The Island Cinephile

One Battle After Another: Weak Characters, muddy message

Somewhere in America, in an alternate universe there marches a revolutionary group that calls themselves the French 75. Their purpose is leant to initiating attacks on government agencies in an attempt to free detained immigrants from their claws. Leading this revolution is none other than Perfidia Beverly Hills, a tenacious, hypersexual black woman that advocates for freedom in the most unconventional ways. Alongside her is Pat Calhoun, a white man that specializes in explosives. Their opposition manifests itself in Colonel Steven Lockjaw, the cutthroat agent who oversees the raids intercepted by the French 75. Lockjaw happens to be in a clandestine fling with Perfidia, which we come to find out is apparently disastrous for him, as a racist white man. Eventually, she is with child yet presents no inclination toward nurturing, only revolutionary things like robbing banks. A failed robbery leads to her capture, and she rats everyone out, abandoning them and her future child. They disband and the French 75 goes into hiding for 16 years, leaving ample time for baby Charlene to grow up and to become the final reckoning for the problems of her mother.  

Crafting a racially prolific landscape, Paul Thomas Anderson seems to reinforce his characters based on stereotypes. His prowess to craft such a conventionalized caricature of a black woman is commonplace in media and awarded for fulfilling such images. These one-dimensional characters continue to add to the harmful stereotypes and sexualization of this racial group. Our jarring, abrasive lead is undertaken by Teyana Taylor who performs according to what was expected of her. Based on my previous description of Perfidia, it is easy to surmise the type of person she is. Her motivation for most behaviors is never given much insight, and her dialogue enters our ears like a hollow bullet which penetrates but leaves no mark. Similarly, Willa, her daughter, operates on a surface-level with similar descriptors of an aggressive, tenacious black teen. Chase Infiniti’s acting debut as Willa is commended as she held her own; but she still felt hard for me to connect to. Regina Hall’s character, Deandra, was the most “normal” character, yet we still knew next to nothing about her which seemed to be a waste. Sean Penn as Lockjaw is captivating, and my hate for his character was as visceral as it had been when I watched 21 Grams. Though Lockjaw also suffers from insight and motivation regarding his behavior. Leonardo DiCaprio performs well as a deadbeat; confuddled ex-revolutionist turned dad unable to care for a biracial daughter. Benicio del Toro did a wonderful job as Sergio St. Carlos, or Sensei, and his character was by far the most entertaining and the most useful.  

Despite my qualms with the presentation of black characters and not wishing to appear shallow in thought, I will look past those stereotypes to glean a greater understanding. I theorize that Anderson intended these characters to be satirized versions of themselves rather than to operate as fully functioning human beings to display the lack of interest that their white counterparts have in them as people. An example being Perfidia’s relationship to both Lockjaw and Pat were more dependent on their view of her being simply just a “black girl” without truly understanding her as a person. This is affirmed in Lockjaw’s statement to Pat when he declared “I love black girls,” and Pat agrees because he had joined the French 75 to date black girls. Since they failed to see her as an individual, Anderson displayed her as a monolith. Or perhaps, they were written as non-dimensional as possible to provide the audience with a contrast of extremely selfish activism versus the necessity of community. 

His latest project could function as an example of postmodernism that challenges ideas surrounding activism and the revolution. From the beginning, the French 75 postures themselves as a group that goes against the system and achieves justice for those that need it. Yet their extreme methods caused many more problems for them in the long run. One does not get to wreak havoc and then avoid the consequences of their actions, so their reckoning comes full cycle. After the disbandment of their group, they remained underground and unable to revolutionize and enact change. But by contrast, we were introduced to a community leader known as Sensei. He is deeply involved in his community, with family; he possesses stability, and resources to aid in a time of need. He managed to enact change through the system which saved many lives daily. This shows us another form of activism that isn’t brash and senseless, perhaps even selfless. Sensei not only cared for himself; he focused heavily on his community and made much more of an impact by working through the system.  

All hope is not lost, as the film still presented much action, a few laughs, and very tense scenes to engage the audience. With consideration given to those two previous theories, one may conclude that the film possesses a didactic tone especially given the current political climate within the United States. Very ambitious in nature, One Battle After Another appears to present a semblance of entertainment for the viewer; however, its weak characterizations leave a marred interpretation of racial groups and a muddied message.  

Watch trailer for One Battle After Another.