Just watched Sinners

Can anyone enlighten me on why they picked on Irish immigrants? Did blues get coopted by Irish historically?

I don’t get it

  • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    21 days ago

    I haven’t seen the movie, but the Irish were viewed pretty poorly throughout American history, so that might be something that was played up in the movie. Again, I haven’t seen it, though, so I don’t know for sure.

      • Bravo@eviltoast.orgEnglish
        0·
        20 days ago

        Yes, it WAS fucked up. That’s how it was back in those days.

        An illustration from the H. Strickland Constable's Ireland from One or Two Neglected Points of View shows an alleged similarity between "Irish Iberian" and "Negro" features in contrast to the higher "Anglo-Teutonic." The accompanying caption reads "The Iberians are believed to have been originally an African race, who thousands of years ago spread themselves through Spain over Western Europe. Their remains are found in the barrows, or burying places, in sundry parts of these countries. The skulls are of low prognathous type. They came to Ireland and mixed with the natives of the South and West, who themselves are supposed to have been of low type and descendants of savages of the Stone Age, who, in consequence of isolation from the rest of the world, had never been out-competed in the healthy struggle of life, and thus made way, according to the laws of nature, for superior races."

        There was all kinds of stupid racism back in those days, and “science” (but actually pseudoscience) was used as an excuse for it, like Calvin Candie in Django Unchained going on about skull dimples.

        Well, I say “back in those days” but really it’s alive and well in the present, too. Have you ever read what modern racists believe? It’s still nuts.

      • scytale@lemmy.zipEnglish
        0·
        21 days ago

        What they are referring to is what Remmick said to Preacherboy that the prayer they were reciting was passed down to him from his father who got it from the people who stole his land. I’m not well versed in the history of those parts, but I’m guessing the English vs Irish. He’s implying that he too was once upon a time a victim of oppression as well.

  • BmeBenji (he/him)@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    20 days ago

    Aside from the main vampire doing an Irish jig, in what way did they

    A) Indicate he was Irish

    and

    B) Pick on him for being Irish?

    • jagged_circle@feddit.nlOPEnglish
      0·
      20 days ago

      A. He said he was Irish

      B. They literally made him a blood sucking daemon trying to kill everyone

  • MimicJar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    21 days ago

    I’m guessing by demonization you’re referring to the head vampire being Irish?

    I’m guessing the idea was to have someone “lower class” based on how Irish immigrants were treated in that era, e.g. poorly.

    When the head vampire and the couple first try to enter the building by playing music they are sent away.

    If the head vampire had been black there might have been less suspicion and he would have been invited in, which would change the film.

    If the head vampire had been white/non-Irish there might have been more suspicion. Why is this group coming here instead of somewhere else in the town, something the film even brings up.

    They are however just the right level of “lower class” that Halie Steinfeld’s makes an effort to get to know them and possibly invite them in. That moment is key to the films plot, and an Irish immigrant fits the role well.

    Other immigrants or “lower class” might have worked, but then you have the musical aspect. The Irish have a rich musical history. The preacher’s son is being sought out for his musical abilities. It fits well.

    Also, something to consider, while turning into a vampire is often viewed as a negative, within the film they make an argument that it isn’t that bad. Stack and Halie Steinfeld live a nice life as vampires, even inviting the preacher’s son to join them in his old age. Sure a vampire kills you, but maybe it’s not that bad.

  • Bravo@eviltoast.orgEnglish
    0·
    21 days ago

    The interesting thing is that “Remmick” isn’t an Irish surname. It’s of German origin, derived from “Roemmich”.

    It’s also worth noting that Remmick doesn’t start using an Irish accent nor singing Irish songs until AFTER pretending to be a poor southern blues singer has failed.

      • Vanth@reddthat.comEnglish
        0·
        21 days ago

        What? No. It’s set in the 1930s when Irish immigrants were seen as less than other western European immigrants because of a mix of types of bigotry. The movie just uses historical reality.

  • auzzy@feddit.ukEnglish
    0·
    21 days ago

    I can’t speak to why the Irish instead of some other group. But generally, they’re an example of a historically subjugated people who experienced hardship and discrimination when arriving in the US, but were eventually (more or less) accepted and brought into the fold as “white”. Meanwhile, black people, on whose backs the US was literally built, many of whose lineage in the US stretches back hundreds of years further than many white people, still face some of the worst treatment and outcomes of any minority group in the US.

    So my read is that while they had a common plight, the relative leg up the Irish had would render attempts to form community between the two groups fraught. And Remmick is clearly trying to exploit that common cause for his own purposes, and isn’t too concerned with actual liberation, as demonstrated by his first recruits being Klan members.