Ya'll just made this my #1 video <333 grateful for all the love on this one.
If u want to hear me discuss Blues music & its origins, check out my latest video essay:
https://youtu.be/RuVCFba0HwI?si=lFndv2azbzA5ler7

Remmick had a similar gift to Sammie, but when he became a vampire he lost touch with his people and culture. He's a tragic villain.

That Irish jig went hard bro, it was one of the best parts of the movie.

I also loved the Irish/Choctaw connection they put in, given the mutual aid they had.

The real reason is because Irish and Blacks were on the same standing at that time, Coogler wanted to show that even the oppressed can become the oppressor and the Irish antagonist had an in with a similarly exploited class he literally says this in an interview

I love that you called out Quentin Tarantino in this one. I also like the fractal look at power. Remmick, while the leader of all these vampires in the film, the viewer gets the idea that he's just one of many vampires that started their own group.

Coogler is genius.. People dont realize that the mytholgy of VAMPIRES originated in Ireland.. The guy who wrote Dracula was IRISH.. It originated in Irish Folklore.. So there is multiple reasons why the vampire is specifically IRISH

This is exactly why I won’t be quiet about this movie or the portraying of the vampire lore. It’s pure genius.

There are other layers too.  The Irish weren't just discriminated against in the US.  In Ireland they were colonized.  They were displaced.  A lot of them came to the US because even though they were discriminated against here, it was a hell of a lot better than back home.  This is the cyclical nature of oppression.  The oppressed becomes the oppressors.  The victim becomes the victimizer.  The Smoke Stack brothers engaged in this as well in a way.  They became gangsters in Chicago.  They definitely victimized people in that role.  

On top of that, this is the birth of so many American music genres.  I'm oversimplifying in the extreme here, but the syncopation of Africa with the lilt (swing) of Ireland synthesized into so many American forms. Bluegrass, Jazz, Tin Pan Alley, Broadway... they all owe a lot to the coming together of black and Irish music.  Minstrel Shows included Irish stereotypes as well as black stereotypes, but also highlighted Irish performers (in Blackface) and Irish folk music.  The relationship between the Irish and Black Americans was complicated... both synergistic and exploitative.

I think you missed the point of the film. The vampires are not middle managers seeking to erase black music. The reason they’re Irish is because what is currently happening during this time period to black Americans already happened to Remmicks Ireland, they assimilated and lost everything. Remnick has no way to communicate with his culture because it’s gone beyond time and space. He can use Samuel’s gift to commune with that culture. The Irish are a warning that show that this could happen to them if they assimilate, and is even directly asking them to become one.

4:00 The Quentin Tarantino call out was so refreshing.
Brilliant dissection of this film

It was sort of a emotional rollercoaster as a black
person witnessing Irish people’s reactions to Remmick! They went from: “now why am I in it?” to “Hell yeah —he’s killing the footwork!” From bummed to beaming with pride. None of them were expecting to be represented

A lot of Irish immigrants were mistreated by mainstream society around those times as well and the fact that the antagonist was using the idea of being tolerant to attract everyone is genius and understandable coming from someone like him

Making the lead vampire Irish is pure genius, as an Irish person it makes so much sense. White Irish have both experienced discrimination but also play into the white supremacy. A lot of musicians with Irish origins like the Beatles get credited for originating Black music. That almost colour blind attitude the vampires have I think shows how you can be hurting black people while thinking of yourself as just embracing culture.

Hearing the word File in the opening narration as Gaeilge (our native language) already made me and my friend so excited then to realize that Irishness plays into the story was one of my favourite experiences watching a movie.

The fight for Catholic civil rights in the occupied counties of Ireland was directly inspired by the Black Civil Rights movement. Look at Kneecap who would be nothing without the Black artists that inspired their music and activism.

Coolger is one of the best living directors and Sinners is miles above all other horror movies out this decade!

That Snoop reference is SAVAGE!!!😂😂😂

Since finding out Dracula was actually inspired by the Irish Vampiric Fae Abhartach..I think the film is also throwing a nod to the Irish Fae lore now shaping what we notice as vampire lore

There actually was mixing of indentured Irish and African slaves. It made the landed class nervous from being outnumbered. So they created systems for the Irish to get small pieces of land when the indentured servitude ended. Read “The People’s History of United States of America” by Howard Zinn.

Thanks for this discussion. The Irish vampires are also a reference to the Irish overseers during USA slavery and the history of a heavy Irish presence in brutal police forces. Many Irish Americans were discriminated against by whites with British ancestry, and many came to early USA as indentured servants who eventually gained the freedom to be 2nd class citizen free folk. Systems like that put them in the “middle of the pyramid” and created a historical rivalry between Irish and the non-whites who were one rung beneath them socially. The roots of the Black & Irish rivalry is a fascinating and layered conversation. Ultimately, our communities have a lot in common, but the power system made us historical enemies.  When I went to Ireland in 2016 for Easter Rising, the rebels reminded me of The Black Panthers. Thank you for posting. Let’s keep the conversation going!

Top tier analysis. You took an element of the film you didn't quite understand, went home, thought about it and gave the findings back to the people. Lots of people wouln't take this step. The people calling the movie woke or calling Coogler somehow racist didn't think it through. The guy who's making content about there not being Hispanics in the movie didn't think it through. Those people who have this or that gripe about the Asian couple, they didn't think it through either. Ryan Coogler thought about every aspect of this movie and brought in experts to help him when he needed it. Everything is deliberate. I knew that there was a reason the vampires were specifically Irish Catholic but the way you broke down the power pyramid gave me even more understanding. With this understanding, the vampires almost had to be Irish.

I want to point out that the most famous vampire novel, the first by all accounts, was written by an Irishman. Bram Stoker was a son of the Irish resistance and a brilliant folklorist who sadly was forced to spend his life hiding his true self. It makes sense, after seeing the horrors and atrocities being committed to the Irish and to queer people, that he would write “Dracula”.

Vampires are also a part of indigenous Irish mythology (the Abhartach, the Droch-fhuil, and the Dearg Due for example). So it makes total sense that the vampires would be Irish. Honestly, a brilliant piece of lore and weaving of Irish immigration and interaction with other cultures in America.