Nowwwww I can't give a 10/10. I'm still working through how I feel about Coogler’s portrayal of women and sex. I can’t put my finger on it quite yet, but it seems he is often giving “Yesss, Black Queen” energy in the most flat way, if that makes any sense. Also, I may be the only one in this boat, but I am still searching for the chemistry between Michael B. Jordan and Wunmi Mosaku. Maybe I know too much about Jordan’s past dating history. –Nicole Dixon
None of the women have ambitions beyond the town or some man. They basically just waiting around to be acted upon by these worldly guys. Coogler might believe what Morrison sometimes believed, which is that the real traveling and movement is done by men. At least that's how she thought back with Song of Solomon. She's in interviews noting how the guys move around a lot and the women don't.
In Sinners, we see men driving cars and trucks and even riding horses. Not the women. You know, so far, when I hear folks talking, they're most focusing on differences between Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) and Annie (Wunmi Mosaku...more Black diasporic casting, Dixon). So basically a lot of the typical white woman vs. Black woman. But, I haven't seen many folks note the commonality with both of them in the position of being left by men and then waiting for those men to return. –Howard Rambsy II
Preface: I’m so dern glad Wunmi Mosaku (who had my attention since Love Craft Country) was Annie for many reasons. Annie possessed:
- Dark skin.
- Natural hair.
- A full figure.
- Slick talk like a dude: “I know your body remembers me.”
- Alternative/folk religious practice & way of life.
- Organic intellect: Her faith practice, lessons from her granny, and experience with people helped her figure out what was happening. Book smart ain’t got nothing on her.
I say all that to say, Nicole and I got to talking this morning about Coogler and his portrayals of women as something like accessories for men. Valued and valuable accessories, but accessories nonetheless.
And I posed to Nicole, does Coogler have the creative capacity to see Black women characters beyond that?
Better questions though: Can there ever be a Black woman counterpart to Michael B Jordan for Coogler…a Black woman creative parter and muse? Okay, I don’t even have to take it that far. Here: Can Coogler imagine a story as smart and captivating as Sinners where a Black woman lead is the protagonist? --Cindy Reed
On Women and Movement:
It's funny, I was just thinking about this last night after seeing Killer of Sheep (1978). It’s been recently restored and is playing in theaters for a limited time, though it may also be available on Criterion. Anyways, the women in the film are almost always portrayed in the home exclusively. There are occasional scenes with little girls playing outside, but they’re noticeably fewer in number compared to the boys depicted in outside spaces. While I believe Burnett was highlighting this incongruity, this representation or narrative of women being confined to domestic spaces has remained prominent. Though this depiction does reflect certain social realities for women, it's not the only story. However, I’m not sure if Coogler is the one who can showcase that story.
Sidenote: Dang, the only traveling woman from Morrison I can think of is Sula, but readers never get to experience her life outside of Medallion.
Casting:
Yeah, I think we women, particularly Black women, are starved for representation. So when we get something good, we want to polish that trophy to no end. Yet, to your point Rambsy, both women and Li Jun Li’s character share commonalities, and as Reed pointed out, they’re definitely accessories.
Also, I think Wunmi Mosaku did her thinnnggggg! Period. And her being cast is really significant. However, their chemistry was giving Issa and LaKeith Stanfield in The Photograph. But, I put this more on Coogler and Jordan than on Mosaku.
Overall, Coogler respects and loves women, but they don’t exist in a complex or dynamic way beyond men for him. I think this is also why his and Jordan’s relationship is so outstanding, they know how to write and depict nuanced men. –Nicole Dixon
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Coogler's reps of Black women: I'll add to this idea of the Black women in Sinners serving as accessories to the men. I viewed them as serving as mechanisms or vehicles for the male characters' development. The sex scenes seemed intended to assist with developing some aspect of the audience's understanding of the male character's personal and emotional growth/development. I've been thinking a lot recently about the functions and representations of sex in film and in the novels we read (largely because I'm interested in how frequently Morrison separates intimacy from sex), and Coogler's use of sex both bothered and stood out to me on the first watch. –Elizabeth Cali
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I think y’all are right, Coogler has a great ability to humanize and center stories around black men, but that talent causes him to undercook the black women that surround the stories he tells. I feel like Annie’s character is very similar to most female characters in Coogler’s filmography, notably Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda in the Black Panther films. Her character is used as a spiritual and emotional grounding guide for the ambitious men that surround the plot, and she suffers a similar sacrificial fate with Annie. This ain’t a disparaging portrayal in an offensive way, but it does lead me to realize that maybe this is the peak of what Coogler can envision black women to be, a perspective still rooted in very western, male-centered ideals. –Jalen White
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Jalen, yooo, really good catch with the sacrificial fates in both Panther 2 and Sinners. In those instances, thinking on passing/masking, we have an African American woman playing an African (Bassett as Queen Ramonda) and then a Nigerian-born/U.K. raised woman playing an African American woman (Wunmi Mosaku as Annie). –Howard Rambsy II
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