The Big Picture — ‘One Battle After Another’: A Second Opinion With Van Lathan

Date: October 5, 2025
Host: Sean Fennessey (B), with Amanda Dobbins (C) and Van Lathan (A)
Episode Overview:
In this special episode, Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins are joined by Van Lathan for a candid, challenging, and spirited discussion centered on the new film One Battle After Another—a movie with significant Oscar buzz, a massive budget, and complicated questions about representation and the state of the film industry. What begins as a standard review rapidly evolves into a nuanced exploration of race, artistic freedom, the economics of filmmaking, and how different standards are applied to filmmakers of different backgrounds.

Main Themes and Purpose

• Dissecting One Battle After Another: The group analyzes the film’s artistic merit, its portrayal of Black women, and discusses the critical discourse around its release and box office performance.
• Industry Double Standards: The discussion examines who gets to make big, ambitious films in Hollywood, with a particular focus on race, gender, and access to resources.
• Representation and Responsibility: The hosts wrestle with what "responsible" representation means both in storytelling and industry decision-making.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Hollywood Economics, Privilege, and Access

• Van Lathan’s Perspective:

  • Lathan expresses frustration over how financial responsibility is demanded from less-established, often minority filmmakers, while “genius” white male directors can access massive budgets without the same commercial scrutiny.
  • Quote:

    “The responsibility, both creatively and financially for a piece of art has to exist with the haves and the have nots alike.” —Van (08:39)

• Amanda’s Counterpoint:

  • She emphasizes that creative freedom should be celebrated, wishing more filmmakers—especially those from underrepresented backgrounds—had equal access to resources. However, she acknowledges this is “fantasy land.”
  • Quote:

    “I want to celebrate the fact that someone is getting to use the money to do what they want and say, we should, like, more people should get to do that. But that’s a fantasy land.” —Amanda (09:30)

• Double Standards on Budgets:

  • The group contrasts the treatment of directors like Paul Thomas Anderson versus Black filmmakers like Ryan Coogler or Spike Lee, noting the latter must outperform at the box office to access opportunities for larger projects.
  • Quote:

    “The guy who made Mo’ Better Blues has never gotten a $170 million budget…that guy just put a movie out a couple weeks ago that opened in two cities, was made for like 15 or 20 million.” —Van (11:49)
    “Even after [Coogler’s] movie opened, they still counted his money.” —Van (13:39)

2. The Movie’s Characters & Representation of Black Women

• Van’s Critique:

  • Lathan argues the film’s most high-profile Black female character, Perfidia Beverly Hills, is portrayed in a way that perpetuates damaging tropes of selfishness and irresponsibility—a particular sting given the tradition of Black female revolutionaries prioritizing community over self.
  • Quote:

    “It’s just an interesting standpoint to watch a white male writer-director put a Black female character in…what you really kind of got was someone that was so grotesquely selfish and unaware that everyone that she met was worse off because of it.” —Van (35:17)

  • He compares this to other, more empathetic portrayals (like Jacqui Brown), and notes that the nuances of such roles deeply matter, especially against the backdrop of historical Hollywood misrepresentations.
  • Quote:

    “When Quentin Tarantino decided he was going to orient his movie around a Black woman, he treated her with so much care…she almost floats around on clouds and watches the chaos around her…it's a very empowering performance.” —Van (46:19)

• Amanda’s Nuanced Response:

  • She notes the performance's complexity, and suggests that while the film does attempt some exploration of these issues (e.g., postpartum, agency), it might not land for all audiences.
  • Quote:

    “If the exploration, maybe…and maybe it doesn't. But if it did, would that mitigate it? Or is it…” —Amanda (41:12)

• Sean’s Analysis:

  • He argues that art can and should provoke discomfort, rather than always providing moral exemplars, and worries about the line between representation critique and accidental censorship.
  • Quote:

    “Once you start saying, this was the worst part of the movie because I didn't like what it showed…that's in the territory of, like, borderline censorship that I'm ultimately not comfortable with.” —Sean (49:08)

3. Nuance, Friction, and the Value of Conversation

• Acknowledgement of “Unsolved Problems”:

  • The hosts agree the episode’s conversation demonstrates why it’s vital for critics, creators, and audiences to keep interrogating representation—especially as the industry evolves.
  • Quote:

    “That’s what art does. We have the conversation, and so that's what art does.” —Van (64:23)

• Importance of Artistic Freedom AND History:

  • Van clarifies he’s not advocating for “policing” creative choices, but believes there must be a reckoning with why certain depictions are celebrated and rewarded.
  • Quote:

    “After generations, we do just start to ask why…if we’re going to have these conversations intra-communally…we certainly gotta have them [for Oscar contender films].” —Van (51:33)

• Representation Fatigue:

  • Van reflects, with some weariness, on the recurring challenge of voicing these critiques (“the drag at the party”), highlighting how persistent these structural discussions are within Black art criticism and fandom.
  • Quote:

    “It's like this guy. I've been this guy for so long.” —Van (60:12)

4. The Film’s Artistic Merits—and Limitations

• Critical Acclaim and Hype (“the gas”):

  • Van admits the movie is excellent, funny, and boasts strong performances, but doesn't personally connect to the near-unanimous aclaim it’s been receiving.
    • Quote:

      “I legitimately don’t understand the gas. Like, honestly, honestly don’t understand the gas.” —Van (28:32)

  • Amanda and Sean admit their bias as super-fans, and joke about their “irrational” love for PTA’s work.
    • Quote:

      “This is your Marvel.” —Van (32:53)

• Cultural and Thematic Ambitions:

  • They praise the film’s ability to spark reflection and challenge audiences, noting its balancing act between weighty ideas and genuine entertainment.
  • Quote:

    “There's something to be said about a movie that deals in such weighty stuff that you can still have a good time with.” —Van (62:43)

• On the Legacy of the Film:

  • Sean closes by affirming that movies like this provoke needed dialogue, even if (or especially when) they are not universally comfortable.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The better people think you are, the more they allow you to fail.” —Van (33:50)
• “When black women roll their eyes, my innate response is, what's wrong?... And there's some eye-rolling that's going on right now, and I understand why the eye-rolling is going on.” —Van (54:52)
• “This movie is some fuck shit. It's a good movie. Not the best movie ever made. It doesn't hold a candle to Parasite… But it's also some fuck shit.” —Van (68:55)
• “We haven’t completely reformed and reshaped America… But we certainly… have overcome a wilderness that wanted to kill us. We have. So we can overcome, and we will.” —Van (65:33)

Discussion Timestamps (MM:SS)

• 02:03 — The hype and business pressures behind One Battle After Another
• 03:30–08:44 — Van Lathan's perspective on industry disparities
• 10:36–13:39 — Budget double standards for Black vs. white male filmmakers
• 19:35–21:54 — Case study: Nia DaCosta’s career trajectory and structural change
• 28:32–35:25 — Van critiques the film’s portrayal of Black women, specifically Perfidia Beverly Hills
• 38:49–53:44 — The line between critique and censorship; representations and their afterlives
• 62:31–64:23 — Final thoughts on the movie’s merits; reiteration that critical conversations are vital

Overall Tone & Takeaway

Rich with personal anecdotes, passionately honest, frequently witty but deeply serious, this episode pushes listeners to reflect on the films they love and the systems that produce them. Van Lathan’s contributions, at once empathetic and challenging, demand an honest reckoning with the realities of contemporary filmmaking for Black creators and characters. The hosts agree: the power of great cinema is in its ability to provoke conversations like this—on the mics and beyond.

For more on this episode:

• Follow Van Lathan on Twitter [@VanLathan] for continued debate (69:37)
• Listen for more Oscars coverage, deep-dive movie reviews, and unmissable industry insight on The Big Picture.