The Big Picture

‘One Battle After Another’: A Second Opinion With Van Lathan

October 5, 2025

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  • Van Lathan argues that fiscal responsibility should be a consistent expectation across all film budgets, not just those for smaller filmmakers, to ensure industry health. 
  • The conversation highlights a perceived double standard where acclaimed white male directors like PTA receive massive budgets without the same profitability constraints applied to films centered on Black women or other marginalized creators. 
  • A significant portion of the discussion centers on the controversial portrayal of the Black female revolutionary character, Profidia Beverly Hills, in *One Battle After Another*, with Van Lathan arguing her depiction plays into minimizing tropes, despite the film's overall artistic merit. 
  • Van Lathan believes the film, despite being loaded with weighty ideas and being a fun time, mishandles the characterizations of Black women and revolutionaries, leading to necessary cultural conversation. 
  • The discussion pivots to the difference between 'overcoming' historical oppression (which Black Americans have achieved in many ways) and 'winning' systemic power structures (which they have not). 
  • Despite strong opinions on the film's quality (with one speaker calling it 'some fuck shit' while still revering its core theme of father-daughter love), the episode highlights the massive listenership of The Big Picture. 

Segments

Box Office and Fiscal Responsibility
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(00:00:09)
  • Key Takeaway: The health of the industry for smaller filmmakers requires that all creators, even those with gigantic budgets, maintain some level of fiscal responsibility.
  • Summary: Van Lathan contrasts the constraints placed on smaller filmmakers with the massive budgets given to established directors, arguing that everyone should care about fiscal responsibility. He uses the box office scrutiny of Sinners as an example where cultural celebration did not negate the immediate focus on profitability. Lathan advocates for maintaining the same financial energy and accountability across all film productions.
Equality in Artistic Genius
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(00:08:33)
  • Key Takeaway: Black filmmakers and women often do not have their magnum opuses received or budgeted the same way as white male counterparts like PTA, leading to a lack of equality in artistic reward.
  • Summary: The speakers debate whether established geniuses should be exempt from financial scrutiny, leading to a discussion on systemic inequality. Lathan points out that highly artistic films by Black filmmakers are often not received the same way or given comparable budgets to those by white male directors. The core desire expressed is for equality in the ability to tell stories in grand, amazing ways, regardless of perceived cultural translation needs.
Nia DaCosta’s Career Trajectory
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(00:19:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Nia DaCosta represents a potential evolution in the industry, being a Black female filmmaker consistently working across independent features and franchise films despite underperforming sequels.
  • Summary: The discussion pivots to Nia DaCosta’s career following the box office struggles of Candyman and The Marvels. Her upcoming projects, including a Hedda Gabler reimagining and the 28 Years Later sequel, suggest she is earning opportunities that might not have been available 20 years ago. Her future success is seen as meaningful to the broader conversation about opportunities for marginalized filmmakers.
Characterizing Profidia Beverly Hills
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(00:34:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The portrayal of Profidia Beverly Hills in One Battle After Another is criticized as an abomination that fails Black women by depicting a revolutionary figure as grotesquely selfish and unaware.
  • Summary: Van Lathan argues that the character’s actions—abandoning her child, snitching, and destroying the revolution—run contrary to the selfless nature typically associated with Black female activists. He contrasts this with the care shown in Tarantino’s Jackie Brown for its central Black female character. The segment concludes that Profidia’s characterization plays into minimizing tropes, even if the performance by Teyana Taylor is excellent.
Artistic Freedom vs. Representation Critique
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(00:50:33)
  • Key Takeaway: Policing characterization based on perceived societal truth risks entering the territory of censorship, even when critiques about representation are valid and necessary.
  • Summary: Sean Fennessey expresses discomfort with policing what an artist depicts, arguing that art should allow for complex, even flawed, character creation to provoke discussion. Lathan counters that for Black audiences, accuracy in representation is crucial after generations of being misrepresented, and that the film’s depiction of Profidia does not feel true to the spirit of Black female revolutionaries. The segment acknowledges the tension between artistic freedom and the value of accurate representation.
Movie Ranking and Podcast Name Joke
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(01:02:42)
  • Key Takeaway: Van Lathan’s high ranking of the discussed film, placing it above ‘Boogie Nights,’ prompts humorous reactions and a joke about renaming ‘The Big Picture’ to ‘The Crazy People’s Podcast.’
  • Summary: A speaker suggests placing the film being discussed above ‘Boogie Nights,’ which is met with surprise. This leads to a brief, joking suggestion to rename the podcast due to the controversial nature of the opinions shared. The segment highlights the strong, potentially polarizing opinions held by the guest regarding film hierarchy.
PTA Film Preferences
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(01:03:08)
  • Key Takeaway: Van Lathan prefers Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) films that feature strong female characters, citing ‘Inherent Vice’ as one he dislikes because it doesn’t align with his relational viewing criteria.
  • Summary: The conversation references Joe’s love for ‘Inherent Vice,’ which another person reacted strongly against, calling it the lowest on their list. Van Lathan explains his preference for PTA’s top two films because they feature women characters he can relate to. This preference dictates his engagement with the director’s filmography.
Weighing Fun and Ideas
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(01:03:51)
  • Key Takeaway: A successful film can deal with weighty subject matter while still providing an enjoyable, fun theatrical experience for the audience.
  • Summary: The speaker enjoyed the movie because it was a ‘fun thinker,’ noting that it is loaded with ideas but remains an enjoyable time. The in-theater experience was exciting, demonstrating the value of a film that balances serious themes with entertainment. This quality is compared favorably to the experience of watching ‘Sinners.’
Pushback on Black Women Portrayals
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(01:04:18)
  • Key Takeaway: The pushback regarding the characterizations and fates of Black women in the film stems from a fundamental desire to see Black women protected and cared for, necessitating cultural conversation when they are not.
  • Summary: The segment addresses the criticism surrounding the depiction of Black women and their fates within the movie. The core reason for this conversation is the collective desire to see Black women taken care of in media. When this expectation is unmet, a cultural dialogue is guaranteed to occur, regardless of the film’s intent.
Revolutionaries and Power Structures
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(01:05:27)
  • Key Takeaway: The film’s haphazard treatment of revolutionaries, central to the African-American tradition, fails to do justice to the subject matter, suggesting that only white men succeed in the movie’s depiction of revolution.
  • Summary: The haphazard treatment of revolutionaries in the film is deemed unjustifiable given the cultural importance of the subject to the Black tradition. A counterpoint suggests that no one in the movie is good at anything, except perhaps Sensei Sergio, who saves Bob twice. The ultimate takeaway from the film’s structure is that power organization in the US remains unchanged.
Overcoming vs. Winning
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(01:06:46)
  • Key Takeaway: Black Americans have significantly ‘overcome’ the initial wilderness of slavery and dehumanization, but they have not yet achieved ‘winning’ the full vision of American equality.
  • Summary: The speakers differentiate between overcoming and winning, asserting that Black Americans have overcome the initial state of being treated as ‘beasts’ or ‘cattle.’ Through ancestral power and cultural unity, they have overcome a system designed to kill them. However, they have not yet reshaped America into its stated ideal, meaning the fight is ongoing.
Film’s Core Theme
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(01:09:21)
  • Key Takeaway: Fundamentally, the movie is about the enduring, unconditional love between a father and daughter, even when external resources fail to save the loved one.
  • Summary: The film, despite its complex questions, boils down to a narrative about a father and a daughter. The most interesting aspect is that this relationship transcends the literal, focusing on the love that persists regardless of reality. This love is what one draws upon, even when unable to access necessary tools, like ‘remembering the password.’
Final Film Assessment and Listenership
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(01:10:11)
  • Key Takeaway: The film is simultaneously revered for its core theme and criticized as ‘some fuck shit,’ though it is definitively not in the same class as films like ‘Parasite.’
  • Summary: The speaker praises the movie while simultaneously labeling parts of it as ‘some fuck shit,’ concluding it is a good movie but not the best ever made. It is explicitly stated that the film does not compare to ‘Parasite’ or similar high-caliber movies. The segment concludes with the revelation that the previous episode of The Big Picture reached 36 million listeners.