Blog Post 5 - May 23

African American Studies 112B

This past week, we talked about the significance of vampires in Afrofuturism - specifically, we talked about the new movie Sinners by Ryan Coogler. I was lucky enough to have watched this movie a few weeks ago when it first came out, and taking this class helped me analyze and understand many of the components about this film that I would not have picked on without learning in this class. Coogler was able to create a film that discussed both the past and present in such a unique way with the use of vampires in this film. 

First and foremost, the use of vampires in this film was a vehicle to discuss cultural appropriation. The main plot of the film is how two twin brothers open a juke joint with their close friends in the Jim Crow era. The vampires (white people) in the film love the blues that are performed in the juke joint but do not care about the people who make it. There are so many aspects about Blackness, such as Black culture, style, music including the blues and more, that are so coveted but appropriated by the vampires who do not care about the people who invented it. The vampires represent how white people take the benefits of Black culture for their own personal gain. Although the Black folk in this film had to find a way to defeat the vampires who were trying to convert them all, I thought that Coogler created an interesting metaphor when the vampires were directly head to head with such joyful and strong Black folk. I thought this represented resilience and survival, especially with the fact that they went face to face with the vampires in the juke joint while the blues were playing. 

Another interesting component about the use of vampires in this film was how vampires are tempted - you have to invite the vampire in your house in order for them to take over. Once the vampires entered, they were literally sucking the life out of these Black folk - and I think this directly correlates to what I was talking about earlier with how these vampires are culturally appropriating Black people. They are literally sucking the life and music out of their bodies. And then when they are done, they discard them; this seems like a direct reflection to how many people appropriate many aspects about Black culture for their own benefit but then disregard the very people who created it. 

Even when thinking about the name of this movie, I think the people who are sinning are ambiguous. Who really are the “sinners”, is it the vampires, is it the people in the juke joint, is it someone else? I think naming this movie Sinners was such a unique twist by Coogler.     

Overall, there were so many intricate aspects about this film that go beyond just the use of vampires. Even the fact that the setting of this movie was placed in the Jim-Crow Era has meaning. I really enjoyed this film and how Coogler incorporated different aspects of Afrofuturism throughout. I am excited to see more of Cooglers films in the future!