You People and Imitations of Life (English 3381)

Over the course of the rapidly busy but relaxing weekend, I had the opportunity to watch You People, directed by Kenya Barris, in 2023. I had never related to a film more than that when I set down to watch You People. The film captures the struggles of a biracial couple: Ezira and Amira, as they become closer and closer and soon (spoiler alert) become happily married at the end of our film. The plot starts to amp up as the setting is set in 2015, where the couple faces prejudices by both of the couple’s families. Ezra identifies as Jewish and white, while Amira is African American and identifies as Muslim. Additionally, not only does the couple face struggles between their families racially but also religiously. I found You People to be comparable to Imitations of Life because both plot lines revolve around biracial identity. Imitations of Life revolves around Sarah Jane, who is trying to find her identity because she is mixed, but people see her as a white person. Additionally, You People focuses on an ending where both parents come to a compromise to save and further help Amira and Ezira become married by the end of the film. I thought that You People was very thought-provoking because, as someone who has had the same struggles with my family, I understand entirely where Ezira is coming from. Ezira desires nothing more than to marry Amira. Still, his family is ignorant, to say the least, and causes turmoil with Amira’s family due to the fact that both Amira and Ezira have differences that the families have a difficult time seeing past. Amira’s father, Akbar, has trouble seeing Ezira and Amira together and stops at nothing to see that they do not get married. Still, as discussed recently, both Amira and Ezira end up happily married at the end of the film. Akbar makes sure to make Ezira’s life a living hell by sabotaging him at every point in his life leading up to the wedding. Akbar goes as far as to come with Ezira to his bachelorette party and finds Ezira’s past creeping up, only to hold it against him. As many know, the father of the bride typically does not tag along to the groom’s bachelor party, so this aspect of the film leads to more conflict between Ezira and Akbar. On the other hand, Ezira’s mom: Shelly, is just as bad as Akbar. Shelly is outspoken and ignorant. At many points when first meeting Amira, Shelly goes as far as to bring up uncomfortable topics surrounding Amira’s racial identity and, more so, her religion. However, by the end of the film, Shelly and Akbar are able to see past one another’s differences and come together to help Amira and Ezra get married. The ending scenes are nothing but breathtaking, to say the least, with extravagant floral arrangements and glamorous attire, all while, comically enough, Ezira and Amira are seen in casual clothing. Furthermore, I believe that no matter what, You People is a must-see for anyone’s film list in the near future due to the film’s beautiful filming and captivating plot line.