The main character in this film, and the woman who this film is named after, is Patricia Johnson, otherwise known as Pinky. Pinky is a young light-skinned African American who throughout her life must deal with various hardships dealing with her race and the color of her skin. Pinky’s confidence in her self-image was tested when she decided to move up north to study nursing. While in New England, Pinky, who went by Patricia, had a hard time coming to terms with her race, and chose not to acknowledge her roots, denying her black blood. Patricia later returned to her southern home, and was once again was referred to as Pinky. While living in the south, Pinky had a hard time adjusting

The characters in this film and the events that took place relate back to the views of Franz Fenon, Cornel West, and Alain Locke. This film deals largely with many controversial issues of race that have been debated about and depicted over time. This movie allowed its viewers to, for a short period of time, step into the shoes of this struggling African American woman. We were able to see the world through her eyes, and feel her pain. This film really opened my eyes to the world of hatred in which we are immersed.

to her old life because of the color of her skin. While Pinky was up north pretending to be someone she was not, she was accepted and loved. However, when Pinky returned to the south she was treated as an outcast to society. She was not accepted by white people because of her race and was seen as being “different” by black people because of the color of her skin. Pinky is a strong willed character who has had to deal with more in her twenty or thirty years of life than most people do in an entire lifetime. While creating the character of Pinky, I believe that Elia Kazan wanted to create an African American character who was forced to deal with the hardships of being a black woman with light skin in society. During the time period in which this film was produced racism was a big issue. Pinky had to deal with an identity crisis, because she was black woman in white skin. This crisis is one that she deals with throughout the film, and it is her pride that overcomes her desire to become white. The hardships that Pinky face, denying herself while up north, and being the victim of racism down south refer to the Pan Africanist theory. Pinky, whether living in the north or in the south, faces a commonality of struggle for justice, equality, and liberation. I believe that this immense pride that Pinky had for who she was, was what Kazan wanted to portray through her character.

Throughout the course of the movie there were many substantial events that occurred that dealt with race, gender, class and culture. Out of all of the events, three stood out to me, that I felt were milestones in the movie. The first situation that I found to be significant occurred in the beginning of the movie. When Pinky came home from New England granny immediately began to ask her questions regarding her time she spent up there. The issue of race was brought up and Pinky immediately broke down. She confessed to granny that she denied her black roots and let others believe that she was white. She told her that she went by Patricia up there and left the name she had always gone by in the south. Granny became extremely upset and hurt and told her to pray to God and ask him for his forgiveness. This situation stood out to me because of the compromising situation that Pinky was thrown into. The fact that she was ashamed of who she was and where she came from shocked me. She was a proud woman who got a glimpse of a different life, a life that she grew to love, a life that she was accepted into. This scene in the movie only lasted f

Some topics in this essay:
African Diaspora, Pinky Pinky, African American, Pinky Patricia, Darcy Johnson, Pinky Em’s, Elia Kazan’s, Kazan Em’s, Em Em, Em’s Pinky, black woman, white woman, african american, color skin, black people, granny pinky, wealthy white woman, views towards, characters film, racial issues, johnson otherwise, walters owed granny, color skin pinky, dr thomas adams,