YMMV / Imitation of Life (1934)

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Fredi Washington herself felt that Peola didn't pass for white just for the sake of whiteness - but rather to make sure she got the same opportunities as everyone else in the house.
• Award Snub: Neither Louise Beavers nor Fredi Washington got so much as an Academy Award nomination. Unfortunately for them, the Best Supporting Actress category didn't exist until 1937.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Fredi Washington is the sixth billed cast member, and she's usually the only one anybody talks about when referencing this film. Douglas Sirk likewise found Peola one of the most interesting characters, and greatly expanded her role in the 1959 remake. There's even a rumor that he asked Fredi to reprise her role.^note She didn't either because she was retired from films, sick of playing tragic mulattoes or too old to play the character in her late forties.
• Fair for Its Day:
  • Despite the female lead of colour being a servant who is borderline exploited by a white woman for no fuss, Delilah's character contains layers not often shown in films of that era. She's given struggles about trying to raise her daughter, the film addresses some of the imbalances between her and Bea, and she's shown as a victim of Peola's decision. She's also given a lavish funeral, treating her with great respect.
  • Although the race passing storyline is the B-plot, it was considered radical at the time for a film to even address such issues. The script wasn't even approved by the Hays Office until they'd been shooting for two weeks, and some of the more overt displays of racism were cut out (a black man nearly being lynched for flirting with a white woman).
• Harsher in Hindsight: The end has Peola embracing her heritage and a sign of positive character growth. Fredi Washington faced many accusations that she was trying to pass for white afterwards, and had to resist studios' attempts to make her pass. This meant that she was limited in what roles she could get, and retired from films before the decade was over.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • The film changes the book's ending so that Peola redeems herself by going to Delilah's funeral and attending the college she would have wanted. Her actress Fredi Washington later became an avid Civil Rights activist. Louise Beavers would do likewise.
  • Fredi Washington also received many letters from young people of colour, thanking her for portraying their struggles on the big screen.
• Intended Audience Reaction: It's safe to say that many scenes showing the inequality between Bea and Delilah are meant to make the audience feel annoyed - all so that they'll recognise the unfairness.
• Les Yay: In some ways, Bea seems closer to Delilah than she does with Steve. There's even a scene where Delilah happily gives her a foot rub.
• Retroactive Recognition: Child actress Jane Withers has her first film appearance as one of Peola's classmates.
• She Really Can Act: Louise Beavers had been stuck playing servant roles that were pretty much Living Props. Here she reportedly broke audiences' hearts with her tragic role as a mother whose daughter rejects her. One review said:
  "Personally, Miss Beavers is just splendid, just as fine as she appears on screen, but she also has a charm all her own, which needs no screen role for recognition. She has a very pleasing personality, one that draws people to her instantly and makes them feel that they are meeting a friend instead of a Hollywood Star."
• Tear Jerker: Peola trying to pass by working in a whites only restaurant. Delilah tries to claim her, and Peola says to her boss "do I look like her daughter?" - Delilah then collapses in tears because of it.
• Values Dissonance:
  • At one point when discussing the agreement over the company shares, Elmer gets a line referring to Delilah "once a pancake, always a pancake" - which just looks odd to a modern audience.
  • Delilah's portrayal as a dim-witted servant - though with more layers than one would expect - is simply of its time. Some of this was Deliberate Values Dissonance however - as there is a shot contrasting Bea's swanky new upstairs room with Delilah's plainer downstairs quarters, showing how Bea has essentially profited off Delilah's recipe while the latter gets barely anything.
• Values Resonance:
  • The film casts an actual mixed-race actress to play a biracial character encountering very real struggles that people like her faced in the 1930s and to an extent still do today. Many modern viewers discovering the film for the first time are shocked that an actual black actress played the role (the 1959 remake cast a part Mexican-Jew in the part).
  • Bea is a single mother trying to keep a business going to provide for her young daughter. She achieves success through hard work, never having to rely on a man's help beyond standard business partner stuff. The topic of Career Versus Family is explored in a way that's still quite resonant today.