I HAVE TO SAY…

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Today, I have to say, Sinners is worth all the hype and more!

The record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations are all deserved! The Oscars have come and gone and Sinners walked away with 4 total Oscars, for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay.

Congratulations to Autumn, Ludwig, Michael, and Ryan for their wins!

I think that Wunmi and Delroy also deserved to win something, but “I Lied to You” losing for Best Original Song, and Sinners losing for Best Casting, and Best Picture hurts, I’m not gonna lie, but this movie will live on forever.

I think that this movie was made to be rewatched. Unless you’re listening to deep dives, I think it’s hard to catch everything that this movie has to offer in one sitting.

I rewatched it again for this episode and certain themes clicked and settled firmly into place for me and I’m so excited to talk about it. This is long overdue conversation to be honest.

So, thank you for joining me. Thank you for being here, and let’s get started.

Ryan Coogler and Authenticity 

The movie is set during Jim Crow in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta. We follow a range of characters, but mainly Preacherboy Sammie, the son of a pastor, and his cousins, twin brothers Smoke and Stack.  

The movie is special, and while I don’t want to discredit the actors and the people behind the scenes, Ryan Coogler, who wrote Sinners, did his big one with this movie.

Ryan Coogler was intentional with his use of AAVE and the conversational way everyone talks to each other with the way he wrote this movie. 

He had a Mississippi history and economic consultant, a Hoodoo consultant, an Irish culture consultant, a historical gambling consultant, a Mississippi Delta Chinese consultant, twin consultants, and a Mississippi Choctaw cultural & language consultant, all of which are listed on imdb, and he did this to ensure the story can be as authentic and accurate as possible. Like it’s even crazy that he was specific to Mississippi when hiring some of the consultants.

For me, this is part of why this movie is as memorable and extraordinary as it is, because although it’s a horror movie with supernatural elements, there’s also elements of it that are taken from real life, which made me connect even deeper to the world and the characters and what they go through.

This movie pulled emotions out of me and made me feel things and even on my most recent rewatch, which was eleven months after the movie came out, months since I’ve seen it last, and I even broke it up between two days, and still I cried.

Even during the Oscars, the juke joint scene still made me cry. There’s something in this movie, man.

Intro to the Themes of the Movie

This movie left me speechless on the first watch, but on my most recent one, it resonated with me even more and made me fangirl over it even more. The storytelling in this movie is inspiring.

There are a few of main points of this movie that are literally told in the opening scene where Annie, played by Wunmi Mosaku, explains that “there are legends of people who were born with the ability of making music so true that it can pierce the veil between life and death and can conjure spirits from the past and the future.”

Then, she gives the name of these people in three different languages from three different lands and cultures, which happen to be cultures that are brought up again in the movie: Ireland, West Africa, and Choctaw.

And then shortly after that, we get Sammie’s father, played by Saul Willaims, preaching at Sammie, who is played by Miles Canton, in front of everyone as he walks through the church doors, trying to tempt him into dropping his guitar and embracing the devil’s music. 

Not long after, as we flashback to see why Sammie looks busted, no offense to him though cause he went through it, we see Sammie reading from the Bible talking about temptation.

A little disclaimer though, cause you know how I am, these are all my interpretations from the movie, not fact. I don’t know Ryan Coogler’s true intentions on 99% of the things I’ll be talking about, and he’s said that once this movie is out it’s become our movie, so I don’t know if what I think is the truth, and you don’t have to believe it as truth, but it’s what I took from it. 

Religion: Christianity, Spiritual Practices, and Faith

Religion and religious themes are weaved throughout this movie, which starts with the fact that Sammie is the son of a pastor, and is called Preacherboy Sammie. 

Sammie struggles though. He doesn’t seem to really believe in God, or at least in the rituals that come with Christianity, like sitting in church and reading from the Bible. To his father, it’s either God or music. It’s the Bible or blues, and the two cannot coexist because he believes that playing music invites the devil in.

Dare I say, his father is self-righteous in his faith?

What also strikes me is that he doesn’t stop his sermon when Sammie walks in. Yes, he’s a pastor in the middle of a service, but he sees his son open those doors, and he’s dirty and bloody, limping, with only the handle of a guitar in his hands, and he doesn’t even stop and check to see if he’s okay. He doesn’t care about what’s happened to him and he doesn’t try to comfort him. And I can even say with confidence that it has nothing to do with time period, or toxic masculinity, or appearing strong because we see other instances of men showing care and being affectionate towards each other.

There were hugs, and concern, and people literally died to keep Sammie safe. Really, his father is an outlier for not genuinely not worrying about his son’s wellbeing and instead worries about God’s perception of Sammie.

I understand that his father is urging Sammie to let music go as a way of like, saving his soul, or trying to save his soul, and it’s a way of saying “See. this is what happens when you sin, so drop it. Let it go,” but still there was no compassion in the that way he approached Sammie…

No concern for what he just went through…

And if I say that’s reminiscent of how some religious people are now…would you want to tussle?

Religion comes up again when Remmick talks to them all in Grace’s, native language. Grace is played by Li Jun Li. To see a white Irish man speak to her in a language he shouldn’t know or understand, while also hearing about how she likes to be licked…he must be the Devil then, huh?

Which sends Sammie down a mini spiral, blaming himself for playing music and leading the devil to their door, even though, I think it’s safe to say that Sammie has played guitar before this night, and he was relatively fine before.

Sometime in the story, Delroy Lindo’s character, Delta Slim, says, “Blues wasn’t forced on us like that religion. We brought this with us from home. It’s magic what we do. It’s sacred. It’s big,” and while I’ll get into the music being magic of it all a little later, I want to talk about how Delta Slim says that religion WAS forced on us, because Remmick says the same thing.

Near the end, when Sammie says Our Father, and Remmick joins in, not only does he join in, and baptize him, dipping him into the water three times, he talks about how the men who stole his father’s land forced religion upon them and that “he hates those men” but those words still comfort him. Later in that speech, he says that men have lied to everyone, thinking that we are to dominate over the earth, and don’t realize that we all need each other. He says, “We are earth and beast and God. We are connected to everything.”

Which leads me to think:

How can music be a sin if we made it? If we’re connected to it?

How can music be a sin if it saves us?

And why do we put so much trust and faith into a religion from people that raped, and murdered, and tortured, and did other horrific things to us?  From people who still seek to separate us from them and to separate us from each other, who still take advantage of us, who still lynch us for breathing and just existing.  Who used religion as a means to tell you right from wrong and up from down, which is the basis of how you control someone.

And if you’re still here, I’m not here to tell you what to believe or not to believe and the movie isn’t either. I’m just sharing what I’ve taken from the movie as someone who grew up as a C&E Church-goer and eventually attended Catholic schools, who learned the rituals of Catholicism, like Lent, and mass, and prayer before class, I even had religion classes, but never felt fully connected the way some of my peers were and had been their whole lives.

On the flip side, we see Annie and her faith in her spiritual practice. I don’t remember if it’s explicitly referred to as Hoodoo in the movie, but there was a Hoodoo consultant. Annie believes in her practices and uses it to help others instead of berate them. We see two little girls asking for her services and paying with something that’s not US dollar bills, so it’s not just about the money.

She believes and defends her practice, even though Smoke doesn’t, even though she lost her daughter and doesn’t have any answers for why that happened.

And Annie’s belief system is the only one that has been proven to work and be of use. Her knowledge base is what diagnosed Mary and Stack as vampires. Her mojo bag is what protected Smoke. We SEE that, because Stack is unable to bite Smoke because the energy around the bag creates a forcefield that protects Stack from biting his neck. And when Smoke rips the bag off, he’s telling us he doesn’t want to live. It protected Smoke regardless of his faith in it, but maybe that’s because of Annie’s intentions with it. 

Another message I got is that because of free will, we choose what we put our faith into.

Delta Slim put his faith in music, he called it magic. Sammie’s dad put his faith into Christianity and God. Annie put her faith into Hoodoo and her spiritual practice, Smoke put his faith into Annie, wearing the mojo bag even though he didn’t really believe in it, and Sammie has to decide what he believes in, because in this reality, he can’t believe in it all. 

Near the end of the movie, Sammie’s dad says. “In the name of God, you tell them: My heart, my voice, my soul belongth to the lord.” 

And we take a beat to see what Sammie decides, between Christianity and God or music and all that comes with it.

Music transcends

We see music used in different ways throughout the movie. 

Remmick, played by Jack O’ Connell, tries to use music as a way to connect with Smoke and Stack and everyone at the juke joint. 

Remmick uses music as a past-time, singing outside the juke joint once there are people turned.

Music is used as a means of expressing and a way of feeling and healing. It can be a temporary escape and we see that, not only in the juke joint, but also when Delta Slim is shouting to the people on the side of the road who are picking at the ground.

And that’s ultimately why Delta Slim, played by Delroy Lindo, calls music magic, because while it can be something you dance and move to, it can also be so much more. It can make you feel seen. It can save your life.

In this movie, in THEE scene, you know the scene, Annie’s lines are said again, “there are legends of people born with the gift of making music so true, it can pierce the veil between life and death, conjuring spirits from the past and future. The gift can bring healing to communities but also attracts evil.”

We get THEE song, “I Lied to You” sang by Miles, and hear him sing, “I lied to you. I love the blues,” talking about his relationship with his dad.

And during that scene, we see Miles embrace his love of music in a room with other sinners who are stunned and genuinely appreciative of his gift, and who lose themselves in the music.

We see the literal piercing of the veil, exploring different genres of music, from our roots in Africa, to blues music of that time through Sammie’s voice, to rock, and modern rap and hip hop. We see the evolution of music AND dance in that scene, and proof that it’s not just Black people who are able to connect with their ancestors through music, but anyone can too, because we see a Chinese dancer as Grace and her husband vibe to the music and begin dancing too.

Sammie’s performance literally sets the roof on fire, bringing me to think of that phrase, “The roof is on fire. We don’t need no water, let that motherfucker burn,” and we see visuals of the juke joint on fire, and still Sammie is singing and the ancestors and future spirits are still dancing and having a good time.

It’s also symbolic of what the juke joint stood for in general or at least what it could stand for.

Smoke is about the money, he’s practical and needs a return on his investment, and Stack comes up with ways to make it happen, but there’s a scene where Stack and Annie take whatever the attendees can offer because this is their getaway. 

This idea of “let that mother-fucker burn” comes up again when Pearline, played by Jayme Lawson, is singing. At this point, things are actually going to shit. Mary has been turned and let into the juke joint. Cornbread, played by Omar Benson Miller, goes to take a piss. Bo, played by Thomas Pang, lets Smoke know a patron was cheating during a card game and Smoke handles business. Stack finally gives into temptation and goes to get some. And Pearline is singing her ass off, and people are enjoying the show despite hell breaking loose.

It’s only the gun shots firing where people pause. It sobers them and pulls them out of the moment. And of course it would! A gun going off, and that many times, is a signal of danger, no matter who you are, but I want to point out that there’s also trauma associated with it in this case, because overseers fire their guns when they want people to fall in line.

This is during the Jim Crow era in Mississippi, and all day people are working in the field as sharecroppers, navigating discrimination and racism and white supremacy, grieving freedom and the losses they experience on a daily basis. They could die tomorrow, their family and friends could die tomorrow, but they have tonight in this juke joint with liquor and music so true that it pierces the veil. Annie and Stack point out that they need this. Delta Slim says as this scene winds down, “With this here ritual, we heal ourselves, and we be free.”

Despite their troubles, they’re going to enjoy the ambiance, the music, the drinks, and the company for as long as they can and forget their worries for a little while.

 They needed that night to keep going. They needed to remember what it’s like to live and to live freely.

White Saviorship and Performative Allyship

The music is what draws Remmick to the juke joint. He can hear the music and see how special it is. I believe he sees the building on fire, might even see some of the spirits it awakened, and wants to see his own ancestors.

And he used other people to do it.

First, he turns the white woman and man who were too racist and tempted by money to accept the fact that maybe the Native Americans, who were only in the movie for a minute or so, know what they were talking about. And even with the short time frame, their impact is felt, so much so that people, including me, are requesting a prequel story following the Native Americans and their vampire hunting journey, though I understand and support Ryan Coogler wanting to keep this movie a standalone.

Deeper in the movie, we learn that the man Remmick turned in the beginning is actually a Klan member and was related to the wizard who was the white man who sold the place to Stack and Smoke, both of which, I don’t think I said, are played by Michael B. Jordan.

Remmick says they were going to die, and makes it seem like he is their savior. 

But maybe Stack and Smoke knew what was coming. They tell the Grand Duke that it’s on sight if they see him or his Klan buddies on property lines. They have the guns and bombs in their truck. And maybe they always have that thing on them just in case, but I like to think that Smoke knew what they were walking into, and that’s why they had the sense to ask about the floors.

Remmick positions himself as a savior. He tells Mary, played by Hailee Steinfield, as they’re talking outside of the juke joint, that he wishes he could’ve saved Mary’s mother, that he wants to save Mary, and that everyone needs saving.

In a way, this ties a little into Christianity, and other religious and spiritual practices, because in theory you perform rituals to save your soul, but it’s a problem when you see yourself as the savior. 

Remmick sees himself as a savior and says, “No matter how many guns or how much money, they gon take it from you when they want. You built something here tonight and it was beautiful but it was built on a lie….they were always going to kill you. I just happened to show up at the right place at the right time.” 

And later, Remmick is offended when Smoke asks if they’re Klan, for obvious reasons, but doesn’t recognize the harm he causes to the people he claims he wants to be in community with. Remmick doesn’t recognize that the way that he comes off is patronizing.

He frames himself as an ally in a way. He tries to appeal to them, saying that he believes in equality…and music. At some point he offers to go after the rest of the Klan members because they have the numbers now that he’s successfully turned more people.

He uses the other turned vampires to join in on the manipulation, looking for the perfect thing to say that’ll appeal to them. The first female vampire he turns talks about starting a new clan based on love. Throughout their time trying to get into the juke joint, she talks excessively about “fellowship and love” and even says, “After we kill ya’ll, we can have heaven on earth,” which is crazy because she was married to a Klan member, but I guess that’s white women for you.

Even Cornbread talks about “bein’ kind to one another,” and “bein’ polite,” because “We is one people.” Which is a very colorblind approach, and it is problematic because it doesn’t address the ways in which race has been used as a caste system in America, nor does it hold white people accountable and require them to look inward for the harm they caused across generations, nor does it force white people to be humble and address their superiority complex. 

And also being polite and kind, regardless of circumstance, and in this case the circumstance is that he’s trying to kill them, lacks nuance and is a belief that I think is rooted in white supremacy. Because sometimes being polite and kind and not standing up for yourselves, can put you in danger. In this case, they would’ve died and become vampires.
Their souls would’ve been stuck in their body, they can’t rejoin their ancestors, and they would be cursed to live in this world with all this hate”, according to Annie.

Being kind and polite would’ve made them a fool.

And of course, earlier this year, I’ve talked about how people need to lead with empathy, and that’s still true, but I also said, people need to use their discernment, and we see that playout once Remmick introduces himself. 

They didn’t slam the door in his face immediately. They didn’t try to kill him on sight, and they didn’t welcome him in with open arms. They gathered information, and made a decision from there.

Anyway, Remmick doesn’t recognize that he’s using Black people and their lives and bodies to get what he wants, which is to use Sammie to connect with his ancestors, not the equality he claims. 

He says, “Can’t we, for one night, all be family?” and he says this after saying, ‘Oh, it’s because of skin color,” as if skin color doesn’t matter in this time frame, when it clearly does, whether it should or not. Smoke even points out what could happen if they let them in, saying, “What if someone spills something on them, steps on their foot, looks at their women too long.”

Gatekeeping, Proximity to Whiteness and Culture Vulture 

But let me back up for a second. Everything was relatively okay before Mary went outside.

When Mary first shows up, Smoke tells Stack to deal with her and get her out, but she doesn’t leave. Maybe if she did the night would’ve gone differently.

The vampires were outside the juke joint and the attendees were inside, singing and dancing to the music.

At first, Stack was going to leave them alone. But then Mary convinced him that she could get money or information out of them. Though in this time period, she’s considered Black, she is able to pass as a white person because of her skin tone. Later in the movie she says, “I didn’t want to be white, I wanted to be with you,” and Stack says he just wanted her to be safe. And it’s sad, because it’s clear there’s something more there, but also because Smoke spent his whole life protecting Stack, and I think it’s part of why Stack cut ties with Mary. Smoke knew how dangerous it was for Stack to be hanging around Mary because of her proximity to whiteness, different from Grace’s and Bo’s situation, because Grace and Bo were clearly not white, whereas Mary could pretend to be.

And we know that because it’s been a while since Mary has come around and no one really recognizes her. Sammie says he thinks a white lady is staring at Stack. Cornbread stops her while she tries to enter the juke joint, before she starts speaking. And I noticed that when Cornbread and Sammie talk to her, they both take their hats off as they speak.

Even Remmick wants to know how she got in the juke joint as a white person.

So, because of her proximity to whiteness, she felt comfortable going out to talk to them and see what she could get because of some perceived understanding between them.

And although her intentions were pure, she was able to be manipulated, aka turned into a vampire, by someone whose intentions weren’t pure. She was able to use the relationships she built to get inside, and use their history to get to Stack and get inside of his head, and in this case to turn him.

And all of this shows why gatekeeping certain cultural things are needed. Because, although in this case it’s not 100% Mary’s fault for what happened, sometimes the people you bring into a space will cause harm or take advantage of it and of you, or unintentionally invite someone else who will.

Remmick didn’t give a damn about equality, or even music, like that. He reveals that he wanted Sammie and to connect with his ancestor. He says, “I want your stories and I want your songs. And you’re gonna have mine,” which is no better than the people who took his father’s land or the Klan and other white supremacists.

Turns out Remmick’s intentions had nothing to do about community, but everything to do with exploitation, and exploitation for personal gain at that. 

The crazy thing is that once he turns some of the attendees of the juke joint, like Stack and Mary and Cornbread, the music he sings changes. It’s still an Irish song, but it’s got some bass and some drums and a rhythm that’s more appealing than the songs and the little dance he sang and did earlier in the movie, when he is trying to get inside.

Temptation

Remmick tries to tempt the people inside in different ways to get them to accept death and turn into vampires. 

When nothing else worked, Remmick tempted the two people he turned first with gold, which got them to let him come inside. By choosing to wait until someone leaves, Mary and Stack were tempted with the opportunity to get some money.  And when Mary is turned, Stack is tempted with the opportunity to be with Mary.

From there, the vampires try to tempt everyone to let them in. Stack uses Smoke’s love for him, trying to get him to open the door before he knocks it down. Cornbread goes after Smoke’s desire to pay his debt, barely putting his hand out to force Smoke to step out and give him the money. Then Bo comes up, trying to get his wife to come out so they can go home…or she can let him in.

Stack talks about freedom, saying, “We was never gonna be free…this is the way. Together. Forever.”

Remmick tries to negotiate, asking only for Sammie, and when that doesn’t work, that’s when he threatens Grace’s daughter, tempting her to make a move, which she ultimately does.

Temptation is shown throughout this movie and I really noticed it on the most recent rewatch.

Delta Slim was tempted by Irish beer and gave in to come play at the juke joint. Stack sweetened the deal by upping the rate to 40 dollars and all the beer he can drink.

Cornbread and his wife were tempted by money too, because after the shit talkin’ his wife is interested when Stack says he will pay him.

I’m not shaming anyone for being tempted for money. You need money to live, people were hardly getting paid, and they had to do what they had to do, which is why I think the negotiation happening all throughout this movie is tied to temptation. At what point is the deal good enough to tempt you into saying yes, regardless of what you perceive the consequences to be? 

Near the beginning of the movie, after Sammie is picked up by Stack and Smoke, right before they’re about to split up, there’s a scene where a snake is shown in the back of the truck.

The snake scene has stayed on my mind because I knew it was important, but I didn’t know exactly why or how and I hadn’t seen anyone talk about it, but after hearing Sammie read from the Bible and say, “God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but [even] when you’re tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it,” I realized how big of a theme temptation is in this movie.

The biblical story says that there is a snake that tempts Eve into eating the apple and it starts the downfall of humanity. 

And in this movie, when the snake appears, the three of them are faced with the symbol of temptation or evil. We see Sammie freeze, and let Stack and Smoke take the lead. We see Stack throw the knife, but ultimately Smoke is the one who kills the snake. Smoke is the one who is able to kill his temptation and defeat evil.

It foreshadows the way the rest of the movie plays out. It’s similar to how each of them respond when faced with temptation.

Stack is tempted and gives into Mary. He was never the one who was able to say no to evil or to hope. He still believes his dad didn’t mean it when he beat him. He was nodding along to the music that Remmick made, and considered letting him in, until Smoke shut that down. And he was supposed to kick Mary out, but Smoke wasn’t there to ensure the job was done. Smoke wasn’t able to stop him this time. 

Sammie froze in the water. He tried to pray, but it didn’t help much. He used his guitar, and it helped.

But it was ultimately Smoke who was able to defeat evil. Smoke fought the temptation of having Annie forever, and kept her promise, ending her life. Smoke killed his father to protect Stack. Smoke killed Remmick to protect Sammie. And then he killed the KKK before he got reunited with Annie and his baby.

No one really had a way out that didn’t include death, except for Sammie, who still had a choice to make.

Conclusion

Near the end of the movie, Sammie’s dad says. “In the name of God, you tell them: My heart, my voice, my soul belongth to the lord.” 

And we take a beat to see what Sammie decides, between Christianity and God or music and all that comes with it.

And Sammie chose to put his fath in music.

He chose healing and connection over the fear of evil and over the fear of sinning. He already defeated evil, and Christianity didn’t help him the same way that the guitar did, the same way that Smoke did. And I saw a creator on Tik Tok talking about how even as he’s grown old, he bears the mark from Remmick and still lives, showing how protected and powerful he is.

Despite what Smoke said, “which was to burn that fuckin’ guitar”, despite what his father pleaded, Sammie chose to put his faith into his gift and his abilities.

He chose his own path, and found success.

The end always makes me cry, when an older Sammie and vampire Stack are talking, and Sammie talks about the scars left from the night.

But he still talks about how it was the greatest night of his life. And Stack agrees, because, “For a few hours, we was free.”

 Next week, I’m supposed to be Ranking Bridgeton. Please check out the socials because I give updates if anything changes.

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