This Halloween, the 1932 Mississippi Delta comes to Tulsa with a free interactive party hosted by Greenwood Griots and the Scene & Heard Movie Club.
The theme is based on the blockbuster horror film “Sinners,” which follows two twins named Smoke and Stack who return home from Chicago to open their own juke joint. But what begins as a night of good food and dancing turns into a standoff between vampires who want to take their blood and talent.
“We’re blending blues with hip hop, so it’ll be all types of music being played,”said Kode Ransom, owner of Greenwood Griots. “And then after that, there’s some surprises in the crowd throughout the night that’ll take place. There’s a couple of games where you’re either the plaintiff or defendant, or you’re the jury. You get to hear a scenario and you get to choose to explain their case better.”
Partygoers will be grouped into three teams and given a card that explains their objective for the night.
Guests are encouraged to wear silk, lace, suspenders and pearls to capture the vibe of the movie, though it is not mandatory. They will also help recreate the juke joint atmosphere with a performance of “Pale, Pale Moon” — a crucial scene in the film. Ransom has also hired a performer to sing the song as the audience stomps in rhythm.
“It’s literally just for people that don’t really want to do a traditional Halloween party, (it’s) an alternative that has storytelling,” Ransom said.
Ransom says the party theme is less about the film’s horror elements and more about the impact “Sinners” had on Black media discourse since its release in April.
Marketed as a vampire movie, Ransom says its core themes are much deeper than your typical horror movie. “Sinners,” he says, is an homage to Black culture during a historical period that isn’t discussed as much as slavery and the civil rights era.
Ransom and team have already recreated scenes from the movie, directed by Ryan Coogle, to promote the party on social media.
“Here at Greenwood Griots, we’re storytellers,” said Aldininika Kelly, manager of their social content. “That’s what we key in on. So we want to be able to teach people how to look at the things that are happening around you. There were a lot of things happening in ‘Sinners,’ but everything told a story. Everything had a meaning.”
The narrative of the film resonated with Ransom and Kelly, who related its impact to the release of Coogler’s “Black Panther” in 2018.
“You see that a Black director directed it, (a) Black writer (and) lead Black characters,” Ransom said. ”For future filmmakers, that’s super important, because normally you don’t see that a lot.”
By acknowledging the intricacies of Black music in a segregated South, African American spirituality and the plight of race relations in 1932, Coogler used the horror genre as a metaphor for Black people’s pursuit of freedom in both a physical and emotional context, Ransom said.
“I think one movie made you proud to be African,” Ransom said. “The other lets you know what it was like after slavery, but before civil rights, because that time period is probably one of the least explored time periods in American history for Black people.”
