'Sinners' Offers a False Vision of Empowerment

As a professor of African American history, whenever I come across a black-oriented historical movie, the first thing I think about is whether the film makes my job harder or easier. Films like A Soldier’s Story, Glory, 12 Years a Slave, and Free State of Jones have enriched our understanding of the complexities driving American race relations. These movies—along with independent films like Nothing But a Man and Killer of Sheep and David Simon’s brilliant television drama, The Wire—offer explorations of human frailties and vulnerabilities that are alive to the possibilities available to human beings in their distinct times and locations. As good art invariably does, each takes some artistic license. However, the filmmakers’ sensitivity to context helps them avoid the kinds of anachronistic cliches and character archetypes that treat contemporary values and aspirations as eternal truths.