss how psychology can be demonstrated every day. The Kenneth …show more content…

It was at this point in life where Sarah Jane truly thought white was beautiful. This was solely because majority of the boys growing up complimented Susie on her looks and the fact that Sarah Jane correlated Lora’s financial status with her skin color. In Kenneth and Mamie Clark’s doll test, these psychologists tested children at their keen developmental stages (ages 3-7) to see how they viewed race (LDF). Performed during the same time as the setting of this movie, it was concluded that children were fonder of the lighter to white dolls because of societal views. As stated before, during this time period white people were seen to be superior to all other races. Just like in the movie, when Sarah Jane’s self-esteem was low because she felt as if Susie and Lora were better than her because they were white and well off financially, the children in the study felt the same. In the study, the results showed that children correlated positive attributes to the lighter to white dolls and negative connotations to those of the darker complexions. Kenneth and Mamie Clark concluded that this was primarily due to both segregation and discrimination, which ultimately lessened the self-esteem of other races and made them feel inferior to whites (LDF). Like this study, the movie Imitation of Life shows how segregation and discrimination negatively affected Sarah Jane, which results in her passing herself as a white woman …show more content…

This is the last part that comes with Sigmund Freud’s structural theory as it is usually the last to develop as well (“Examples of ID Ego and Superego”). In the film, Sarah Jane’s superego is shown during the final scene. After passing as a white woman majority of her life, she finally realized that it was wrong. When Annie passed away from a broken heart, Sarah Jane truly realized that what she was doing was hurting more than helping the people she loved. Riding away in the Hurst, Sarah Jane weeps over her mother’s death and the audience notices a sudden change in her whole persona, as she has finally seen the consequences of her actions that she now knows is morally

Show More
Related

  • Why Are All Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeterum Summary

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tatum examines what “Blackness,” means in a predominately white society and explores reasons why black adolescents begin to believe that they are inferior or in other words “not normal” in society, especially in academics where some black adolescents claim that “doing well in school is often identified as being White” (para. 30) which leads them to not give their education their maximum effort in the fear of being labeled as “too white” or simply just “not black”. She uses her son’s personal experiences as well as typical stories of how blacks are misunderstood in order to educate the reader as to how black people eventually develop a self-identity based on the implications of society and the situations that surround them. This can be seen when she says, “The stereotypes, omissions, and distortions that reinforce notions of White superiority are breathed in by Black children as well as white” (para. 10). In this quote Tatum further examines what “Whiteness” means in the same context and explains that since American society associates White people to be the normality, they are not able to create a well-balanced self-identity without it being based off of racial

    Read More

  • The Role Of Black Women In The Film Imitation Of Life?

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    After watching Imitation of Life, it becomes quite clear that the race and gender of a person affects them gravely. These intersectional forms of oppression help to determine how society will treat a person, and how a person may treat/view themselves. Debuting in 1959, issues displayed within this film are still present within society in 2015. As woman are discriminated against, so are Black people, and while being a White woman in a patriarchal society holds some restrictions and privileges, being a Black woman in an racist patriarchal society welcomes constant hardships of struggles. Both within this film and in reality, issues concerning the way both White and Black women are treated and the roles they are allowed to play on screen (during

    Read More

  • Janie's Self-Discovery

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    Janie’s first discovery about herself comes when she is a child. She is around the age of six when she realizes that she is colored. Janie’s confusion about her race is based on the reasoning that all her peers and the kids she grows up with are white. Janie and her Nanny live in the backyard of the white people that her Nanny works for. When Janie does not recognize herself on the picture that is taken by a photographer, the others find it funny and laughs, leaving Janie feeling humiliated. This racial discovery is not “social prejudice or personal meanness but affection” (Cooke 140). Janie is often teased at school because she lives with the white people and dresses better than the other colored kids. Even though the kids that tease her were all colored, this begins Janie’s experience to racial discrimination.

    Read More

  • The Flick Film Analysis

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sex, love, depression, guilt, trust, all are topics presented in this remarkably well written and performed drama. The Flick, a 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning drama by Annie Baker, serves to provide a social commentary which will leave the audience deep in thought well after the curtain closes. Emporia State Universities Production of this masterpiece was a masterpiece in itself, from the stunningly genuine portrayal of the characters of Avery and Rose, to the realism found within the set, every aspect of the production was superb.

    Read More

  • Why Are The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria Essay

    561 Words  | 2 Pages

    She goes on to tell readers of a child's perception of race with other life examples that she learned from her own students. She states that children learn prejudices and stereotypes early on in life from cartoons, story books and their own parents. They are easily susceptible these things even if th...

    Read More

  • Being Biracial-Personal Narrative

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).

    Read More

  • Standards Of Beauty In Kiri Davis's A Girl Like Me

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    The results showed favoritism towards the white doll, even with the race of the kid playing with the doll was black. The kids themselves even described the black doll as “bad” and the white doll as “good”. They all had an unconscious bias due to society’s influence that made them choose light over dark. Although, all the interviews describing the expectations of beauty and personality were powerful, there was a point that Kiri made that resonated with me, a white male, the most; Many of the interviewees state that their African culture has been ripped from

    Read More

  • The Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...onson, E., Wilson, T.D., & Akert, R.M. (2013). Social Psychology (8th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

    Read More

  • The House On Mango Street And The Bluest Eye By Audre Lorde

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel, the Black narrator Claudia talks about how the ideal beauty of their society is White women, stating, “Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs – all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured. ‘Here,’ they said, ‘this is beautiful, and if you are on this day “worthy” you may have it’ (Morrison 20). This quote is significant because it proves that the culture promotes the appearance of White women over Black women. Due to the large amounts of racism, many African Americans believed they lived in poverty because they were black. The narrator explained, “The Breedloves did not live in a storefront because they were having temporary difficulty adjusting to the cutbacks at the plant. They lived there because they were poor and black, and they stayed there because they were ugly” (Morrison 38). The discrimination was so extreme in the novel that the African American characters started to idealize the white race. One example of this is when Pecola, a black girl, yearned for blue eyes because she believes all of the cruelty in her life will then go away. This strong desire ultimately leads to insanity (Morrison 174). The psychological suffering that many of the young female characters went through is result of discrimination towards a racial

    Read More

  • Pursuit Of Happiness Movie Analysis

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    The pursuit of happiness is a film where Will Smith shines is a tale of rags-to-riches filled with love, family, and pursuance the American dream. Will takes the role of Christopher Gardner who was a salesman struggling to satisfy the needs of his wife Thandie Newton and their son Jaden Christopher Syre Smith. With the persistent financial problems, his wife gives up the struggle abandoning him and their son. Things get worse as Gardner and his son are evicted from their residence leaving them with no option but try surviving on the streets of San Francisco. They are compelled to move from one place to another in the bid to get a shelter wherever they are lucky to get one. On one night, they spend their night in a subway

    Read More

  • Biological and Psychoanalytic Perspectives in Psychology

    1625 Words  | 4 Pages

    Waiten,W., (2007) Seventh Edition Psychology Themes and Variations. University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Thomson Wadsworth.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Film Enough

    1978 Words  | 4 Pages

    Enough is a 2002 thriller directed by Michael Apted and written by Nicholas Kazan. This film is very similar to the Stephen King’s 1995 film adaptation of Dolores Claiborne directed by Taylor Hackford. The protagonists in both these films find themselves trapped in abusive relationships and turn to drastic means to protect themselves and their daughters. In the film Enough, Slim runs away with her daughter from her abusive husband to protect her life whereas, Dolores, in Dolores Claiborne is trapped in her little small town with her husband who is abusive to her and is now sexually abusing their daughter. These women find themselves in these abusive relationships and become empowered to take control of their lives. The writers skillfully use literary elements in these films to convey this message.

    Read More

  • The Notebook Movie Analysis

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Love is a word that’s been both miss-used and over-used all at once. Romantic movies change our definition of and have a big impact on this definition greatly. There have been many movies and novels made over love, but never like this. “The Notebook” is a love story about unconditional love that two people have for each other. This emotionally, heart touching story will have your eyes blood-shot and burning from you not wanting to blink your eyes. This tremendously wonderful love story will have you not wanting to even miss a millisecond of this heart throbbing film. With many plot twists and many scenes that will have you falling off of your seat and you not having any nails by the end of the movie, this is the movie for you. This emotionally rich film is full of action, laughter, and romance, which is the perfect trio combination. This movie shows us how love can bind us together forever. This film went above and

    Read More

  • Of Two Minds Movie Analysis

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    The film, Of Two Minds, is based on real life accounts of individuals living with bipolar disorder. Before watching this film, I had an idea of what bipolar disorder is , but after viewing this film I was completely mistaken. Previously, I thought being bipolar was going from a “normal” mood to an angry or sad mood in a matter of seconds and could be simply fixed by taking medicine. But my previous thoughts were completely wrong and bipolar disorder is very serious and complicated. I didn’t know the severity of this disease and I think a lot of the general public is uneducated about bipolar disorder as well as mental illness. Terri Cheney describes having bipolar disorder as, “Take the best day you ever had and multiply it by a million, it 's like a flu but one hundred times worse. It 's having flu in your mind."

    Read More

  • Film Analysis Of Imitation Of Life

    10416 Words  | 21 Pages

    Sirk’s use of musical conventions reminds us that this is Hollywood’s classical period, a time when the motto of the movies was to “make ‘em big”. Sirk’s version epitomizes this classic mentality through the use of extravagant sets and costumes. One of the major advertising points of the film was the cost of Turner’s wardrobe and jewels. In a clipping released by Universal International to theaters around the nation, Turner’s jewels were so valuable “she was accompanied by two armed guards at all times while the color production was being filmed” (. With a script much more layered and explicit in regards to the evils of the world, it depicts a greater distance between Lora and Annie, white and black. Even though racial tension has been featured in films before, Sirk confronts issues of race more aggressively then Stahl. The complex discussions of race in Imitation of Life go way beyond Sarah Jane’s integration into American society. Lucy Fischer explains:

    Read More

More about Film Analysis Of The Movie: Imitation Of Life

Open Document