L Is for Imitation of Life

I love watching movies almost as much as reading books. Some movies made a great impact on me as a child. This is one of those. It's a movie about race relations and it struck a chord. As a mixed-race child of a Caucasian father (American) and an Asian mother (Korean), I watched the movie and wept for the characters. I wondered if I would experience things that would be difficult and unjust. 

I know that my life experiences with racial discrimination pale beside those of  different generations and different races. I grew up in a small Southern town. I never felt even one-half Asian until someone snickered and said, "Ching ching chow" or some other ridiculous taunt only meant to point out I was different. 

Yes, the movie Imitation of Life has stereotypes and it's sappy, but as a kid it told me to be proud of who I am.  I've seen it at least twenty times. 

From IMBd.com:

A struggling young actress with a six-year-old daughter sets up housekeeping with a homeless black widow and her light-skinned eight-year-old daughter who rejects her mother by trying to pass for white. 


This 1959 version with Lana Turner and Sandra Dee was the remake of an earlier film. The Fannie Hurst novel of the story was published in 1933.

The clip below is 10 minutes and I realize most people won't watch that. If you watch a minute or two, you'll get a taste of it.

Is there a movie from your childhood that made a great impact on you?

---

L Is for Imitation of Life has been a post in the A-Z Challenge. Click here to read posts written by other participants.  

I'm at Beautifully Dreaming with a guest post about the Myths of Publishing. 

I'm also at RomConInc.com  with an excerpt from The Waiting Booth and a $5 Amazon gift certificate to one commenter at RomCon. Make sure to leave your comment there as they conduct the drawing.