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He considered other creatures— werewolves, zombies, shape-shifters— but he always came back to vampires..“ In the collective consciousness, vampires are associated with sensuality. They are expected to be sexy, elegant, powerful, cultured. And fascinating: they retain their human personality and memories. It’ s a captivating premise.” But above all, the vampire embodies the Faustian pact. The deal with the devil. The idea that something is taken from you in exchange for something else.“ Robert Johnson is most associated with this fable,” explains Coogler.“ And there’ s this tradition of things being taken. Songs sung over and over again by Black people, then eventually by white people. And because of the horrible racism of the era when this industry was built, genres were born out of that idea.” A song sung by a Black person: it’ s a“ race record,” sold as such. The same song by a white person: it’ s rock and roll.
A cotton field movie
One of the most striking moments in“ Sinners” is the scenes of driving through cotton fields. Images of haunting beauty. Coogler recounts his first encounter with a cotton field in Georgia while working on“ Black Panther 2”.““ It really moved me,” he said.“ I asked the driver to stop. I got out and walked inside. I took a piece. I still have it at home.” He was 35 years old at the time.“ The fact that I had reached that age, accomplished everything I had done, and had never seen— I wear cotton every day. I know the history of my people. And the fact that the most powerful empire in the world condemned them to spend their lives in these commercial crop fields.” He stops..“ When I saw it for the first time, it moved me deeply. And I knew that I wasn’ t done with it.”
Flashmag! Edition 169 Fevrier 2026
Irish vampires and the hidden history
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In“ Sinners,” the vampires are Irish. A surprising choice, until you understand why.