# Why no remake yet of "Imitation of Life"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-remake-yet-of-imitation-of-life/674646 "2013-11-23T22:22:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-remake-yet-of-imitation-of-life/674646/21 "2013-11-24T00:30:05Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I agree that Sarah Jane was made out to be bad just because she wasn’t willing to be subservient like her mother was. But you know what would have been cool? If Sarah Jane hadn’t backed down when Laura scolded her for not being the willing servant at her dinner party. A good remake would have Sarah Jane telling Laura to shove her stupid crudites…because if she was really her mother’s friend, she wouldn’t be treating her as live-in help. Her mother should have been invited to the party, not serving it. And then we’d start to see how twisted Annie and Laura’s relationship is and maybe have some sympathy for Sarah Jane and her lack of “gratitude”. > > So I actually think they could leave a lot of that baggage in there, but shine the light so that it’s not so glamorous. I think that would be an interesting movie. But it wouldn’t be a remake of _Imitation of Life_, because the entire point of _that_ movie is that Sarah Jane was in the wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-remake-yet-of-imitation-of-life/674646/22 "2013-11-24T00:44:52Z")
(Of course remakes have no obligation to present the same themes or essential messages as did the originals…_Planet of the Apes_, anyone??^\_~) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-remake-yet-of-imitation-of-life/674646/23 "2013-11-24T00:46:22Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > And in the modern-day movie where that happens, Sarah Jane files and anti-discrimination law suit and wins. Or she loses, because everyone believes its 2013, not 1959. And look at her! She’s so white-looking! > [@](#): > > Or, Sarah Jane gets hired because the employer _wants_ to have some blacks on his payroll, and would rather have someone who looks like Sarah Jane rather than Whoopi Goldberg. This would actually be quite interesting to watch play out. Would Sarah Jane have a problem working for such an employer, or would she go along with it? What will she do if her mother (played by Whoopi Goldberg) shows up at the office one day? Maybe you wouldn’t watch that movie. But I would! > [@](#): > > I think you are confusing the idea that, while racism is alive and well today, the idea of “passing” just isn’t a compelling plot line for a movie today. Listen, I’m not trying to come across snarky here, but it’s like you aren’t even using your imagination. Even if I considered us to be “post-racial” (whatever the hell that means), the idea of a person pretending to be something they are not is still very much “compelling”. It’s actually more compelling today, I think. In a world where ethnicity is worn as a fashion accessory, where visuals are so important, where you can re-invent your entire identity with an update of Facebook page, where you can walk into a doctor’s office looking [one](http://popcrush.com/celebrity-mugshots-lil-kim/) way and come out looking completely [different](http://theapod.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/url-222.jpg), where social networking can turn a person into a minor celebrity over night, where everyone is scrambling for the tiniest edge they have over another person in this hypercompetitive economy, there is much fodder for a modern retelling of the “passing” theme. With some creativity, a compelling story can be had. There is also no rule that it must be about race or just about race. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-remake-yet-of-imitation-of-life/674646/24 "2013-11-24T01:06:32Z")
Yes, someone pretending to be what they are not is compelling. But what does it even mean to be of mixed race today? Maybe the remake is that Sarah Jane says she’s white because that’s how she self-identifies, and she’s probably a lot more white than black anyway. I think that might make a better movie-of-the-week, though, than something for the big screen. But yeah, it doesn’t have to be about race. That’s what I was getting at in my first post when I said you’d have to be creative to make the theme work. And maybe the theme, unlike the original, is that there is no reason you have to fit into the box that society wants to place you in. Sarah Jane is white, and that’s OK! She’s not “passing” because she isn’t pretending to be something she isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-remake-yet-of-imitation-of-life/674646/25 "2013-11-24T01:15:27Z")
Missed the edit window: I know… you could make it about Vampires!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-remake-yet-of-imitation-of-life/674646.md?page=1)