This New-to-Prime Classic Is a Controversial Masterpiece

1959 was one of the greatest years in film history, as it saw the release of several classics that would go on to radically shape the industry moving forward. Ben-Hur was a masterful epic that took home a record-breaking eleven victories at the Academy Awards, North by Northwest set the standard for what a modern action movie should look like, Some Like It Hot proved the comedic genius of Billy Wilder, and Rio Bravo took a different approach to the western genre by turning itself into a “hangout movie.” As famous as these classics were, the drama film Imitation of Life was a controversial masterwork that divided critics and audiences upon its initial release.

While he was sadly not given all the accolades that he deserved during his lifetime, Imitation of Life director Douglas Sirk was one of the greatest creators of cinematic melodrama. Between the romantic social satire of Magnificent Obsession to the inventive military themes of A Time To Love and A Time To Die, Sirk’s influence can be seen on many of today’s most prominent filmmakers, including Adriene Lyne and James L. Brooks. Sirk created several masterpieces during his lifetime, but Imitation of Life addressed critical themes of race, class, gender, and wealth, making it far more progressive than a majority of the Old Hollywood classics.

What Is ‘Imitation of Life’ About?

Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Fannie Burst, which was also adapted to the screen once prior in 1934, Imitation of Life centers on the relationship between two women who form a pact to help one another as their daughters grow up. Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) had dreamed of becoming an actress since she was a child, but has become a young widow who must spend the majority of her day’s work caring for her young daughter, Susie (Terry Burnham). A chance encounter at the beach introduces Lora to Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore), a black woman who is raising her own daughter Sarah Jane (Karin Dicker). After Sarah Jane and Susie instantly become best friends, Lora and Annie decide to move in together so they can pursue their respective careers. However, an older Susie (Sandra Dee) and Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner) begin to grow apart as they grow older, as issues of class and race begin to drive them away from one another.

The dramatic heft of Imitation of Life revolves around Sarah Jane coming to grips with her identity, as being biracial, she can pass as being white in most social circles. Even though Susie and Lora have treated her with nothing but kindness since they met, Sarah Jane can’t help but feel that they are allotted privileges that she will never be able to afford. Given that Sarah Jane is a teenager who is still developing her emotional intelligence, she often strikes out in anger when she is confused; after growing to detest her mother’s attempts to help her socialize with young black men, Sarah Jane begins to develop feelings of self-hatred when it comes to her race. After she is rejected by her boyfriend after his friends joke about her parentage, Sarah Jane strikes out on her own to leave both her mother and found family behind.

Why Was ‘Imitation of Life’ So Controversial?

Like many of Sirk’s films, Imitation of Life was initially disregarded by critics who claimed that the story was “melodramatic” and did not live up to the precedent established by the previous iteration of the story. One of the chief criticisms leveled at the film by pundits at the time was that the film disregarded the white character in favor of spending more time with the African-American leads; ironically, many modern Hollywood films would be criticized for the opposite reason. Although it would end up being the final film of Sirk’s career, Imitation of Life was eventually received more favorably, and earned Academy Award nominations for both Kohner and Moore in the Best Supporting Actress category. Modern retrospectives have been even kinder, with BBC critics listing it among the 100 greatest American films ever made. The acclaimed director Todd Haynes would later cite Imitation of Life as a major influence on his film Far From Heaven, which earned Julianne Moore an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

The initial backlash against Imitation of Life is an indication of what happened when a majority of white, male film critics were reviewing films aimed at a more diverse audience. Imitation of Life never disregards the challenges that Lora and Susie go through; in fact, the film dedicates a significant amount of time to detailing how Lora struggles to be taken seriously as an unwed woman trying to become an actress. That being said, Sirk makes it clear that the challenges that they face cannot compare to what Annie and Sarah Jane experienced during a period in history when segregation was still in law. Imitation of Life was accused of being a “weepie” because of how utterly depressing its final moments are, but for Sirk to suggest that there was an easy way to confront these issues would have been completely inappropriate.

‘Imitation of Life’ Changed the Film Industry’s Representation

Imitation of Life was influential not just because of the diverse cast, but because it spoke to complex issues about racial identity. Many of the other “Golden Age” Hollywood productions were rather toothless in their examination of racism because they handed roles to black actors that could have just as easily been written as white; a failure to recognize social constructs resulted in many films that haven’t aged well. However, the subsequent decade saw the emergence of classics like Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, In The Heat Of The Night, and A Raisin in the Sun that helped bridge a deeper understanding with some of the white critics who didn’t understand the complexities that Sirk was dealing with in Imitation of Life.

Imitation of Life is streaming on Prime Video in the United States.

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