Matchup of the Day: Giant vs. Imitation of Life
James Dean and Lana Turner share a February 8 birthday. This matchup offering features two films about racial discrimination that were inducted into the National Film Registry. Giant was James Dean’s final role before his death. Imitation of Life is a remake of the 1934 film which starred Claudette Colbert.
Over the course of its 3 1/2 hour duration, Giant tells the epic story of a macho Texas cattle rancher, Jordan Benedict, (Rock Hudson) and his progressive-minded wife, Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor). When the two first meet, Jordan has a backward view of both women’s roles and the Mexican population in his home state. Leslie is quick to challenge his bluster, which he finds equally intriguing and frustrating. The two marry and go to live at his half-million acre ranch. The poor living conditions of the Mexican locals disturbs Leslie. Against her husband’s wishes she seeks to improve their lot.
As the film progresses, Jordan’s stubbornly held ideas about the future of his family gradually unravel. His son, who he expected to take over the ranch as all Benedict males have over the years, wants to be a doctor instead. He also marries a Mexican woman, which Jordan certainly did not envision. On top of that, his rival, Jett (played hilariously by James Dean) strikes it rich as an oil man. Jordan refuses to drill for oil because of his loyalty to the tradition of cattle ranching. That is, until he realizes that no one in his family is interested in carrying on the tradition.
Jordan’s big transformation occurs toward then end of the film. He stops at a diner with Leslie, his son and his son’s family. The owner of the diner refuses to serve a group of Mexicans that come in, which is insulting to his son’s wife. Jordan confronts the owner and the two end up in a fist fight. Though Jordan loses, Leslie later tells him that his willingness to stand up for the Mexicans was the most admirable thing he’d ever done. In contrast to Jett, who ends up drunk and alone, Jordan comes out the better man. The film concludes with Jordan’s two grandchildren, one white and one half-Mexican, standing together in a crib.
The main contrast in Imitation of Life is between Lora (Lana Turner) and Annie (Juanita Moore). Lora meets Annie, a black woman, at the beach when their daughters are playing together. Annie’s daughter, Sarah Jane (played by half-Mexican actress Susan Kohner), is light skinned enough to pass as caucasian. Lora finds out that Annie has no place to live so she allows the mother and daughter to stay at her apartment. Annie returns the favor by working as Lora’s domestic help.
Early on it is established that Sarah Jane is resentful of having a black mother and the discrimination that comes along with it. Annie is loving and wants the best for her daughter, but Sarah Jean has a pathological desire to be seen as white. There’s one scene where Sarah’s white boyfriend discovers that she’s black and slaps her around, which further pushes her over the edge. Meanwhile, Lora starts a successful acting career. She is frequently pulled away from spending time with her daughter, Susie, who also becomes resentful. Susie is still, not surprisingly, more well-adjusted than Sarah Jean, and her concerns seem trivial by comparison.
At one point in the movie, Annie mentions to Lora that she has friends. Lora is surprised by this because she wasn’t aware of Annie’s life outside of being her maid. This is a telling moment in the film. Even though Lora has been kind to her, and has a racially positive outlook, she really has no idea what it’s like to be Annie. True, Lora has to face her own struggles in order to make it in show business as a woman. But she is a white woman. She takes the relationship she has with Susie for granted, while Annie and Sarah’s deteriorates. The ending of the movie is heartbreaking.