why does remmick seem like a little freak when other vampires have natural charm and appeal?
tl;dr — sinners challenges the audience’s preconceived notions of vampires by throwing one into an atypical setting, subverting audience expectations to create a fresh vampire story rooted in historical and societal realities
saw a post comparing remmick to other vampires in media, specifically how unlike most vampires, he freaks people out and doesn’t have this suave, unearthly charm… but here’s the thing. he isn’t the one they’re freaked out by. they were suspicious to begin with, because of the sociocultural atmosphere of the time
1. should be obvious why the black characters suspected him of foul play. most white people in 1930s Mississippi did not seek out black companionship. if a white person wanted to deal with black folks, there probably was some kind of nefarious ulterior motive — case in point, the klan guy selling the mill to smoke and stack.
2. the white people in the film had reasons to suspect remmick as well. 1932 set us smack dab in the immediate fallout of the stock market crash of 1929 — the Great Depression. the south wasn’t quite as badly affected as the folks living in the Midwest, but things were still rough. people would walk up to a house claiming to need help, then rob the family blind and sometimes even kill them. for remmick to run up to a white couple’s home out of nowhere and beg for help… that would be a red flag. his offer of money and appeal to their racism helped smooth that over, but their immediate suspicions of him came from the desperate atmosphere of the times and their own struggle for survival. you can tell they’re not wealthy from the ramshackle appearance of their home and their simple clothes. they don’t want some vagabond to waltz in and kill them for what little they have.
3. this would require a much longer post to fully flesh out, but i would argue that remmick does have that otherworldly charm — just for the right kind of person. while most people are suspicious of remmick from the jump due to their experiences with racism, poverty, etc., mary is the one person who seemed to fall for his platitudes and charm… and i would argue it’s because of who she is.
stack tells us that mary has a rich white husband that owns a successful, lucrative farm. she has no need to worry about her livelihood or safety from strange white people. in fact, she is probably used to them kissing her ass because she’s rich, pretty and passes for white. remmick, bart and joan are just white people to her, and they show her empathy and compassion when they learn her mother passed away, which further disarms her. only when they begin exhibiting monstrous behavior (the drooling especially) does she really clock that they’re dangerous.
i bring this up because in a lot of media, vampires find success in charming others because they can relate to them. yes, they are depicted with glamoring powers that can draw people in, but think about the classics.
dracula targets jonathan harker after placing himself in a position of power over him, then goes to hunt mina and lucy, both members of higher society. they defer to him because he is a count — a powerful person societally. his strangeness is offset by their unwillingness to challenge or question his authority.
or perhaps a newer example — lestat and louis in the amc iwtv show. louis is less suspect of lestat early on because he has made a living from dealing with white people, playing to their position of power above him and deferring to them. lestat uses this to get close, then begins appealing to louis’ desire for power over the white men who disparage and control him. again we see that while it’s true that the vampire has an otherworldly charm, it’s their knowledge of power and societal dynamics that makes them effective
we don’t normally see poor white trash vampires, so it seems like remmick isn’t as successful at charming others, but really what’s happening is that the film is challenging our preconceived notions of what a vampire looks like by throwing one into an world that we normally wouldn’t find them in. vampires aren’t normally poor, wounded and hunted — they have power, money, influence and good looks.
that said, remmick still uses the same playbook as other vampires; he just has his work cut out for him, and has to navigate an inherently desperate, dangerous world in more calculated ways to protect himself. otherwise, he never would have had a chance in hell of getting close enough to the juke to achieve his goals. coogler did this on purpose. which is just another way this movie slaps major ass.
gahhhhhhhh this could be a whole paper and i’ll be damned if i don’t wanna write it
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