Sinners--A Masterpiece
Added 2025-05-21 16:00:16 +0000 UTCRyan Coogler has directed five feature films: Fruitvale Station (2013), Creed, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Sinners (2025). Each of them shows an improvement and growth as a storyteller with Blackness at the root, with an acknowledgment of the interconnected web with other cultures through white supremacy.
Recommended Reading:
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-warmth-of-other-suns-the-epic-story-of-america-s-great-migration-isabel-wilkerson/6711593?ean=9780679763888&next=t
The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition by Linda Gordon https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-second-coming-of-the-kkk-the-ku-klux-klan-of-the-1920s-and-the-american-political-tradition-linda-gordon/8277170?ean=9781631494925&next=t
Deep South: A Social Anthropological Study of Caste and Class by Allison Davis (Author), Mary R Gardner (Author), Burleigh B Gardner (Author) https://bookshop.org/p/books/deep-south-a-social-anthropological-study-of-caste-and-class-allison-davis/18248998?ean=9780226817989&next=t
A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life by Allyson Hobbs https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-chosen-exile-a-history-of-racial-passing-in-american-life-allyson-hobbs/6703686?ean=9780674659926&next=t
Erin's Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century by Hasia R. Diner https://bookshop.org/p/books/erin-s-daughters-in-america-irish-immigrant-women-in-the-nineteenth-century-hasia-r-diner/7847578?ean=9780801828720&next=t
Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday by Angela Y. Davis https://bookshop.org/p/books/blues-legacies-and-black-feminism-gertrude-ma-rainey-bessie-smith-and-billie-holiday-angela-y-davis/6703446?ean=9780679771265&next=t
The Spirituals and the Blues - 50th Anniversary Edition by Cone James https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-spirituals-and-the-blues-50th-anniversary-edition-cone-james/18215933?ean=9781626984813&next=t
Links & Sources:
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/04/sinners-movie-ryan-coogler-interview/682556/
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/05/nx-s1-5381034/sinners-ryan-coogler-blues-rap-religion
https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/sinners-irish-music-ryan-coogler-explains-1235115635/
Comments
I saw this movie recently and I realize my comments are super late but, as much as I love Ryan Coogler, the comparisons btw Irish/Irish Americans and Black Americans and Remmick "predating" racism fall flat knowing that when Irish Americans had a chance they made the conscious choice to assimilate (at least partly) into white supremacy and the generic concept of whiteness and reap its benefits at any and all costs. And I mean this as a genuine question: what insight can Hailee Steinfeld give into her Black/Filipino heritage that would be worth hearing? Why does it matter?
Anna
2025-06-22 09:40:55 +0000 UTCSpeaking of Mary, have you seen the discussion about the new Pope cause I've seen people claiming he's Haitian, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Louisiana Creole, etc cause of his grandparents 😭
Dora Mercedes
2025-05-27 21:14:38 +0000 UTCYes! Everything I want to comment is a spoiler so I shant. I look forward to exploring this wealth of further reading recommendations.
Allexa Laycock
2025-05-26 20:35:18 +0000 UTCThank you so much for this thoughtful and well-researched piece. One of the few that I've seen that really gets it! I am sharing widely.
Kenyatta Matthews
2025-05-25 13:02:02 +0000 UTCThere is one thing that I think is worth noting about Mary’s character. I think it’s the unspoken reason for why people are upset over her and I don’t hear anyone ever mention it. The end credits. I don’t think the conversation around her would have ballooned to what it was without the end credit. It’s hard to say this without spoiling. In a film that centers blackness, what you learn in the end credits seems to reinforce a common horror movie trope that black people, black women in particular, would be expecting the movie to subvert. On the surface, I think, this movie could feel like an unspoken reinforcement of who deserves to be “protected”. As I type this, I’m realizing that I think this connects to the conversation around Grace as well. To be clear, I wouldn’t change a single thing about this movie. I loved it. I think the characters got the endings that made sense for them; however, on the surface, the movie seemed to follow larger societal/horror movie patterns and quite frankly, I think black people, black women are fatigued.
LeeLeeS
2025-05-25 02:24:18 +0000 UTCAmazing analysis and thoughts as always. I left the theater and knew this was my favorite movie and I hope to see it a third time in theatres. Thank you for always teaching me something new and putting words to my thoughts and feelings.
Bethany Byrd-Hill
2025-05-24 18:36:37 +0000 UTCI could watch a whole movie of Delroy Lindo monologuing in the car.
crumblymuppet
2025-05-23 19:15:51 +0000 UTCHeck yeah!!! I’ve been waiting for your Sinners video for weeks. Can’t wait to watch when I get home. Thank you!
jaded cynic
2025-05-22 20:16:59 +0000 UTCI've seen it twice! Truly the best film I've seen in a while. I also was not keen on the racial discourse online in the film, it all just came off as very half-baked.
Ayanna
2025-05-21 22:56:53 +0000 UTCI could have watched an hour+ of you breaking down this beautiful film. Also, I'm so glad you discussed the Mary and Grace character without making it whittled down to them being a problem or the reason why things got bad because they weren't Black or for the cause enough. And indeed Bo is fine, when he said let's go and brushes his hands through his hair... I'm now a vampire. lol
Shannon of House Lee
2025-05-21 22:39:48 +0000 UTCSaw it twice with one viewing in IMAX 70mm — such a great film.
Clint R.
2025-05-21 20:37:27 +0000 UTCMy friend and I saw in the Front of a theater, every other seat was taken. Worth it. The passionate performances and details were some of the best I've seen in a long time
Andrew Sparling
2025-05-21 18:37:20 +0000 UTCI absolutely love your media takes. I watch other people talk about these pieces and they just don't get it the way I do, but then you unfailingly come to the rescue and see what I see. <3
Corry Frydlewicz
2025-05-21 16:43:40 +0000 UTC
