#sinners analysis

[seaglassdinosaur]

The way Remmick dunking Sammie in the climax of the film worked as a forced baptism? A precursor to a ‘conversion’ to vampirism? The one-sided conversation Remmick has about the imposition of Christianity, his own forcible conversion that he now inflicts on another young man, all while speaking as though he, Remmick, is better and more enlightened than his own oppressors? The violence of the scene, the terror and distress we see on Sammie’s face as he is waterboarded by Remmick. That it is all a metaphor for the actual violence of forced conversion, the mental, emotional, social and even physical helplessness and disorientation that is felt in the victim made tangible through Caton’s performance. All of it inflicted with an intention to control and subjugate.

Holy. Goddamn. Shit.

[eqqautor]

this is so specific but in sinners I really liked how the cotton plantations are depicted. there's so many shots of them driving or walking through cotton fields which just feel infinite and really span into the distance, maybe a single tree in the frame. it's such a small detail but it really conveys the sense unending labour and the scale of exploitation of Black people in that industry in the US, like of course the cotton fields would have seemed/felt endless, especially as you work in them all day... Ryan Coogler i love you

[lokilysolbitch]

okay i wasnt seeing any christian takes on sinners before but ive been seeing a couple now and OHHHHHH MY FUCKING GODDDDDDDDDDDDD. oh my god

'this is a movie about spiritual warfare' this is a movie about colonialism and white supremacy. and how black ancestral spirituality was demonised and still demonised by christians of all colors today as a result !!!! its about christianity being used as a tool to subdue black people and irish people !!!!!

'remmick knows the our father prayer bc the devil knows the bible' REMMICK KNOWS THE VERSE BC HE WAS A VICTIM OF CHRISTIANITY !!!!!! BOTH SAMMIE AND REMMICK WERE VICTIMS OF CHRISTIANITY !!!!! THATS WHY THEY BOTH KNOW IT !!!!!!!! THATS WHY IT DOESNT WORK !!!!! using an abusers tool on another abuser whos seen that trick already isnt gonna do shit

'the our father prayer actually did save sammie bc smoke protected him' hey okay so . im going to lose it. did we not all see sammie bash remmicks head in w the GUITAR. the SILVER and WOODEN guitar ?? that one. and i believed he also stabbed him with the WOOD of the guitar.

lets put two and two together here. so we see sammie sing and play guitar and it summons the ancestors and descendents. right. so. if the guitar represents ancestors. okay. and sammie kills remmick with the guitar. stay with me now. sammie kills remmick (a symbol of assimilation to whiteness) with his guitar (his connection to his ancestors). do you see. what im saying.

heres another one. annie is the one who spotted and identified the danger (vampires which are colonialism, assimilation, etc), the one who mobilized everyone and knew what to do, because of her understanding of her ancestral spirituality.

this is not about fucking. god versus the devil. this is not about them. this is about colonization vs knowing your goddamn roots. and this is about your history, where you come from, who you are, being what saves you. this is about joy and art and community being what saves you and being what makes life worth living. this is about colonization being something that is forcefully and violently spread. if you want to survive it, you need to know who the fuck you are and where you come from.

SO STOP MAKING IT ABOUT SATAN THIS IS NOT ABOUT HIM

and DO NOT let no goddamn vampires into your house

anyways. as beyonce says, if you know who you are and where you came from say i slay (i slay)

[chromexbarbie]

And another thing...

Ryan Coogler said that at Smoke's core he is a father.

And it broke me up thinking about how Smoke and Annie's daughter died. Then he had to deal with Stack dying as well and the idea that he lost both of his 'babies' if you consider Smoke to be somewhat of a father figure to Stack.

Which is why Smoke looking to Annie, again, to bring one of his loves back to life and her not being able to must have been extremely emotional and traumatic for both of them.

There would be more to flesh out here but yeah...

[ynheer]

this photo fucking kills me bcs it's smoke swearing in his mind

' if this goddamn pig shirks us or pulls up with armed whites, i'm raining hellfire in five seconds.' Always on Edge

&& then there's stack thinking

'im rollin THE BEST cigarette 😸😸😸 !!'

(says that abt all the cigs he gets to roll for smoke and or anyone, for that matter)

[mcondance]

the way elijah is actually tearing up when he’s trying to get sammie to “leave all this improper shit to us,” is so… i think it speaks to how elijah thinks of himself and where he is in life. he wanted more, he and his brother wanted more, but the blood of their father kept them from being able to go down to mound bayou and make a living with the “proper Black folks.” and i think at a certain point it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. the whole world saw elijah and elias as no good, so it’s what they became. i think elijah really wanted more for his and his brother’s lives. i think, if he could have, he would have left all that “improper shit” behind and lived a good life. but he was dealt bad cards and he became a bad player to keep his head above water.

[ihavetosayyy]

Can we talk about the snake scene in Sinners for a second because it really foreshadows how the movie plays out. Smoke, Sammie, and Stack are faced with the snake, a symbol for temptation and evil.

Sammie freezes, and takes a step back to let Stack and Smoke lead. Stack throws the knife to Smoke and Smoke is the one who kills it. Who kills his temptation and evil.

Then later in the movie, Stack gives into temptation because he tends to give the benefit of the doubt a little more. He believes his dad didn’t mean it when he beat him, he’s the only one nodding his head along to Remmick’s song, and he considers letting them in until Smoke shuts it down. He ends up giving into Mary, because Smoke wasn’t there to stop him.

Sammie freezes in the water, praying as he somewhat accepts his fate, before he uses the guitar, which helps, but not enough.

Smoke is the one who kills evil and quiets temptation. He kills Remmick to protect Sammie, gives up forever with Annie and kills her, gives up forever with his brother, and kills the KKK before reuniting with Annie and his baby….

[oneiric-wanderlust]

The Smokestack Twins, and Sammie’s music. 

One of the things I find interesting is the Smokestack Twins, and their different reactions to Sammie’s musical talent. Stack is amazed by Sammie’s talent, but also sees an opportunity to make money. Smoke, on the other hand, acknowledges Sammie’s talent, but discourages him from playing the blues, and instead insists that he play church music, and even threatens him if he doesn't stop. I found it interesting because Smoke is undoubtedly a staunch capitalist. To him, money is power. He teaches a little girl to negotiate for a higher price, tells Annie that her currency can’t be spent anywhere, and seems to be ready to rough up an old man who can’t pay for some corn liquor. Stack is willing to cut the community of sharecroppers some slack, they work hard and deserve to play hard, even if they can’t necessarily afford it. Smoke not so much. To him, this is business. He doesn’t care, if they can’t afford it, that’s their problem. “I ain’t never saw no roots, no demons, no ghosts, no magic. Just power, and only money can get you that.”-Smoke. “We takin cash U.S motherfuckin’ dollars.”-Smoke. Make no mistake, Stack loves money. The Juke Joint was his idea. He buys a Sawmill from a Klansman. When Smoke says they should postpone, Stack rejects this and says they have to open that night. Stack seems to be a bit more understanding of economic inequality and the people side of business, building emotional appeal, he's more lenient with the patrons. Excited after Sammie belts out a tune, Stack is excited about Sammie’s talent. He sees his music being a profitable act at Club Juke. “We gon’ make some money!”-Stack. The twins paid Hogwood in cash, yet he still planned to murder them, as he had purchased a "killing floor". This would be implied to be a scheme that Hogwood was running. Ironically, at the end of the film, when Hogwood offers Smoke money in exchange to spare his life, Smoke kills him. Smoke was dying, whatever money Hogwood tried to offer him, was essentially useless and had no power over him, and it didn't protect Hogwood. 

Ryan Coogler had an interesting take on the Twins and Club Juke.

He nods to the premise of the juke joint, a place where Smoke and Stack could build wealth off of their community’s need for release. “It’s not the vampires doing that; the vampire is not charging anybody money for a feeling,” he says. “I was very interested in the twins. If the vampires never showed up, who are the vampires in this movie? Who was the first person to recognize Sammie’s gifts and see some money? Who’s scary? Who’s everybody afraid of in this movie?-Ryan Coogler, Rolling Stone.