By CSC College Relations
CHADRON, Neb. — Chadron State College Associate Professor Julian Berrian presented his paper, Cheating the Grave: Representations of Death Transcendence in the Movie Sinners, during the virtual Annual Northeast Popular Culture Association conference in October, marking his second appearance at the annual conference.
Berrian spoke on a panel titled Belief at the Brink: Faith, Death and Decay in Popular Culture. His talk examined how filmmaker Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners uses characters, music, and visual structure to illustrate psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton’s five symbolic modes of death transcendence: biological, theological, creative, natural and experiential.
Set in a Black music venue in Prohibition-era Mississippi, the film follows twin brothers Elijah and Elias, blues guitarist Sammie Moore, and the vampire-like outsider Remmick. Berrian’s analysis drew on scene and character examinations, including a musical sequence he described as the film’s visual centerpiece. He said the film demonstrates how one narrative can creatively express multiple human attempts to symbolically defy death.
Berrian’s abstract outlined his presentation’s key arguments and framed the film as a study in how people seek meaning and legacy in the face of mortality. During the discussion following his presentation, Berrian said questions reflected the core theme that Coogler’s characters embody varied and sometimes conflicting pathways toward symbolic transcendence, and how those pursuits resonate across the human experience.
Berrian joined the CSC faculty in 2022 and teaches Advanced Video Production (CA 445), Broadcast Production (CA 345), Video Production (CA 245), Audio Production (CA 215), Public Speaking (CA 155), and Fundamentals of Oral Communication (CA 125). He earned a Master of Fine Arts from Temple University and a bachelor’s from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.