Spoilers ahead for the movie “Sinners.”
If you were one of the many people who flocked to theaters this weekend to see Ryan Coogler’s period piece-slash-vampire flick Sinners, then your fellow moviegoers probably groaned with contempt when the asian character Grace delivered one of the most infuriating moments of the film. But an Asian TikToker has gone viral with his perspective about the scene, leading other Asian users on the platform to share their own opinions about its cultural resonance and whether it’s indicative of things happening in the real world.
User @Boopyape cut into Grace, half of a husband-and-wife couple who own supply stores in the Mississippi Delta, for brazenly inviting the vampires inside of main characters’ Smoke and Stack’s new juke joint. Supernatural lore says that vampires need to be invited into a building before entering; that otherwise, the people inside are safe.
“One of the many lessons I learned from [the film] is that there’s so much power in shutting the f*** up,” he said in his clip. “Why is your vengeance and anger so much more important than your solidarity to the Black community who has been there for you, who has uplifted you and been there for you since the very beginning?
“Oh, it’s because you’re only willing to participate if you profit off of them as a store clerk,” he said.
A quick recap of the scene that had him and so many other viewers so upset: Grace and her husband Bo are friends with main characters Smoke and Stack, and the twins employ them to provide supplies and to help run the grand opening of their new juke joint. Once it’s clear that vampires are surrounding the building, Grace instructs Bo to retrieve the car so they can leave. But Bo gets bitten while he’s outside, and he and the other vampires gather at the door to convince the characters to allow them in. All the Black characters are standing firm with the decision to stay safe, but the villain Remmick cunningly threatens to go find Grace’s young daughter. Minutes later, desperate to save her child, Grace gives into his manipulation: she says maniacally invites them inside, leading to a brutal fight between the living and the undead.
@Boopyape implied that the character’s actions have parallels with how some East Asian people in the real world approach their relationships with Black people.
“There’s a lot of history there,” he continued. “But suddenly, the moment you’re oppressed, the moment your proximity to whiteness widens, you’re willing to throw everyone who has supported you under the bus so you can get your peace? Look at you.”Another user, @bsolz_, put it in even simpler terms.
“Why would you do that? You’re making us look bad out here, Grace!” he said. “Why did you have to let them in, out of everyone else? I get it, they were threatening your daughter, your family’s already [gone], you had nothing to lose. But the optics are just bad.”
But @marmaryeesa2022 had a different perspective. After praising Coogler for working with Chinese documentary filmmaker Dolly Li to pinpoint certain historical details about Chinese immigrants’ life in Mississippi, she offered her stance on Grace’s action in the pivotal scene.
“On one hand, she possibly overstepped her boundaries by going out of her way to be the one to invite the vampires in when everyone else didn’t want that. Speaking for a community that is not your community and in the process endangering other people that are not in your community around you. … In hindsight, that was kind of a dick move on her part,” she said. “But given that she’s the only mother in the group, she wanted to be on the offense and attack these vampires in order to save her daughter. Given that her husband is long gone, she still has a fighting chance to save her daughter. She couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.”
“In many occasions, the Asian American community has stood by the Black community when it comes to civil rights,” she added. “It was nice to see that solidarity represented in Sinners as well.”
Fans in the theater didn’t feel that solidarity when she put everyone’s life on the line.