Heung, Marina. "’What's the Matter with Sara Jane?’: Daughters and Mothers in Douglas Sirk's ‘Imitation of Life.’” Cinema Journal Vol. 26, No. 3 (Spring, 1987): pp. 21-43.  <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1224906>.

In this article, Marina Heung argues that the 1959 remake of Imitation of Life, which can be classified in the woman’s film genre, represents a body of work that at least purports to assume a feminine perspective and to address the conflicts and aspirations of a predominately white audience.  The film flouts Hollywood’s typical inherently patriarchal films and deals with issues that are oftentimes ignored, particularly the mother-daughter relationship.  Although the film deals with race through its development of the black-white relationship between two single mothers, the overarching theme is not of race, but of melodramatic elements.  Heung cites Jeanine Basinger’s essay, “When Women Wept,” which suggests that at the core of the film, like other women’s films, is the “rise-to-power” plot. She believes that the film focuses on the white mother’s career aspirations and desire to become a famous actress, which leads to her

Although this article focuses on the remake of Imitation of Life, most of the arguments can be applied to both films.  For example, both works assume a feminine perspective; however, they focus on the conflicts and aspiration of a predominately white audience, ignoring the needs of a black audience. Black women appear marginally in the film, forcing black female spectators to look beyond what is presented to them as what others may call entertainment or “pleasure.”