Welcome To Hell!

Do you remember the first time you saw a movie with a twist ending? That feeling of awe as you realized it had all been spelled out the whole runtime if you’d kept your wits about you. The moments of “I knew it!” for some and “I did not see that coming” for others. 

I do. I watched The Village three times in one month because it sent my teenage brain into overdrive. It was the first time that I had not been able to guess the ending. Looking back, it probably pressed a little too hard on my emotional bruise. That unsettling feeling caused by the adults in my life manipulating me in the name of keeping me “sheltered.” It remains the only Shyamalan movie I will defend like I was personally involved in.

This Ain’t No Funeral Home

For most of you reading this, maybe it was Rusty Cundieff’s Tales From The Hood. The reveal that Stack, Ball, and Bulldog aren’t in their friendly neighborhood mortuary hearing cautionary tales of lives not turned around but – as Mr. Simms announces in cartoon villain fashion – are in Hell itself is one of the top horror movie endings of all time. (Argue with a wall, not me.) 

Wasn’t Simms the person taking the time to tell our three protagonists tales that would change their hearts? He was so patient as he led them from room to room using stories that were relatable to them! They had started to see the light. 

Waking up on November 6th felt like that. 

Many folks thought they’d learned their lesson. That the horrific stories we have witnessed over the last decade were enough to turn hearts as much as they turn heads. Surely now, after lives were lost, kids were abused for being themselves, out and proud racists of caricature levels were in office – sometimes aided by people we never thought we would see supporting them – and resistance had been shown, surely we wouldn’t wake up in our own Hell? 

But this ain’t no funeral home. It ain’t the terror dome neither. 

This is our after-election life. 

Welcome To Hell

This is what we are left with once we think four years of cleaning up our act undoes the ugly of a nation built on the backs of Black bodies and baptized in the blood of its Indigenous residents. 

We have been told the allegories, but just like the main characters of Tales, we lack the insight to look back on what was meant for us with any sort of reflection that would lead to growth. We have been indulging on the trauma of others hoping our tears will convince enough of our friends we really are sorry this time. Meanwhile, the kindly guide of Those Who Have Gone Before Us took us on a tour of what’s to come. 

So maybe the ending is not so shocking after all. Now that we’ve seen it laid out maybe it feels a little silly to believe it could’ve turned out any other way. Of course, we’ve been in Hell this whole time. Of course, the killer was the final girl’s brother. Of course, it was the boyfriend. Of course, it was a vigilante wannabe therapist. Of course.

So now that we know the twist, we know the antagonist’s weakness. I have not lost hope. I am more determined than ever before not to make a sequel out of this.

You can check out Jamie’s previous column here.