Visual Essay #2

One House, Two Mothers

The film “Imitation of Life” directed by Douglas Sirk is a film dedicated to the portrayal of two women of the 1950’s. Each woman has a daughter and the responsibility of raising their child. The two women are alike in many ways when it comes to their home life and living situation, but there is also one major difference between the two women, one is black and the other is white. The direct difference of the phenotype is clearly marked in the history of America and is a classic subject that has been undertaken by many a director and studio. The direction that Douglas Sirk takes is clearly different and can only be done by his mastery of the screen and camera. This essay will look at the different roles the two women find themselves having, focusing on the way in which they function in one household raising two daughters, while coming from two completely different backgrounds. Discovering their roles taken up in the household can carry over into the roles that society has delineated for the women of our story.

In the mid to late 1950’s the culture and civil climate was changing. There were changes not just in the governmental realm but also in the societal realm. There was a deep need for social justice to break free and be allowed to grow unhindered by the government’s institutions of the time. In May of 1954, The United States Supreme Court declared that schools should not be segregated by color, and that the old adage “separate but equal” should be abandoned as a disrespectable way to treat human beings. Not being separate from society, Hollywood wanted to continue its task on being relevant in the public’s eye. Douglas Sirk was also aware of his adopted countries social change and he makes his points very clear in the characters of Lora Meredith and Annie Johnson. From the very beginning of the film we are introduced to these two women who are going to go through this social change together. The two mothers in Imitation of Life can be looked at in one of two ways. The first way is to look at them as a white women and her black friend who lives with her. This first way of looking at the films characters will illuminate hidden prejudices and personal awareness that may not be so evident just watching the film thinking that the two women are friends and their relationship is perfect. The second way to look at these two women is from the gender side of the current social change. We have two women who are raising two daughters and the one question that may surface while watching this film is; who is the father and who is the mother? Lora Meredith and Annie Johnson have two clearly distinct roles in the Meredith/Johnson household, and have two clearly distinct roles in the raising of their two daughters Sarah Jane and Susie.

We will start our discussion about the hidden prejudice and personal awareness by looking at the scene immediately after the beach scene. It is the first time that Lora and Meredith go to Lora’s apartment and are shown around the place. In the beginning Lora is very much in charge of this space of her apartment. She turns on the lights and is doing things for herself and the betterment and comfort of everyone else.

She shows Annie where the linens are and where their bedroom will be for the night. However as you watch the film the tone does not feel as though Lora is showing of the house for just one night. It is almost as though she is showing Annie where everything will be in the future for when she begins working for her. They dwell in the back room long enough for Annie to look around and almost give Lora validation that the room will be just fine for the next ten years. If Lora had intention of Annie only staying one or two nights she would have made up the bed for Annie and wouldn’t have given her the grand tour of the apartment. It is clear from the few words that Annie speaks in this scene, is that she is accepting all the “benefits” that Lora is giving to her for working for her. Now understanding this scene is not to suggest that Lora has ulterior motives from the beginning, and wants to subject Annie to be her free house servant. It is only understand that Lora so easily allows Annie to fit into the role of caretaker that society has declared is the only job fit for a black woman in the fifties. Lora seems oblivious to the very deferential body language that Annie is giving to her. Even the words that Annie says to Lora suggest that she will be just fine working here for her. Lora was at first adamant when she said “you must understand that...this arrangement can only be for tonight”, but by the time the door had been unlocked to the apartment Lora had already submitted to the inevitable that Annie would be living with her. It is comical to watch the next few days with the two women because it further cements the two-tiered relationship of Lora and Annie. Annie knows that this arrangement is master and servant, while Lora would like to think that it’s two women friends who live together. Annie is just a guest in her home for the next ten years and who just so happens to be cleaning her house and taking care of their girls.

Another level of master and servant relationship can be found throughout the length of the film, where Lora and her career is forefront and Annie and the children are secondary. Then about two-thirds through the film Lora is awakened, or brought out of her haze or unawareness in the scene where Sarah-Jane brings out a food platter for Lora and her movie star guests. Lora is shocked that Sarah-Jane acts like an indentured servant towards her and goes right to the kitchen to confront this.

Then while in the kitchen the truth of this whole ten years comes to a head. Lora is scolding Sarah-Jane and she asks Annie is she heard what Sarah had said. Annie answers the question in a painful and revealing three words “I heard Her”. These three words are the undoing of the veil that separated Annie and Lora; the veil of servant and master. Annie knew this veil existed from their first meeting in the kitchen, but now Lora is let in on the “secret” that she has been thinking of Annie and her daughter as second class citizens. Annie, in her response, is full of remorse for what has just transpired. She would have liked to keep things just the way that they had been for the past nine or ten years; Lora thinking one thing, a lie, and Annie knowing another, the truth about their relationship and their roles. Lora now has the job of understanding and coming to terms with how things have been for the past ten years.

After understanding there is a clear message of roles between these two women we can look at another level to the complexity and timelessness of this film. While watching this film in the beginning we have an understanding that there is little male influence on there characters. However in the time and social climate of the film these two women were living in a male influenced society. There are stirring and emotive references to who in this dyad of parents the mother is, and who the father is. If we start in the kitchen scene from the very beginning just imagine that Lora is the father and Annie is the wife. Showing of the house and where she will be living is not far from the way women were portrayed in the fifties and early sixties. Lora is the “breadwinner” and Annie is the little housewife who takes care of the kids and settles their quarrels and makes them behave as to not upset father figure Lora.

One scene in particular that has references to an old 1955 Housekeeping Monthly article entitled the good wife’s guide [See Attached] where women are encouraged to quiet the children for the husband, is the one where Annie has told the children to be quiet so that Lora can have a nice sleep. This relationship also goes on unnoticed to Lora but very aware to Annie. The very essence of a household in the thirties, forties, and fifties was that there were two different roles in the household and that one role was unimportant, the role of the mother, and the other role the one of the husband was superior. Unlike today where the role of parent, breadwinner, and caretaker of the house are equally shared and valued as equal while remaining intrinsically different. Lora is like the husband in the household and Annie is like the mother. If you watch the film, look for this other level of subversive behavior between the two women.

Sirk was a master of the complex character. The two-faced character that had a subconscious level unaware even to themselves and it is made evident to the audience at the same time as it is made aware to the character. Sirk has at many times referenced the ideas of Bertolt Brecht and his theories of theatre and the nature of the character. In Brechtian thought the story and idea is paramount and the actor or character should be only a vessel to allow for the thought and story to come across. The character of Lora is very self-aware at this point and is now almost looking towards to audience for validation for her actions. Annie has been a poster child throughout the film of social injustice and the audience knew it. Brecht once wrote regarding his play The Threepenny Opera “Today when human character must be understood as the 'totality of all social conditions' the epic form is the only one that can comprehend all the processes, which could serve the drama as materials for a fully representative picture of the world.” This is the exact definition of Annie’s role in the film from beginning to end. In today’s terms she would be illustrating absurdity on the big screen.