If you’ve spent any time in the movie theaters lately or keeping up with the latest film drops, then you’ve likely seen a whole bunch of chatter about “One Battle After Another.” While the story centers primarily around legendary actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, he’s accompanied by a trio of equally talented actresses such as Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor.
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But while the cast is stacked from top to bottom, it’s Taylor’s performance that’s sticking out and garnering both awards buzz and buzz online. For context, the “Rose In Harlem” star plays Perfidia Beverly Hills, a member of the fictional revolutionary group, the French 75. She’s bold, she’s brave, and she’s also extremely sexual. And by extremely sexual, we mean trying to make love with her partner (DiCaprio) while a bomb is set to go off. We mean her commanding (and controlling) other powerful men with her body and overt sexual nature.
And while she later disappears for the remainder of the film after a certain point, her presence is felt enough thanks to the supremely sexual behaviors and influence she displayed and possessed. It’s a very, very good performance on Taylor’s behalf, who makes you believe that she’s every bit of Perfidia–which is why she’s getting some nominations already on the Best Supporting Actress front. But, given her character’s ways, it’s also why she’s getting compared to yet another iconic actress: Halle Berry.
Specifically, many people online are noticing and critiquing the similarities between Taylor’s Perfidia and Berry’s role in her 2001 film “Monster’s Ball.” As you may very well remember, Berry got criticized for sex scene with Billy Bob Thorton in her film which felt explicit and exploitative. That being the case, for a handful of folks, their main source of ire stemmed from the fact that it seems Black women actresses usually are afforded “Oscar bait” when they’re leaning into a stereotype, in this case the hypersexual one. And they didn’t mince any words expressing their displeasure over it.
“One Battle After Another is a fetishized imagery of blk women by a white man. Teyana Taylor is getting nominated bc her character similarly to Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball is hyper sexualized, a minstrel show, & grotesque. blk women only sweep awards by playing slave or sexfreak,” said on user on X/Twitter.
“I couldn’t even watch OBBA, bc why did they write her character that way? I didn’t even get 15 mins and turned it off bc it was so nasty and vulgar in a repulsive way,” said another on Threads.
One user questioned: “What the monster’s ball is going on in this Teyana Taylor movie with Sean Penn??” (Penn also stars as another man who gets seduced and used by Perfidia’s ways.)
Added another person, “Teyana Taylor’s role in One Battle After Another reminded me of Halle Berry’s in Monsters Ball. Cause why do they have to do that in order to be nominated? It’s like a weird obsession. I’ll wish she was nominated for A thousand and one than this.”
While Taylor has yet to speak on the comparisons and the outrage specifically, she defended her character’s choices in the film, telling the LA Times recently in part: “You might not agree with everything she does, and she doesn’t have a moment to redeem herself…But everybody still loves Perfidia.”
Is all to do about nothing or should Taylor’s role be given the scrutiny that it’s accrued?
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