Plog Number 248
Whitification
Hola amigas and amigos. How are you. We are having a laid back Sunday and watching some Classic movies on TCM. Today’s selection is An Imitation of Life. The move was made in 1959 and it is splendid. At one point the main cad character says, when being accused of being a creep “I have very few morals and most of them are up for revision”. He said that haughtily in true bad boy style. The main character was Lana Turner and she gave good face. The gowns she wore were killer. In real life she was the girlfriend of Clark Gable, who was on the down low bi-racial. The movie must have been set in an earlier time than 1959. All the servants were black and subservient. Everyone smoked and drank alcohol. No one was claiming to be vegan or non dairy anything or running marathons. They lived large and glamorous in that movie.
The other main character was Sara Jane. She was half black and half white and she did not appreciate the half black side. She openly said she wanted a better life. She didn’t want to have to enter by the back entrance. She accused her mother of ruining her life. She yelled and screamed and begged her mother to stay out of her life. Sara Jane felt that her mother’s very presence in her life was a curse since she could pass for white. Sara Jane also saw the contrast in the life her white best friend Susie lived. She envied her friends white skin and lifestyle, while she hated her own.
This movie is so good because it showed one of the earliest depictions of black self hatred. It is an age old phenomenon. I bet there were slaves who truly hated their brown skin and easy identification. Brown people wanting to be white is not a new thing. People see the difference in how their lives are and they want what they can’t have. I believe that is what has happened to people like Clarence Thomas and George Santos. The whole phenomena is fascinating. Aaron McGruder the writer of the cartoon Boondocks has recognized this and depicted Uncle Rukus for years now. The producer of this movie was aware of it and wrote the screenplay for Imitation of Life. It is not just me. I see it and write about it and even made up a moniker for it called “Whitification”. My sub-specialty is whitification coupled with MAGA ideation. I call that Low Bar Whitification. These people want to be white so bad, they will stoop to the lowest levels of white life, just to get into the club. I personally think they would do better to aim for High Bar Whitification aiming for people with integrity, power, education, compassion and honesty. I have no idea how they deal with a simple glance in the mirror, or at their parents. Sara Jane screamed “I’m White, I’m White” in order to convince herself of the fallacy. It must be agonizing.
I am not aware of a sequel to the movie. It would be fascinating to see how Sara Jane coped with her Mother’s death and her feelings about herself and her blackness. They could have her become a BLM activist and speak from her heart about feeling lesser than just because of the melanin in her skin. I am all in! They could call it “No More Imitation of Life”. Since Mahalia Jackson is long gone, they could get Lizzo to belt 🎵a stirring spiritual near the end. They could show positive black role models like Barack and Michelle Obama, Thurgood Marshall, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, the Williams Sisters and many more. I feel lucky to have been born in a pivotal time where I am able to see and enjoy prominent and positive black role models. Enjoy your classic movies and RECLAIM!
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