teardownthewall

[teardownthewall]

the em dash calls to me like the green goblin mask whenever I’m writing a fic

[teardownthewall]

no offense but how did y'all watch sinners and walk away simping after the horrifically mid white boy when Michael B Jordan is literally right there in three different genres

[teardownthewall]

I think Sinners hits harder if you have lived in the Deep South, because there's this tangible connection to the scenes-you can feel the weather, the way the heat changes when Smoke walks under the trees at Annie's, the way it gets cooler but not cool and the humidity lingers even once the sun goes down, the sound of cicadas and crickets in the trees. The way everything is sticky, no matter what you do.

It's truly a love letter to the South in terms of scenery and cinematography.

[teardownthewall]

[teardownthewall]

im not seeing enough love for delta slim. there's a large part of the narrative - that tragedy and hope are two sides of the same coin - which is expressed by him and his dedication to still performing.

performing the blues both because of and in spite of all the things that have happened to him. he's introduced as someone we're supposed to feel sorry for (his drunken state, his fear of his own mortality, the tragedy and brutality he's seen) and yet!!!! and yet!!!! hes still clinging to his passion with bloodied fingertips!!! still playing, still making music!!!

i can't remember smoke's exact line, but it's something like 'I've met plenty of musicians, but I've never met a happy one'. in a way, that's true of all the musicians in the film (pearline is implied to be unhappy in her marriage, the twins' father is stated to have been an awful man, etc). it's especially true for delta slim...but it's not true for sammie, not really, not when it's all but stated outright that sammie feels trapped and stifled by everything except music.

delta slim sees that passion, and he gives his life for sammie in the hope that the music sammie makes will live on. that despite everything that happens, he'll survive and he'll keep playing. he'll cling to that passion with bloodied fingers.

[teardownthewall]

Delta Slim is also just like. God. The way he grabs the guitar for Sammie before they run upstairs, the way he wants Sammie to introduce himself. Everyone is fighting for Sammie to live on in this film but Slim is fighting at every point for Sammie’s music because he understands how important it is.

[teardownthewall]

I can’t tell you how satisfying it is, at the end when Smoke kills the last kkk guy, there not being any “nnnooooo 🥺 you can’t kill him!!! 🥺 else you’ll be just as bad as he is!!! 🥺”

Smoke pumped that motherfucker full of lead and got a first class ticket to enjoy heaven with his hot witch wife and his infant daughter. If that pisses you off then go watch the MCU.

[teardownthewall]

One of the funniest little moment in Sinners is when Pearline says Sammie seems like a nice young man, and he responds with “I ain’t always nice. Ain't that young either” and he looks like this –

[teardownthewall]

SINNERS 2025, dir. Ryan Coogler

[teardownthewall]

i’m in actual tears right nowwwww

[teardownthewall]

The affection between Black men in Sinners!

Smoke and Stack hugging and saying ‘I love you’ before they part ways in the corn field

Stack’s excitement and cheering as he listens to Sammie’s music while the two of them cruise down the road.

Delta Slim playing with Sammie and mentoring him by explaining the historical and spiritual significance of music to their community.

The way Smoke and Delta and all the others place their bodies in between Sammie and Remmick when the cards are laid before them, holding out an arm to stop Sammie from sacrificing himself; insisting that they’re going to die before they let Sammie leave through that door.

The protective and desperate way Smoke clutches onto Sammie in the final act; Remmick burning up in front of them and Smoke wrapped around Sammie to shield and comfort him and provide another barrier between them and the vampires just in case.

Stack showing up, telling Sammie he’s been following his career the whole of his life, collecting his albums because that’s his little cousin! He’s known him, they’ve known him, and isn’t it amazing to see how far he’s come?Supporting him from a distance, but supporting him nonetheless.

The option Sammie is given at the very end, and the way his choice is honored. Because as much as Stack (and Mary) love him, theirs is not a possessive love. It’s the selfless kind, that they will not try to hold onto Sammie past his time, but instead make sure he knows how important and loved he has been in life.

[teardownthewall]

SINNERS 2025 | dir. Ryan Coogler

[teardownthewall]

something about smoke being rejected since childhood because everyone was certain his father's evil lived on in him. something about annie being the only one to call smoke 'elijah' and how that makes him soften. something about how just before they're truly reunited, annie says 'i dont want any of that smoke on the baby'. something about annie being the one who sets smoke free from his past and his sins and lets him be human instead.

[teardownthewall]

[teardownthewall]

Something something vampires have no reflection so he can't even try to see his brother's face anymore when he looks into the mirror

[teardownthewall]

Remmick, Ryan Coogler's vampire in Sinners, is written so well. You have a white, Irish vampire from the time of the colonization of Ireland by the english who is trying to deal with his own loss and 'hunger'. He wants to use Sammie. He wants to take away Sammie's music, his tradition and to use it for his own gain.

We have one more white oppressor who presents himself as a saviour. He inflitrates a black community, coming with the promise of... equality, community and freedom from death. But those promises come to fruition in a very specific manner. Remmick is the leader, for all the equality he promises. HE is the one who sets the tune the rest are singing. HE is the one whose pain is felt by every member of this 'community'. Every person that is turned connects to him in a hive-mind of collective memory and experience that HE controls and is able to use to his own convenience. Moreover, this is a collective that does not exclude the KKK-alligned family that was part of the plan to slaughter an entire black community.

Remmick represents a seemingly politically correct, predominantly white globalization. He presents himself as well-intended. He may even BELIEVE that he is. But what he offers is the death of individuality, of culture and tradition.

[teardownthewall]