#caffeinejournalist

Hollywood's undeniably in an era of revamping (ha - see what I did there?) the blood-sucker genre; from the homosexual inclusivity and representation in the AMC/Netflix show My Interview With A Vampire, to the pro-feminist erotic Nosferatu reboot, and now with this new 1920's racially conscious contribution from Sinners. In a historic moment when it feels like the public consciousness/perception of morality is in retrograde (i.e it's becoming popular again for people to think same-sex and interracial marriages are "sinful" or "wrong" like back in the day), I think Ryan Coogler very strategically put their all into this much-needed film to remind everyone of the bloodlust of white saviorism.

But wait, what the fuck does "white saviorism" even mean?

According to Google, the term was popularized by political writer Teju Cole in his documentary called Kony 2012, which chronicles the political campaign to have Joseph Kony arrested by the end of 2012 for his war crimes and cult leadership in Uganda. The documentary presents Joseph Kony as a warlord who manipulates black Africans - and their children - into joining his cult-like brigade to protect him from military/international resistance while collecting their money for himself. The Kony 2012 campaign gained huge traction online by "do-gooders" pressuring US president Obama to intervene in the matter and arrest Kony, where the activists advertised that Kony's cruelest crime against humanity was indoctrinating children into serving in his military force. Enter: white saviorism. White people especially were quick to villainize Kony, the state of affairs in Uganda (specifically its distinction and thus "inferiority" to American government and culture), and make it their personal mission to interfere in a matter that did not affect them and that they did not know much about. White people used the Kony movement as an opportunity to pride themselves on performing charity work and further perpetuate the self-proclaimed entitlement of "solving Black people's problems" - problems which are often instigated by racial capitalism.

In the phenomenon of White Saviorism, white folks make opportunities to be the hero who saves the Black folks by 1) creating the scenario in which the Black people need saving (i.e. Black people who are homeless because of poverty induced by racial capitalism) and 2) doing the saving in a way that glorifies themselves and perpetuates the narrative of Black helplessness. Often times white saviorism occurs in churches because Christianity is interpreted as "doing good for others"; during colonization, it was white Christians who justified the cultural (and literal) genocide of Native Americans/Black Africans because they believed they were bringing "salvation", saving BIPOCs from damnation because their religious practices were "demonic."

Today, white saviorism in America looks like:

hiring white admin and white teachers to work in Black and Brown schools to "restore order and provide better quality education" instead of dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline or hiring Black and Brown teachers

performative charity work such as white influencers on TikTok going to Black-dominant neighborhoods to donate food to the homeless that they bought at white-owned franchises instead of supporting Black-owned restaurants and businesses

white Americans donating to white-established charities (that take a percentage for profit) to provide clean water for Black folks in Haiti instead of calling their senators to clean the water systems in Flint, Michigan

white professors teaching about slavery from textbooks written by white men instead of studying the literature written by Black slaves such as 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Target profiting off of the #BLM movement in 2020 by selling their own Juneteenth memorabilia instead of hiring Black entrepreneurs and artists to sell their products in stores

Disney featuring a Black woman in The Little Mermaid live action remake instead of hiring a Black producer to tell an original story with Black characters

So how does Sinners visualize white saviorism?

The first Vampire (Remmick) went for white Klan members - and was hunted down by Native Americans:

The Native Americans weren't playin' no games; they came to the Klan members' house asking if they had seen Remmick, knowing exactly what he was - dangerous, trouble, a spiritual evil. They advised the white folks not to invite Remmick in if they encountered him because he was dangerous, and when the white folks declined their advice, the Native Americans left peacefully on their horses accepting that their rejection of the good advice was not their problem. This is not unlike how during the colonization era, Native Americans offered to share their customs and culture - much of which would've preserved the survival of the colonizers such as the Native Americans' practices of hunting, gathering, and farming. The colonizers accepted the tools and resources of the Native Americans that benefited them, but then demonized the cultural practices and religion of Native Americans. To "save" the Native Americans, the colonizers created Catholic boarding schools and laws that allowed the colonizers to kidnap Native American children to be "adopted" and indoctrinated into white assimilation through these schools (see The Dawes Act 1887, The Indian Removal Act 1830, or literally just use Google lol). This was the first major demonstration of White Saviorism; the white colonizers pose as saviors to the Native Americans by saying them from the "damnation" of their religious and cultural practices, when really the manipulation allowed the white colonizers to profit from stolen land, stolen children/labor, and self-justification. In Sinners, the Native Americans tried to save the white Klan members from their own doomed demise; tried to save the white supremacists from losing their blood and soul to the white saviors. It's also worth mentioning that Remmick being Irish is a direct nod to the historical colonization of Ireland, where the Irish were abused and soul-sucked similar to the Black and Native Americans (fyi: race is a social construct - back in the day even in England the peasants were categorized like "Black" despite being of white race because they were so "inferior" to the wealthy aristocrats. I recommend reading Nancy Fraser's 'Expropriation and Exploitation in Racialized Capitalism' 2016 essay for more information on the subject). Anyways, this point is interesting because it shows that Remmick's vampirism is the result of white supremacy destroying his culture.

Vampires suck the soul out of Black people:

Vampires obviously suck blood out of their victims, but in this film the sucking is also of the soul. We know this in how Annie asks Smoke to kill her if she gets bit so that her soul passes onto the "other side" instead of being trapped on earth and assimilating to the hive mind of Remmick's vampires. Remmick even says he came to Sammie because he wants "your stories and your songs". Stories and songs are the blood and guts - the soul - of culture. In Sinners, Remmick wants Sammie's soul for his own purpose, drawing his soul into the hive mind and then using Sammie's gift of music like it's his own. We see this today in modern White Saviorism when white people take parts of the soul of Black culture and rebrand it like its their own; southern comfort food was created by the Black women slaves cooking for their masters, yet its marketed like a white Southern tradition without that consciousness at all. Rock 'n Roll was created by Black people, yet whiteness has rebranded rock 'n roll as white created and dominated by the likes of Elvis Presley and Bon Jovi, meanwhile white record labels market violent rap and hip hop to Black folks as if that is the only music genre created by Black folks made to be consumed by Black people. Even in beauty and hair care, Black women are characterized in pop culture media as masculine, angry, and/or ghetto, yet the natural beauty of Black women is replicated in how white women get lip fillers, nose jobs to flatten the nose, breast implants, and butt lifts; white companies buy out Black hair brands like Mielle, then change the formula to better suit typical white hair types.

Vampires have to be "invited in" - like how white people have to be "invited to the cookout":

The idea of vampires having to be invited in to people's homes is not exclusive to the Sinners' mythos of the vampire lore; even back in Dracula vampires had to be invited in because evil could not naturally enter the home of a holy one (also as a feminist literary theorist I believe it was subconsciously a myth developed to demonstrate how women invite sensuality because they enjoy sex and have their own autonomy to it just as much as men but hey, that's a convo for another day). But I don't think it's a stretch to compare this part of the vampire lore to the modern culture lore where white people covet an invite to the cook-out. White people want to take part in the Black culture of the Cook-out because the music is banging, the atmosphere is lively, and, of course, the food is bussin'. White people have been forced by cultural rules to have to be invited, when they wish they could just host the same thing for themselves; they have to earn an invitation because they cannot control Black people anymore, and they desire to be let in because they don't have soul to create the same experience for themselves. The desire for and hindrance to an invitation builds resentment, which is what makes white saviorism distinct from anti-racism; a white savior would empathize with Remmick and attempt to earn an invitation, whether by criticizing the hypocrisy of Mary being there or by getting the invitation through biting/indoctrinating Mary. An anti-racist would understand and respect the sacredness of Black culture belonging to Black people and seeking permission to enjoy/respect it, not consume it.

It was the white-passing character Mary who painlessly turned into a vampire and ruined it for everyone else:

We don't see the attacks on Mary, Bo, and Cornbread, but Mary is the only one we never see bite marks or blood stains. We see later a gaping wound in Cornbread's cheek, and blood stains on Bo's back, so we know they were bit, where they were bit, and can presume it was painful based on the other scenes of others getting bit and turned. But we never see Mary's bite marks nor blood where she was bit, almost like she was never bitten at all. This demonstrates how it is easier and less painful (figuratively and literally) for white and white-passing people to be indoctrinated into white saviorism. Mary is devastated when Annie dies instead of turning because she thinks her and the SmokeStack twins can all be together in the vampirism, but Annie knows that her soul will forever be tormented (i.e. cannot even walk in sunlight) if she allows the vampire of white saviorism take her soul instead of dying and passing into the after-life. In the afterlife, she becomes part of the ancestry of Blackness, but in vampire damnation, she is hidden in the shadows never able to engage with the Black culture and future on her own autonomy - she would always be bound by the hive mind and the physical limitations of vampirism, and never rejoin her daughter/ancestors. Mary cannot understand Annie's conviction and desire to not turn because she's been protected by white privilege for being white passing; Annie knows she'll experience peace in the afterlife and damnation in the vampirism because as a Black woman in America her life has already been hard (for her and her ancestors/people), but Mary cannot fathom this concept because she's been privileged enough by her race to have only experienced loss of a loved one (her mother) as a difficulty of life - she can't understand even with the hive mind why Annie wouldn't want to live forever with them. Smoke could've lived forever too, but has realized like Annie that in immortality he'll never really be free - because racist America will continue to hinder his life just as it had, even in how white saviorism led to his vampire damnation. This is why at the end of the film he takes off the mojo necklace Annie made him - because he has this clarity of what true freedom is, not because he knows for sure that he'll rejoin Annie and their daughter. The afterlife is not bound by the rules of racial capitalism the same way life in America is; even in immortality, Mary and Stack can only be together in the shadows and never under sunlight. It's just like Annie said: vampires are cursed to have their souls trapped in this world full of hate instead of rejoining the ancestors.

Is this why white folks left theaters feeling uncomfortable?

Across TikTok especially, I've seen a number of people post about how white people walked out of the theater in the middle of the movie. In my experience, no one left the theater, but the white folks walking out and heading to the bathroom tiptoed around me so awkwardly lol. A whole white family stared at me and all of their cheeks were redder than Cornbread's blood as I walked around them to the bathroom. Personally, I feel that if you as a white person leave in the middle of a film like this, that's more indicative of issues you need to work on within yourself than the idea that the movie is meant to offend you. I think these kinds of reactions demonstrate the difference between white awareness and white fragility/guilt.

I Really Could Write A Whole Series Analyzing This Film

Overall, I think this movie is easily one of the best I've seen in my entire life. In another universe I would've stayed in art school for cinematography and creative writing and I guarantee you this film would've been studied in all of my classes. Somehow I missed the fact that the director/producer Ryan Coogler had also led other masterpieces such as A Wrinkle In Time, Black Panther, Wakanda Forever, and Creed?! It makes sense though, I think he's been building up to this for a while.

Anyway, this movie is awesome and is definitely a cautionary tale/commentary on white savior phenomenon. I think the lesson here would be to enjoy and protect your talents and gifts - and even your personal experiences, despite how painful they may be. Hang on to your originality and never feel pressured to conform - whether for money or immortality or the delusion of peace - because no one can replicate your story, your gifts, or your soul.

From a feminist perspective, this film is extremely horny. Now granted, there is a historical correlation between sensuality and the supernatural; vampires are often portrayed as erotic agelessly beautiful beings – seen in both books and films such as The Vampire Diaries and Dracula, witches are characterized by seduction and mystical sensual mysteriousness (Legend of Sleepy Hallow starring Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean), and werewolves are the epitome of “manliness” by being extremely muscular and socially abrasive (Twilight, Teen Wolf, etc). In respect to this literary/cultural hypersexuality of the supernatural, An American Werewolf in London certainly contributes to the supernatural genre. However, I’m finding it extremely difficult to say this movie is good; David Naughton as the main character David Kessler has good acting skills and most of the dialogue is good, but I cannot generalize this movie and say it is a good film. 

            Let’s start on a positive note with David Naughton - aka David Kessler, the American Werewolf causing chaos in London. David as a character fits the “nice guy” trope; he cares for his friend Jack (obvious in how he runs back for Jack when the werewolf attacks them), he is softspoken and sweet to nurse/leading lady Alex (played by Jenny Agutter), and he is silly/quirky. I like David Naughton’s acting because he maintains his character’s “nice guy” archetype while also reacting to the unusual events of the film; throughout the film we see David question his sanity, fall in love with Alex, and literally transform into a werewolf – but he never abandons the quintessence of his character – sweet and quirky. And he’s hot – David Naughton was a great physical casting choice to keep the trend of sexualizing the supernatural.

            The final of two “good” points to this film: the dialogue. According to Wikipedia, An American Werewolf in London is considered a comedy horror – and based on the dialogue/script, I can see why. For example, David runs away to an explicit adult entertainment cinema (more on this later) after waking up in the zoo from a night on the prowl as a bloodthirsty werewolf, and at this cinema he sees/hallucinates his “undead” friend Jack, who has been reappearing throughout the film as his corpse decomposes more and more. In this final encounter, Jack is barely recognizable with his green rotting skin and the exposed bones in his face – a drastically more grotesque shift from the last time we saw him on screen. Rather than freaking out like he typically does seeing Jack’s talking corpse, David is clearly exhausted and unphased by the disturbance and merely says to Jack “you look terrible,” to which Jack responds with a bitterly sarcastic “thanks.” This is one of many funny conversations within the film, in part because humorous casual dialogue like this occurs despite the horrific events and grotesque visuals within these same scenes. 

            Like I said earlier, this movie overall did not make it onto my list of “good movies” – in fact when talking about it with my roommate, I only recommended she watch it just to see the ridiculous hypersexuality and anti-feminism of it. I watched this film twice to make sure I gave it a fair assessment, and on the second watch I could confirm this did not pass the Bechdel test. Actually, I would say this film demonstrates the lack of feminism within cinema and why we need assessments such as the Bechdel test; Alex – David’s love interest – thankfully isn’t limited to a wardrobe just of a nurse uniform and Victoria’s Secret lingerie, but she is the only woman on screen for more than 2 minutes who doesn’t dress (or lack dress) for the sake of seduction. While Alex is at work, David watches an advertisement on the “telly” for a special program on “Naughty Nina,” who is wearing a tight, short red dress and only says sultry phrases meant to personify herself as the seductress. Then, when David hides in the adult program cinema, the camera continuously cuts to the screen where a woman is repeatedly shown with her breasts exposed and doing sexual acts with/for a man.