After sitting in the court room and going through all that stress and struggle with Pinky I thought the boyfriend ran out much too quickly at the end. I know she wanted to stay but I think he should have tried to work something out..maybe work in a major city near there...how could they come to a decision like that so quickly...Its not easy to find a life partner.
share
..................In real life in 1949 interracial marrage was against the law in the south and even some places in the north. Even California had anti miscegenation laws on the books as late as 1947. Had they gone north to marry and returned they would have been subject to arrest as William and Mildred Loving whose case led to the Supream Court ruling ending such laws.............Pinky was to well known in her home town so she couldn't do what many in her situation had done to remain in a interracial relationship; pass for white. The only way they could remain together would be to move north and she wanted to run the nursing school so she wouldn't do that.
True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.
[deleted]
...........Can you blame her. Her boyfriends first reaction was, when he found out she was black, was to worry he might us the "N" word if he ever got angry at her or at least that is what it sounded like. Did people who really care about each other really think about things like that, even in this situation, even 1949. If this were real life it would be the start of very dysfunctional relationship.
True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.
We don't really learn anything about the boyfriend - maybe he was grateful for the opportunity to run. Miss Em was the only one who mentioned children.
And OP next time you post a thread please don't put the ending in the title for all to see. Thanks.
http://3linesabout.blogspot.com/2010/04/pinky-1949.html
I was impressed that he stayed as long as he did. At the time, for him to stay with her in that situation took a lot of gumption. I admired him for that. I also admired Pinky for staying and doing what needed to be done. She could have so easily taken the easy out that was offered to her and continued to pass. I look at that time in US history and can't believe how stupid we were (well, I wasn't around until the early 60s, but it still amazes me).
shareI thought he might leave in a very saddened and heartbroken state, but he stormed out and slammed the door because he was angry and fed up with Pinky's refusal to live a false life with him. He was selfish and only supported her because he was in love with the idea of who she had pretended to be.
shareEven if he moved to a big nearby city and saw Pinky on the sly, he could have been imprisoned. Remember, there were laws in the South prohibiting race mixing until the 1960's. Even then, you had to worry about the Klan. Her hospital could have been burned down. As much as today's viewers wanted him to stay with her, this was made for 1949's white audiences. It wouldn't have played at white theatres if the boyfriend had stayed. I'm surprised the movie got made at all. I think it was revolutionary that a major studio made it and got a big star like Jeanne to play it. It was banned at white theatres in the South.
shareI saw it for the first time this morning and loved it. But I was surprised at how quickly they had him run out. If someone were truly in love they would have stayed and fought (not literally) more. I thought maybe perhaps he would return later. Or I thought perhaps he might stay, set up a practice and help Pinky train the black nurses. But then laws against interracial marriage were still in place in the South.
Well that's the thing, TRULY in love, and that's what she was talking about at the end. He said she wouldn't exist anymore once she married him, but she was taught to be herself and not pretend, and HOW could she be herself if she wouldn't exist anymore? And that's what he wanted, he didn't want 'herself' to exist, he wanted what he thought she was to exist.
shareWell put.
shareUltimately, he showed he didn't have the mettle to buck society and be with the woman he loved. In their initial meeting, he wanted Pinky to pretend to be white and go away with him, completely overlooking the destitute grandmother she had, who she loved and cared for. Never liked his character. He was a bland milquetoast with no passion or determination for their relationship.
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lavenderspirit2005: Spot on. She was too good for him anyway.
Okay folks, show's over, nothing to see here!
I just watched it again. Great film & cast. But what angered me was how the other blacks hated "Pinky" just b/c she was light-skinned. I do know some blacks make fun of other "shades" of black but the girl who had the blade was really hateful.
share
I am formerly known as HillieBoliday....Member since May 2006:
That 'black girl who had the blade and was really hateful,' was (Rozelia), portrayed by Nina Mae McKinney.
I think her having that knife was spot on! Did I want her to stab Pinky? No, as she would have surely been lynched from the nearest tree! She catches her man/husband, who is a lying, stealing, sneaky, double-talking louse; giving a white woman her hard earned money behind her back, and coming out of their house without any explanation whatsoever!
I can see being hateful living in such a volatile and oppressive environment where black people were constantly victimized by the reigning white racist power structure. I understand having to carry a knife as well. Black women were not safe, with or without husbands/boyfriends! There have been many, many, many black men in the suffocating south murdered while trying to defend their mothers/wives/sisters, etc., or protecting their virtue. Granted, maybe her character frequented a juke joint/bar/good-time house...and if so...she definitely needed to be strapped with that knife!
Rozelia wasn't hateful......just ready!
"OOhhhooo....I'M GON' TELL MAMA!"
She continued to be hateful, even after she found out that Pinky was, indeed, Black. She also may well have known that her man had kept Grandma's money. I think a lot of her issues stemmed from jealousy... had she been able to pass, she would have. I don't blame Pinky for passing, or Rozella's jealousy.
shareI am formerly known as HillieBoliday....Member since May 2006
You're probably right about her maybe knowing that her man had kept Grandma's money. He was such a louse...she couldn't possibly have been blind to that. I am an African American woman, and I know that during that era (and even today); darker skinned women like Rozelia, deeply resented lighter skinned black women....because they were delusional in thinking that the lighter skinned (black woman) had it better in life. On the contrary....their lives were miserable. They lived under constant fear that their secret would be found out....and if that actually happened; once exposed...their lives were extremely difficult!
I have a friend who easily passed for white while living in the Mid-west; and I have a close relative who could've easily done the same without any detection; and thought to do so was the most despicable, dishonest, insulting thing one could do against her race. She was highly incensed and very, very vocal about it when someone mistook her for white.
Have you read the book? I loaned my copy out....and never got it back....I've got to get me another copy and read it for myself.
I understand Pinky's passing....and Rozelia's jealousy. But in retrospect...I think even if I were living during that time and fair skinned enough to pass for white.....I would PASS up doing so; because if your charade was discovered by the white side....the repercussions for doing so were so much greater....sometimes even fatal.
Ohhhooo....I'M GON' TELL MAMA!"
I am formerly known as HillieBoliday....Member since May 2006:
That 'black girl who had the blade and was really hateful,' was (Rozelia), portrayed by Nina Mae McKinney.
I think her having that knife was spot on! Did I want her to stab Pinky? No, as she would have surely been lynched from the nearest tree! She catches her man/husband, who is a lying, stealing, sneaky, double-talking louse; giving a white woman her hard earned money behind her back, and coming out of their house without any explanation whatsoever!
I can see being hateful living in such a volatile and oppressive environment where black people were constantly victimized by the reigning white racist power structure. I understand having to carry a knife as well. Black women were not safe, with or without husbands/boyfriends! There have been many, many, many black men in the suffocating south murdered while trying to defend their mothers/wives/sisters, etc., or protecting their virtue. Granted, maybe her character frequented a juke joint/bar/good-time house...and if so...she definitely needed to be strapped with that knife!
Rozelia wasn't hateful......just ready!
"OOhhhooo....I'M GON' TELL MAMA!"
Pinky stood up to him and had actually opinions and had the nerve to think for herself.
I agree with most of what's been said, but I think her FEMINISM was equally a reason why her boyfriend left her.
Why, she even established a school!