vampiryx

[vampiryx]

this was FANTASTIC

A love letter to the brilliant, talented, lying ass, cheating heifer...Pearline 🖤

There is so much to love about this character. She is played by Jayme Lawson so jot that down.

I couldn't sleep after watching this film. Not only did she cheat, sing and kill in the space of 2 hours 18 minutes, she stole my heart, too.

Let's break this down sequentially.

Name

'Pearline' connotes something rare and beautiful. There's two elements I love about this imagery.

One - she is a shining vision in a sea of flesh. This reflects her performance on stage, where she is a sight to behold in a sea of moving bodies.

Two - she is linked to local history. For decades, African Americans found employment and even autonomy fishing oysters along the Gulf Coast. These oysters would be shipped around the nation; creating opportunity for black fishermen, chefs and entrepreneurs. Her names anchors her to the South, to black ingenuity and resilience.

Furthermore! Her solo reflects the idea that Pearline is deeply committed to her people. While Sammie wrote an original song that he had never shared before, Pearline sings a lively song where everyone could join in.

When she thumps in time with the twins' violence, I feel like that emphasises her carpe diem nature. You cannot reach the valuable part of an oyster without exerting physical force. Before we reach the climax of the song and see Jayme Lawson in all her brilliance, a sinner in the back room takes several blows to the chest. Since this takes place during the Prohibition Era we can assume that she is no stranger to violence or crime.

Look

Damn, this woman is fine. Her skin was so well lit in the film. The night scenes when she was sweating on stage (and on that table) had her looking radiant. The beat was flawless and the hair worked!

Fits

The Clarksdale train station look will always be a favourite of mine. The white fishnet gloves, the floral earrings, the dark hat with flowers at the back and the floral print dress ate down. I'm just glad Sammie saw the vision.

Her light green, silk number in the juke joint made sense. We even got a new accessories  on stage, she can be seen in her wedding ring, different dangling earrings and a shiny cuff. The matching scarf was the perfect touch and them shoes!! Lord. They took 'Pale, Pale Moon' to the next level. Speaking of that that song - I am obsessed. It went triple platinum in my house last week. Brittany Howard and Ludwig Göransson devoured.

Love interest

That introduction after Pearline first watched Sammie play did it for me. There were fireworks between them!! Only to be followed up by

"You gonna sing?" "We'll see where the night takes us"

My goodness me. This woman really said I do what I want. She walked all the way to that juke joint, got her pussy ate, and sang like never before.

Queen shit.

Character arc

We first meet Mrs Pearline in the golden light of day. She looks calm and curious; eyeing up Preacher Boy. We then learn more about her tastes (in terms of sex, music, choreography and aromatics) before seeing her in action (killing these undead motherfuckers with Annie). She starts off reserved and mysterious and later proves herself to be brave and self-assured. Her dance style is sensual, animalistic and free. Clearly, this is not her first time performing for folks in a place like this; unlike Sammie. He has only ever sung at church and on Delta Slim's territory.

Speaking of Preacher Boy! She stands side by side with him, guarding the room where they are holding Stack. She calls Smoke evil to his face when he threatens to kill her over some garlic. She shoots at vampires, stakes motherfuckers and fights to the bitter end. My girl has ice in her veins.

Background

A massive thank you to professional dancer and cultural historian Melany Centeno for her breakdown video on YouTube explaining all the ancestors in THAT scene. She found that Ahmari Vaughn played Pearline's ancestor. This dancer was dressed in Hamar cultural wear while doing traditional Nilotic dances. The Acholi people are a Nilotic ethnic group found in Sudan and Northern Uganda. They have dances like Larakaraka and Bwola; which emphasise female agility and elegance.

Also credit to Walter English. He created this reading list inspired by Ms Pearline. It explores some brilliant Black Feminist literature and historical archives.

Thoughts on the actress Jayme Lawson deserves every good thing in this world. I love this character that she has brought to life and I thoroughly appreciate how messy, beautiful and real Pearline is.

Favourite quotes by her

"Y'all are cousins? I thought you were a nice young man"

"What was in that jar?"

These quotes represent the 'fuck it, we ball mentality of Mrs Pearline. When she learns that Sammie is related to the twins, she doesn't run out of that place - she spends even more time with him. I love that for her. There's no doubt she has heard rumours of the Smoke Stack twins not-quite-legal employment history. Rather than seek the company of upstanding black folk in Clarksdale, she goes even deeper into this mess.

For the second quote, I love how Pearline is actively working to figure out how the hell they can survive. The criticisms of her character as a jezebel are not completely unfounded however this line changes things. She is a woman who feels trapped in her marriage, just like how Sammie feels trapped in his father's church.

While she is very comfortable in her sexuality; she is not defined by it. She gets head from Preacher Boy, with her wedding ring on. She performs with reckless abandon on stage to an adoring crowd.

Siren, sure. Jezebel? No.

Mrs Pearline is not a sexual object with no thoughts, no ambitions for herself. She understands that in 1932 Mississipi, the sale of alcohol is illegal and she sings in a Juke Joint. She learns that this man she has just met has notorious, gangster cousins and she continues to seek him out. She finds out that they are surrounded by cold blooded monsters and she picks up a stake, then ties it to a shotgun.

The lovers' performance

I am calling it a singular performance because these two partners, idgaf. When Pearline arrives, Sammie dares her to play. She plays it cool and returns the dare. As he sings, she makes her way over and dances for him.

Them getting nasty in the backroom is the interlude. And finally, as she sings, he is in the wings, watching her with pure adoration.

Her musical number is just as powerful and vibrant as Preacher Boy's. Both of them are shown to be deeply rooted Southerners who love their people and the arts. They even stand up to Smoke in a similar manner. When Smoke tells Sammie to live a decent life, playing gospel music in the next town, Sammie refuses. Smoke holds a gun to his head. When Pearline hesitates to eat a clove of garlic, Smoke holds a gun to her head. Neither of them back down, even when their safety is on the line.

I saw an excellent post that explores the narrative development between 'I Lied to You' and 'Pale, Pale Moon'. It is a beautifully constructed journey that takes us from a coming-of-age musical to a historically accurate horror film. Sammie's song introduces us to his God given talent, while setting the scene for Remmick's self-serving, cult-like, pursuit.

Pearline's song is where the violence and the music begin to converge; namely when Pearline gets to stomping on stage in sync to the twins kicking a man in the gambling room.

In this scene, Sammie is admiring his woman and the juke joint patrons are singing in a chorus with her. This siren is at the centre of everything, in part because of her sex appeal, but mostly because of her passion and vocal abilities. The lyrics of the song even foreshadow the violent fates of these patrons. Sammie's music celebrates Black cultural contributions through past, present and future while Pearline's is a warning for what is to come.

Sammie is not the only griot in that place. The final credit scene features the gospel song 'This little light of mine' in which the lyrics directly contrast Pearline's song. Ms Pearline gets turned and becomes vulnerable to the sun so when she sings

Don't let it shine x4

Oh Lord

We learn that she is Sammie's equal and opposite.

In conclusion, Pearline is much more than eye candy in Sinners (2025). She is Sammie's narrative foil. She is a daring, formidable character who is about that action.

Favourite quote about her

'You so beautiful' - Sammie Moore 1932

No notes. Dude's right.

That whole scene had me like

[vampiryx]

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)

[vampiryx]

Keep the flame going for those we have lost to suicide. 

[vampiryx]

It's interesting to me that a lot of the people seem to think that yaoi and bl lovers are specifically straight women... but I think most of the people in these fandoms are queer people.

[vampiryx]

now the craziest part is that she was actually too real

but my patience is running thin...!

[vampiryx]

#needthat

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS 6.09

[vampiryx]

Every time I've seen this @cromerholt post on my dash I saw this in my mind and I finally drew it lmao

Support me on Patreon!

(ID in alt and under cut)

ID: 1. Waist up of Nandor with Guillermo a step behind him, both wearing their outfits from season 2 episode 5 Colin's Promotion. Nandor has Guillermo's right wrist, which is holding his phone, in his right hand and is pulling him forward and pointing at the screen with his other hand. The phone shows a neon pink and blue image of an adorable kitten with big innocent eyes. Nandor aims a pouty face and shiny eyes towards the viewer and says, in the form of a text post by @cromerholt, 'picture of a cute baby animal "um this is who youre being mean to btw".' Guillermo stares at the back of his head, flustered. 2. Reverse shot of an irate Nadja with Laszlo behind her, both wearing their outfits from season 2 episode 5 Colin's Promotion. She points an accusatory finger at Nandor and snarls, in the form of the rest of the text post, "thats not even true man youre a straight up vampire and you destroyed my village with your dark powers". Laszlo holds up a useless hand as if trying to calm a bucking horse, expression already giving up on doing so. /end ID

[vampiryx]

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