After her racist boyfriend beat her up....why didnt they - Imitation of Life (1959) Discussion

[–] andrewwjohnson 11 years ago

If it Happened today Frankie would not only be brought up on a assault charge but also racially motivated hate crime which would greatly add to his jail time. Also, since Sarah Jane's mother works a prominent actress, his pretty face would be all over cable news as the poster boy for racism in America.

"Imitation of Life" was set in the 1950s. Back then, at least outside the deep south, beating your girlfriend your girlfriend because you learned she was black, or any other reason, would have resulted in an assault charge; that is if Sarah Jane was willing to bring charges. It was after being beaten that she decided to pass for white full time. A court trial would attract attention, at least locally, and make it harder cover up her background later on.

TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.

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[–] anatja 11 years ago

I think even in LA, you would have been hard pressed to get many cops to take Sarah Jane's complaint seriously. They might have thought it was her fault for passing in the first place!

And the film is not 'set' in the fifties, it was 'made' in the 50's (and is a remake actually) the behaviours are accurate to the time.

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] disinterested_spectator 10 years ago

The original movie was set in earlier times, but not this one. There is a transition scene in which we see the years go by, clearly indicating that the last half of the movie is the set in the 1950s.

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[–] dustypistol 9 years ago

And the film is not 'set' in the fifties, it was 'made' in the 50's (and is a remake actually) the behaviours are accurate to the time.

The film was made AND set in the 1950's.

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[–] hodie 11 years ago

Andrewjohnson is right. Even in the '50s, LA wasn't anything NEAR the Deep South, where Jim Crow laws were in effect. I seem to remember seeing black cops in the film somewhere, but anyway...

Frankie would have been arrested like any other thug had Sarah Jane filed a criminal complaint. But then Frankie might have told why he assaulted her, and she did NOT want that to become public record. Any press coverage would have blown her cover.

So Sarah Jane kept her mouth shut and decided to skip town to a place where no one knew her or her family.

Get me a bromide! And put some gin in it!

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[–] boxerrebellion 9 years ago

Even in the 80s domestic violence wasn't taken very seriously. What makes you think it was in the 50s?

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[–] EmilyTheDramaQueen 11 years ago

You would think that Sarah Jane would have learned her lesson after that considering how that situation could have been much worse and like her mother said that's what happens when you tell lies.

"Just cause you can't beat 'em, don't mean you should join 'em."

Kacey Musgraves

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[–] sylvia67 11 years ago

yeah really. What I couldn't understand was why Sarah Jane didn't go to her mother after it happened and say "You were right all along" I think that is what I would have done..

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[–] shulma2002 11 years ago

Very powerful scene played by Troy Donahue as Frankie.

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[–] Moon_and_New_York_City 11 years ago

Because it was 1959 not 2014.

"the best that you can do is fall in love"

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[–] ClassicMovieholic 11 years ago

Violence against black people, and to put a finer point on it, violence against women: Two crimes that historically went unreported, and often do so even today...sad to say.

kick his a**

Lol. Would make for an entertaining movie though: Lana Turner, Juanita Moore and Sandra Dee resort to vigilante justice with "honor beating" of Troy Donahue to avenge assault of Susan Kohner. Maybe we can get Quentin Tarantino to pick it up.

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[–] TheLightFantastic 11 years ago

Violence against black people, and to put a finer point on it, violence against women: Two crimes that historical went unreported, and often do so even today...sad to say.

This! I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s and I recall that even in the 1980s, domestic violence disputes weren't always taken very seriously. Authorities started taking those kinds of situations seriously after both men and women were killed and people started complaining that cops were called and nothing was done. It may vary from state to state but here in Texas even if the victim doesn't want to press charges, the alleged assaulter is still arrested and charges are filed. That's also something that didn't come into play until I was a late teen or adult I believe.

Hate crimes were also something that weren't taken seriously until the last 20 years or so. There were countless people who were harassed, assaulted and killed before a hate crime even became an actual crime. In Sarah Jane's case, the cops may have well felt she "had it coming" because she was trying to pass. That's what made the whole thing dangerous. Bear in mind, this was an era where the idea that a victim got what was coming to them was prevalent. I was reading an old magazine from 1969 that had an article about the Manson murders and it heavily alluded to the victims being culpable for their own deaths because they were supposedly into orgies and satanic practices.

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[–] manage-932-700755 10 years ago

Thye should have burned em.

I thought Troy Donahue's comments in the scene were quite dramatic: "Tell me, is it true? Is your mother a nixxggxer?"

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[–] marbleann 10 years ago

Listen as twisted as Sara Jane is she would gotten mad at anyone who tried to get some justice for her. Every time I see this movie my skin crawls(but I love it anyway). Self hatred comes from the home, her mother should of straightened her butt out along time ago. So I have little sympathy for her too. The original was better.

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[–] JP2005 10 years ago

It was set in the 50s, pay more attention in your history class.

-In my mind, Christopher Reeve will always be Superman.-

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[–] boxerrebellion 9 years ago

LOVE your signature, but I amend it to Christopher Reeve and George Reeves (TV's Superman).

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[–] JP2005 9 years ago

I was a freshman in high school when Christopher R donned the cap, in my eyes he was the original. I only saw George as Superman on an episode of I Love Lucy, so I really didn't see him in action.

-In my mind, Christopher Reeve will always be Superman.-

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[–] 9 years ago

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