In one scene in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, Teyana Taylor’s character, Perfidia Beverly Hills, is more focused on seducing Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bob Ferguson (then still known as “Ghetto Pat”) than on the bomb exploding just feet away from them. In another scene, she holds Sean Penn’s Steven J Lockjaw at gunpoint while simultaneously provoking an erection. These are some of the perceived brazen, morally slippery choices Perfidia makes that have unsettled some viewers since the movie’s premiere.
“I absolutely hate what this means for the representation of Black women in Hollywood,” YouTuber and cultural commentator Jouelzy said in a video posted a day after Taylor won the Golden Globe award for best supporting actress. “So often the institutional powers that be only reward us for portrayals that are stereotypical characters of Black women. One Battle After Another was such an offensive film.”
