Within Our Gates and Imitation of Life

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Choose one of the following five topics and write an 1150 word paper comparing and contrasting the two films. No mixing and matching of films between topics. 1150 words is the minimum AND the maximum for your paper.
Watch both films and take notes on scenes that stand out to you.
Choose one scene from each film that shows a similarity or connection between the films: theme, tone, visuals, character, dramatic situation, mise en scène,etc.
Write a close comparison of the two scenes that analyzes how each film handles the element you’ve chosen. Include timecode for each scene.
Choose one scene from each film that shows a striking difference between the two films: theme, tone, visuals, character, dramatic situation, mise en scène,etc.
Write a close comparison of the two scenes that analyzes the way each film differs from the other. Include timecode for each scene.
Do NOT include plot synopses, unnecessary verbiage or other filler in your essay. You will be graded down if you do.
Be sure to review the general instructions for the paper – see below.
TOPIC: Within Our Gates (Oscar Micheaux, 1920) and Imitation of Life (John M. Stahl, 1934)
Two movies about race and race relations in America.
In Imitation of Life a white woman (Claudette Colbert) and her Black housekeeper (Louise Beavers) go into business together and become wealthy and
successful. But they find their private lives in turmoil when Colbert’s daughter falls in love with her mother’s fiancé and Beavers’s light skinned daughter
abandons her mother because she wants to pass for white.

Sample Solution

The films Within Our Gates (Oscar Micheaux, 1920) and Imitation of Life (John M. Stahl, 1934) are both known for their powerful portrayals of racial injustice in the early 20th century. Both films tackle themes of racism and inequality, but each film presents these issues in different ways due to the time period in which they were released. One stark similarity between the two films can be seen in a scene from Within Our Gates where Sylvia Landry (Evelyn Preer), a young black woman, visits her former schoolteacher Miss Flora Thompson’s (Flora Finch) home. At this point in the film, Sylvia has been living on her own since running away from her family’s plantation after being disowned by her father for refusing to marry another man. In order to support herself and make enough money to study medicine abroad as she dreams of doing one day, Sylvia works as a domestic servant at Miss Flora’s house. The scene begins at 00:28:16 with Miss Flora telling Sylvia that “My boarders pay me well…for your services and I want you to understand that”(Micheaux 1920). This shows how despite all of Sylvia’s hard work and dedication, she remains financially dependent on white people as a result of systemic racism.

This theme is echoed in Imitation Of Life when Lora Meredith (Claudette Colbert), an aspiring actress who struggles financially throughout most of the film , hires Bea Pullman (Louise Beavers), a single mother raising two mixed-race children alone ,as her maid while trying to make it big . Here we see how race related financial insecurity impacts other characters besides just those directly affected . At 01:41:11 Lora tells Bea “I don\’t know what I\’d do without you..You look after everything so nicely…I pay you handsomely for it too”(Stahl 1934). While Lora pays Bea well compared to other employers ,this line reinforces how even though Bea is working harder than anyone else – she remains dependent on someone else as means to secure economic stability due to existing discrimination faced by people based on their skin colour.

These scenes thus show us that although some characters may have had more personal freedom or privilege than others – they still weren’t able mitigate systemic injustices caused by racism during this period which often led them into economically compromising situations no matter what kind individual choices they made . These similarities between Within Our Gates and Imitation Of Life further emphasize how ingrained institutionalized racial bias was during this era—and still continues till date — making conversations about racism all the more important.

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