deerstalker
https://blacknerdproblems.com/review-one-battle-after-another/
The last revolutionary on Earth starring Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another is a cathartic fk the system journey we knew we needed to see but never would have expected it’d look like this. The entire film is a painful metaphor for the revolution and a sign of the times we wish were not true. The outcomes all too realistic, then coupled with stellar performances, you can’t deny the pulsating energy the film contains.
Every metaphor hits different, like a painful knife in the side, but one that gets cleaned, wrapped, and set to heal nicely. It is evidently clear that the architect of our revolution was born from the master plans of our oppressors.
Every beat is a stark and accurate portrayal of where we are in the world today and how fragile and fabricated the system is, and the real-world consequences that can and do unfold in unrest. On the real, One Battle After Another is a well-told story about a revolution that endures and how we need to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. You walk away from the film virtually unscathed, but the scar lives on with a wild story to tell.
But nothing compares to the constant vibration of satisfying rage that is acknowledged by the depiction of America’s obsession with Black women, which is the winding road we follow throughout the whole film.
No spoilers for now- we’ll give a hoottie hoo when spoilers are about to be spilt.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
For gentle context, One Battle After Another follows the radical freedom group aptly titled “The French 75.” Named after the famous French 75mm gun, or “canon”, capable of firing 15 rounds a minute. The notorious ‘canon’ was used by the French to defeat the Germans in Paris in World War I. It is also commonly known as a strong ass gin cocktail. The gun itself was said to be a symbol of hope against world terror, making the name a perfect example of the film itself. Extremely irreverent and packing a punch.
The French 75 are freedom fighters equipped with communications intelligence, bomb and pyrotechnic specialists, strategists, and a…let’s say not ‘well oiled’ but heavy-hitting machine. Teyana Taylor’s character Perfidia Beverly Hills is a valiant member of this group and a descendant of a long line of revolutionaries. She’s also a bit of a loose cannon. She is unpredictable, strong-willed, and carries a burden in her eyes that feels all too familiar. From the beginning, she is paired with the arson or explosives expert of the operation, Bob Fergueson, Leo DiCaprio’s character. They are an unlikely couple, but you think in your head, yea – makes sense.
The group also has leaders like the one and only Avon Barksdale or Wood Harris playing strategist Laredo in the field. Actor and rapper Junglepussy graces the screen playing, I want to say…herself? We have our strong risk management professional Deandra, played by the real one, Regina Hall.
Every person plays their part and knows their role. There are clear lines to hold and a coded language that, when uttered properly, literally keeps people alive.
The best part is, it’s messy AF! It feels like at any minute the whole operation could fall apart, but you know it never will. The strings are flexible and seemingly haphazard, but its fabric is vibranium, and the fire is an endless blue flame that society loves to keep fanning.
This group is freeing captives from ICE detention centers, robbing banks, threatening governments, and following TF through. This revolution is what it looks like when fear has fueled you for so long and the world has finally made you choose violence.
The Revolution Will Not Give Your Mouth Sex Appeal
Of course the free-willed and stubbornness of Perfidia Beverly Hills is the catalyst to the next phase of prolonged battles. Aside from what we will call our protagonists of the story, our antagonist, aka ‘the system’ or ‘they’ or ‘the man’, is personified by Colonel Steven J Lockjaw – yes, that is a villain name for sure. Colonel Lockjaw is played expertly by powerhouse Sean Penn. As you watch him play a racist, Black loving/hating, proud boy, you can’t help but remember he literally played Harvey Milk. That aside, Colonel Lockjaw’s character is the embodiment of a society that takes all that it perceives power to be and makes it their sole purpose and inevitably their personality – insecurities in all. He is watching over and enforcing immigration, among many other things. But when he has a run-in with Perfidia, his eyes are opened.
The idea of the phrase ‘one battle after another’ lends itself to the sustained pace of the film. While many battles are going on at once, it truly feels like one long battle that links everyone together. Music plays a significant role in this regard. Seldom do you hear silence or come across moments of stillness. That isn’t to say the movie is cluttered or unfocused. Not at all. It’s ordered chaos, with the music sustaining you through each beat and obstacle to overcome.
The Revolution Will Not Be Brought to You by the Schaefer Award Theatre
The actor performances are the lungs of the film. Sitting glued to the screen, you could easily forget to breathe, but watching Leo, Benicio, Regina, and Chase Infiniti, who plays character Willa, gives you those moments to inhale. Whether it’s through necessary comic relief or the feeling of safety their presence conveys, it makes each battle in the film worth sustaining.
Leo DiCaprio goes all in as “The Dude” revolutionary Bob Ferguson. A joint between his lips and frustration in his brow, with an unwavering love for a daughter and dedication to a resistance he chooses to be chained to. Benicio Del Toro as Sensei Sergio St. Carlos reminds us what community really means. The risks we need to take to keep each other safe are just preparation for the life we deserve to live. He is calculated, calm, and literally reminds us all to breathe.
Even our villain, Colonel Lockjaw, played by Sean Penn gives purpose to the madness. His evil is a product of the very system he worships and will do anything to keep in line. He plays Lockjaw with a stoic, frantic insanity. He is fueled by the prospect of joining the Christmas Adventurers Club. A very obvious nod to the far-right Christian agenda to “Save Christmas” or put “Christ back in Christmas” as it’s often heard. When you first hear it in the film, you chuckle, but also wince with pain, because it’s just not far enough from the truth for you to full-belly laugh.
The setting is a tortured America. The one we are living in today yet somehow feels dystopian. Maybe it’s projection – we wish it were slightly different than our reality, but we’ve been in these streets, we know people affected by the very ideals those in power have carried out. This is Paul Thomas Anderson’s (PTA) specialty. The same Director who brought us Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia. It’s a realistic world that takes us even deeper into our own realities. It’s the what-if of speculative fiction. Gil Scott Heron’s Revolution Will Not Be Televised is cleverly the sacred text and code language of the resistance. The poetic hairs on my forearms stand up at this device and immediately want to adopt this, so we know who to trust at all times. Each mechanism in the film is a catered choice and greatly appreciated.
With all of that said, it’s only logical that the underlying tone is the obsession and mistreatment of Black women in America.
Now, if you really want to know how I feel – go watch the film and return to this section because…
I am spilling all the spoilers from here on out that can be spilt.
And No Pictures of Hairy-armed Women Liberationists
It is no secret that the abhorrent way the United States of America treats us Black women, past to present. I do mean that in the overgeneralized way. The Man, The System, The colonizers, the oppressors, whatever you want to call it, have historically used Black women to create and sustain themselves and given us no graces. One Battle After Another captures the raw essence of exhaustion, inherent responsibility, tortured existence, and generational trauma that a Black woman walks with on the daily. And on top of it all, the sick obsession and need to have power over and control a Black woman. With all of that, the film does provide a wealth of catharsis on the back end, leaving you feeling somehow less crazy and more seen. Don’t worry, I will explain.
It all begins with Teyana Taylor’s character, Perfidia Beverly Hills. She is boisterous, fighting to be unbothered, she is enraged freedom with a gun. In the first scene, she is tasked with securing Colonel Lockjaw himself to prevent him from interfering with their rescue mission. She proceeds to instruct him to get hard while holding a gun to his head. Her face dripping with a satisfying revenge and desire to literally fk the system. Having this kind of power excites her but does not rule her by any means. Lockjaw, on the other hand, the twinkle in his eye is absolutely ancestral. He is almost compelled to be aroused. His racist proclivity has birthed a fetishism he didn’t know could be real until he came face to face with it.
This is how America sees the Black woman. We’re loathed for the magnificence we possess. We remind oppressors of their misgivings. That the world was created on our backs, as laborers, breeders, caretakers, cooks, nannies, nurses, and eternal fighters. With all the strife, we still remain resilient and excel in science, art, beauty, finance, and so much more and continue to innovate. This is a hard pill to swallow for people who feel power is tied to the literal and metaphorical enslavement of another. Thus, the creation of an attraction to the innate power of a Black woman. The idea that we are strong in the face of [name anything here] makes a strange attraction to the ability that someone who uses forcible power does not possess.
The next time Perfidia encounters Lockjaw, they in fact do the deed. Perfidia, whose life partner is Leo DiCaprio, Bob Ferguson, a white man on the other side of the system. A “Gringo Zapata,” as Benicio’s character puts it. Some may see this as degrading to the Black woman, watching her be with only white men throughout the film. But this isn’t a rom-com where the only way someone will be invested is if the Black lead falls for the strapping blonde. This is an assertion of power. Perfidia has been trained in her blood to resist, to use her power to empower, and this is a perfect display of what a Black woman who feels freedom is hers for the taking can do.
And Women Will Not Care if Dick Finally Got Down with Jane
I particularly enjoy this for the evolution of Black women in film as well. We are constantly either holding up someone else by being the best friend, or explicitly there to show our struggle, or being exceptional as the talented 10th. Only recently have we been allowed to show some of the mess. Creators like Robin Thede, Issa Rae, Maya Rudolph, and Quinta Brunson have allowed us to be human and imperfect. When Perfidia finds herself pregnant, she is changed; her world becomes even more unbearable. The world has always been about something bigger than her, and a child makes that even more apparent. To boot, there is a chance this baby is literally the child of her oppressor, creating a vicious cycle that is a Black woman’s ancestral history.
When the mess is out there, she is caught acting out of order during a routine bank robbery. In captivity, she becomes a part of the villainy. When sh*it hits the fan, Perfidia names names, and the French 75 scatters as they have planned for situations such as this. The system attempts to confine her and use her, and she is too proud and free to let that ever happen. She’s now in the wind.
Fifteen years later. The literal progeny of the resistance and the system is being raised by the gringo zapata, who is what white guilt looks like when it does make a fair try. In a movie where the lead star is white, it is so Black though. For me – it truly felt like American Blackness was the main character. It wasn’t a period film, it wasn’t a crack open of oppression, it was a true story of what white America has made. Maybe it’s time for the gringo zapatas to do the work.
Because Black People Will Be in the Street Looking for a Brighter Day
Which brings me to Regina Hall and Chase Infiniti – our Deandra and Willa. Deandra is the walking sacrifice of Black women. She devotes her life to the resistance and is tasked with the safety and security of its most crucial members. The exhaustion in her face resonates inside my bones. The inherent responsibility she has over so many years, and the love and devotion she has to freedom means she is in this for life.
When Colonel comes looking for his ‘halfbreed’ as the Christmas Adventurers put it, Deandra is activated. She has to intercept Willa at a school dance and begin a series of actions to get her to a safe point. When they reach their destination, a remote convent, and cover for the additional members of the resistance. The head nun speaks about getting basically too old for this shit. Even she has a limit, but sees in Deandra’s eyes she’ll always have a little flame lit, ready to fight, no matter how spent she may be. This is the eternal flame a Black woman must always keep lit. We don’t have the ability to give up. Our blood is made of traces of kerosene and pulls energy from an ancestral place. It is painful and exhausting. These are the moments you feel most seen… and then breathe.
The Revolution Will Be Live
Willa is the greatest metaphor of them all. Born into a resistance without the guidance of her Black and maternal figure, raised by the well-meaning intentions and also a direct blood connection to the oppressor that maintains the system she is meant to fight. She has all of the skills, the tenacity, the intrinsic ability, but parts of her untethered. This makes her equal parts something new and old. Confronted with the truth about her mother and her father, she has to decide who she is going to be.
The feeling we as Black women have when we must exist in the past, present, and future at all times. We feel completely out of control, but know the power we hold – so concurrently, everything is possible. We have to decide who we want to be, how much mess we have to keep, and what composure to convey and when. There is a reason that America is obsessed. The belief that we are an anomaly, that what we do must be contained. Truth is, it is fking magical, it is a reverberating energy that we continue to evolve. Be obsessed – but also leave us TF alone.
One Battle After Another is now streaming on HBO Max.
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The post Review: One Battle After Another, What Black Women Call Life appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
The last revolutionary on Earth starring Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another is a cathartic fk the system journey we knew we needed to see but never would have expected it’d look like this. The entire film is a painful metaphor for the revolution and a sign of the times we wish were not true. The outcomes all too realistic, then coupled with stellar performances, you can’t deny the pulsating energy the film contains.
Every metaphor hits different, like a painful knife in the side, but one that gets cleaned, wrapped, and set to heal nicely. It is evidently clear that the architect of our revolution was born from the master plans of our oppressors.
Every beat is a stark and accurate portrayal of where we are in the world today and how fragile and fabricated the system is, and the real-world consequences that can and do unfold in unrest. On the real, One Battle After Another is a well-told story about a revolution that endures and how we need to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. You walk away from the film virtually unscathed, but the scar lives on with a wild story to tell.
But nothing compares to the constant vibration of satisfying rage that is acknowledged by the depiction of America’s obsession with Black women, which is the winding road we follow throughout the whole film.
No spoilers for now- we’ll give a hoottie hoo when spoilers are about to be spilt.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
For gentle context, One Battle After Another follows the radical freedom group aptly titled “The French 75.” Named after the famous French 75mm gun, or “canon”, capable of firing 15 rounds a minute. The notorious ‘canon’ was used by the French to defeat the Germans in Paris in World War I. It is also commonly known as a strong ass gin cocktail. The gun itself was said to be a symbol of hope against world terror, making the name a perfect example of the film itself. Extremely irreverent and packing a punch.
The French 75 are freedom fighters equipped with communications intelligence, bomb and pyrotechnic specialists, strategists, and a…let’s say not ‘well oiled’ but heavy-hitting machine. Teyana Taylor’s character Perfidia Beverly Hills is a valiant member of this group and a descendant of a long line of revolutionaries. She’s also a bit of a loose cannon. She is unpredictable, strong-willed, and carries a burden in her eyes that feels all too familiar. From the beginning, she is paired with the arson or explosives expert of the operation, Bob Fergueson, Leo DiCaprio’s character. They are an unlikely couple, but you think in your head, yea – makes sense.
The group also has leaders like the one and only Avon Barksdale or Wood Harris playing strategist Laredo in the field. Actor and rapper Junglepussy graces the screen playing, I want to say…herself? We have our strong risk management professional Deandra, played by the real one, Regina Hall.
Every person plays their part and knows their role. There are clear lines to hold and a coded language that, when uttered properly, literally keeps people alive.
The best part is, it’s messy AF! It feels like at any minute the whole operation could fall apart, but you know it never will. The strings are flexible and seemingly haphazard, but its fabric is vibranium, and the fire is an endless blue flame that society loves to keep fanning.
This group is freeing captives from ICE detention centers, robbing banks, threatening governments, and following TF through. This revolution is what it looks like when fear has fueled you for so long and the world has finally made you choose violence.
The Revolution Will Not Give Your Mouth Sex Appeal
Of course the free-willed and stubbornness of Perfidia Beverly Hills is the catalyst to the next phase of prolonged battles. Aside from what we will call our protagonists of the story, our antagonist, aka ‘the system’ or ‘they’ or ‘the man’, is personified by Colonel Steven J Lockjaw – yes, that is a villain name for sure. Colonel Lockjaw is played expertly by powerhouse Sean Penn. As you watch him play a racist, Black loving/hating, proud boy, you can’t help but remember he literally played Harvey Milk. That aside, Colonel Lockjaw’s character is the embodiment of a society that takes all that it perceives power to be and makes it their sole purpose and inevitably their personality – insecurities in all. He is watching over and enforcing immigration, among many other things. But when he has a run-in with Perfidia, his eyes are opened.
The idea of the phrase ‘one battle after another’ lends itself to the sustained pace of the film. While many battles are going on at once, it truly feels like one long battle that links everyone together. Music plays a significant role in this regard. Seldom do you hear silence or come across moments of stillness. That isn’t to say the movie is cluttered or unfocused. Not at all. It’s ordered chaos, with the music sustaining you through each beat and obstacle to overcome.
The Revolution Will Not Be Brought to You by the Schaefer Award Theatre
The actor performances are the lungs of the film. Sitting glued to the screen, you could easily forget to breathe, but watching Leo, Benicio, Regina, and Chase Infiniti, who plays character Willa, gives you those moments to inhale. Whether it’s through necessary comic relief or the feeling of safety their presence conveys, it makes each battle in the film worth sustaining.
Leo DiCaprio goes all in as “The Dude” revolutionary Bob Ferguson. A joint between his lips and frustration in his brow, with an unwavering love for a daughter and dedication to a resistance he chooses to be chained to. Benicio Del Toro as Sensei Sergio St. Carlos reminds us what community really means. The risks we need to take to keep each other safe are just preparation for the life we deserve to live. He is calculated, calm, and literally reminds us all to breathe.
Even our villain, Colonel Lockjaw, played by Sean Penn gives purpose to the madness. His evil is a product of the very system he worships and will do anything to keep in line. He plays Lockjaw with a stoic, frantic insanity. He is fueled by the prospect of joining the Christmas Adventurers Club. A very obvious nod to the far-right Christian agenda to “Save Christmas” or put “Christ back in Christmas” as it’s often heard. When you first hear it in the film, you chuckle, but also wince with pain, because it’s just not far enough from the truth for you to full-belly laugh.
The setting is a tortured America. The one we are living in today yet somehow feels dystopian. Maybe it’s projection – we wish it were slightly different than our reality, but we’ve been in these streets, we know people affected by the very ideals those in power have carried out. This is Paul Thomas Anderson’s (PTA) specialty. The same Director who brought us Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia. It’s a realistic world that takes us even deeper into our own realities. It’s the what-if of speculative fiction. Gil Scott Heron’s Revolution Will Not Be Televised is cleverly the sacred text and code language of the resistance. The poetic hairs on my forearms stand up at this device and immediately want to adopt this, so we know who to trust at all times. Each mechanism in the film is a catered choice and greatly appreciated.
With all of that said, it’s only logical that the underlying tone is the obsession and mistreatment of Black women in America.
Now, if you really want to know how I feel – go watch the film and return to this section because…
I am spilling all the spoilers from here on out that can be spilt.
And No Pictures of Hairy-armed Women Liberationists
It is no secret that the abhorrent way the United States of America treats us Black women, past to present. I do mean that in the overgeneralized way. The Man, The System, The colonizers, the oppressors, whatever you want to call it, have historically used Black women to create and sustain themselves and given us no graces. One Battle After Another captures the raw essence of exhaustion, inherent responsibility, tortured existence, and generational trauma that a Black woman walks with on the daily. And on top of it all, the sick obsession and need to have power over and control a Black woman. With all of that, the film does provide a wealth of catharsis on the back end, leaving you feeling somehow less crazy and more seen. Don’t worry, I will explain.
It all begins with Teyana Taylor’s character, Perfidia Beverly Hills. She is boisterous, fighting to be unbothered, she is enraged freedom with a gun. In the first scene, she is tasked with securing Colonel Lockjaw himself to prevent him from interfering with their rescue mission. She proceeds to instruct him to get hard while holding a gun to his head. Her face dripping with a satisfying revenge and desire to literally fk the system. Having this kind of power excites her but does not rule her by any means. Lockjaw, on the other hand, the twinkle in his eye is absolutely ancestral. He is almost compelled to be aroused. His racist proclivity has birthed a fetishism he didn’t know could be real until he came face to face with it.
This is how America sees the Black woman. We’re loathed for the magnificence we possess. We remind oppressors of their misgivings. That the world was created on our backs, as laborers, breeders, caretakers, cooks, nannies, nurses, and eternal fighters. With all the strife, we still remain resilient and excel in science, art, beauty, finance, and so much more and continue to innovate. This is a hard pill to swallow for people who feel power is tied to the literal and metaphorical enslavement of another. Thus, the creation of an attraction to the innate power of a Black woman. The idea that we are strong in the face of [name anything here] makes a strange attraction to the ability that someone who uses forcible power does not possess.
The next time Perfidia encounters Lockjaw, they in fact do the deed. Perfidia, whose life partner is Leo DiCaprio, Bob Ferguson, a white man on the other side of the system. A “Gringo Zapata,” as Benicio’s character puts it. Some may see this as degrading to the Black woman, watching her be with only white men throughout the film. But this isn’t a rom-com where the only way someone will be invested is if the Black lead falls for the strapping blonde. This is an assertion of power. Perfidia has been trained in her blood to resist, to use her power to empower, and this is a perfect display of what a Black woman who feels freedom is hers for the taking can do.
And Women Will Not Care if Dick Finally Got Down with Jane
I particularly enjoy this for the evolution of Black women in film as well. We are constantly either holding up someone else by being the best friend, or explicitly there to show our struggle, or being exceptional as the talented 10th. Only recently have we been allowed to show some of the mess. Creators like Robin Thede, Issa Rae, Maya Rudolph, and Quinta Brunson have allowed us to be human and imperfect. When Perfidia finds herself pregnant, she is changed; her world becomes even more unbearable. The world has always been about something bigger than her, and a child makes that even more apparent. To boot, there is a chance this baby is literally the child of her oppressor, creating a vicious cycle that is a Black woman’s ancestral history.
When the mess is out there, she is caught acting out of order during a routine bank robbery. In captivity, she becomes a part of the villainy. When sh*it hits the fan, Perfidia names names, and the French 75 scatters as they have planned for situations such as this. The system attempts to confine her and use her, and she is too proud and free to let that ever happen. She’s now in the wind.
Fifteen years later. The literal progeny of the resistance and the system is being raised by the gringo zapata, who is what white guilt looks like when it does make a fair try. In a movie where the lead star is white, it is so Black though. For me – it truly felt like American Blackness was the main character. It wasn’t a period film, it wasn’t a crack open of oppression, it was a true story of what white America has made. Maybe it’s time for the gringo zapatas to do the work.
Because Black People Will Be in the Street Looking for a Brighter Day
Which brings me to Regina Hall and Chase Infiniti – our Deandra and Willa. Deandra is the walking sacrifice of Black women. She devotes her life to the resistance and is tasked with the safety and security of its most crucial members. The exhaustion in her face resonates inside my bones. The inherent responsibility she has over so many years, and the love and devotion she has to freedom means she is in this for life.
When Colonel comes looking for his ‘halfbreed’ as the Christmas Adventurers put it, Deandra is activated. She has to intercept Willa at a school dance and begin a series of actions to get her to a safe point. When they reach their destination, a remote convent, and cover for the additional members of the resistance. The head nun speaks about getting basically too old for this shit. Even she has a limit, but sees in Deandra’s eyes she’ll always have a little flame lit, ready to fight, no matter how spent she may be. This is the eternal flame a Black woman must always keep lit. We don’t have the ability to give up. Our blood is made of traces of kerosene and pulls energy from an ancestral place. It is painful and exhausting. These are the moments you feel most seen… and then breathe.
The Revolution Will Be Live
Willa is the greatest metaphor of them all. Born into a resistance without the guidance of her Black and maternal figure, raised by the well-meaning intentions and also a direct blood connection to the oppressor that maintains the system she is meant to fight. She has all of the skills, the tenacity, the intrinsic ability, but parts of her untethered. This makes her equal parts something new and old. Confronted with the truth about her mother and her father, she has to decide who she is going to be.
The feeling we as Black women have when we must exist in the past, present, and future at all times. We feel completely out of control, but know the power we hold – so concurrently, everything is possible. We have to decide who we want to be, how much mess we have to keep, and what composure to convey and when. There is a reason that America is obsessed. The belief that we are an anomaly, that what we do must be contained. Truth is, it is fking magical, it is a reverberating energy that we continue to evolve. Be obsessed – but also leave us TF alone.
One Battle After Another is now streaming on HBO Max.
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The post Review: One Battle After Another, What Black Women Call Life appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
For nearly two years, we’ve experienced collective trauma. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a flood of anxiety, stress, fear, loss, and instability across the world, creating a mental health crisis. Black people shot and killed by police, mass protests, the Capitol riot, and systemic racism have brought another level of pain.
Naturally, Black therapists have been in high demand, despite being underrepresented in their field. According to the American Psychological Association, in 2019 there were approximately 106,000 licensed psychologists in the U.S., yet only 3 percent are Black.
It’s difficult finding a therapist, not to mention finding a therapist that looks like you. This was important to me as a Black woman when I began my search years ago. Finding one who was a good fit and that I could establish trust with was worth the effort.
Within the Black community, there is a stigma towards seeking help for mental health. There is this notion that you don’t need to “tell all your business” to a complete stranger or that there is nothing that prayer and faith can’t fix. These things have done nothing but hold us back from true healing and breaking out of emotional bondage.
After a sexual assault while I was in college, the shame prevented me from seeking professional help. I left school and returned home. My mother took it upon herself to make an appointment for me with a therapist. She did this out of love and concern; however, I walked into that office reluctant and not knowing anything about the therapist other than her name. I was uncomfortable, and she made no effort to get to know me. She barely looked up, as she asked generic questions. I felt as if she were just going through the motions. Worse, I picked up on her language towards me. It lacked empathy and at times seemed as if she was trying to get a certain reaction. The hour passed slowly. I left and never went back.
Needless to say, it would take years before I would seek therapy again. What I knew for sure was that I desired a therapist that I could connect with — a Black woman. But I did some things differently the next time around in order to achieve the outcome I needed. Truth is, you don’t have to wait until something happens or goes wrong in your life to seek therapy. I view it as part of my self-care; it’s regular maintenance as I go through life and grow in life.
Finding the Right Therapist Is Important
It is a brave step to seek mental health support and shouldn’t be taken lightly. So, it’s important to find a therapist who makes you feel comfortable and you can actually build a strong partnership with to help you achieve your goals. Trust is everything. As mentioned, the stigma of seeking treatment can be a huge barrier with cultivating trust. Research shows that over 50 percent of Black Americans subscribed to negative beliefs about seeking treatment for mental illness, despite the huge impact racism has on mental health. This fact is important to acknowledge, as you want your therapist to be understanding of the misconceptions that you may have and take a nonjudgmental approach in helping you feel at ease.
In my situation with my first therapist, I felt as though I were just a number and that she had heard it all before. But my traumatic experience was not anyone else’s; it was mine. I needed her to help me and not judge me.
Where to Find a Black Therapist
Once you’ve made a decision to seek therapy along with knowing what you’re hoping to achieve, you can begin your search. Start with asking friends and family for referrals or contact your insurance company. There are so many databases now that can connect you with therapy services (with or without insurance). The great thing is that they allow you to specifically locate Black therapists in your area:
- Therapy for Black Girls
- Therapy for Black Men
- Melanin and Mental Health
- Health in Her Hue (app)
- Open Path Collective
A couple of years ago, a friend suggested that I follow Dr. Joy Harden Bradford on Instagram. Dr. Bradford is a clinical psychologist based in Atlanta. I began watching her weekly “lives” and listening to her podcast Therapy for Black Girls. I utilized her platform of the same name to find a Black woman therapist in my area. I scheduled a free consultation to determine if we were a good fit for each other. To be honest, the first one was not a good fit. Not that she wasn’t qualified; I was seeking a particular treatment and she did not practice that approach. After going back through the process, I was able to connect with one who was perfect for me.
If you can’t find a Black therapist who is available in your area, consider searching for telehealth therapists. Some providers are out-of-state, meaning they can provide services in states they do not reside in. Check the databases mentioned above, as many will indicate whether or not they provide this service. With the pandemic, many providers have incorporated telehealth services into their practice.
I have been asked why I specifically wanted a Black therapist. It’s interesting that no one asks why I prefer a woman therapist over a man therapist. It’s because most people can understand why as a woman, I’d feel more comfortable with another one. A Black woman therapist specifically understands my experiences as a Black woman.
The beauty of creating your self-care means that you are allowed to seek and have safe spaces where you don’t have to explain your humanity, choices, have your experiences questioned (gaslighting), or deal with microaggressions. Therapy is supposed to be a nurturing space for your healing and growth. It’s all about you. Make the best choice for you. You deserve that.
The post Finding a Black Therapist appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
Stranger Things 5 is back with Volume 2. And once again, we are at the edge of our seats, wondering… are there any major character deaths in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2? After all, there were no main character deaths in Stranger Things 5, Volume 1… So surely, we are due for some in Volume 2? Well, we’re about to tell you. So if you don’t want to know who lives and who dies in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2, we recommend you head to our spoiler-free review of Stranger Things 5, Volume 2 instead. Let’s dive in.
Are there any Major Character Deaths in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2
No. There are NO major character deaths in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2. And we don’t know what to do with that, honestly. We kind of understood when there were no major deaths in Stranger Things 5, Volume 1. That was just the beginning. But we imagined we’d get at least one heartbreaking character death scene in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2. And yet, we did not.
Jonathan and Nancy Almost Die in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2—But Survive
Like with Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, we got one intense duo death fakeout in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2. In Stranger Things 5 episode six, “Escape From Camazotz,” Nancy and Jonathan are trapped in a melting Hawkins Lab in the Upside Down. The room is literally becoming liquid around them, and they can’t get out. Instead, Jonathan and Nancy climb onto a table and accept their deaths in Stranger Things 5. This leads them to have their first honest conversation… maybe in a couple of seasons. It’s beautiful and emotional, and both the audience and the characters believe it’s the end for them. But then, by some miracle, the goo solidifies, the room stops melting, and they remain alive.
Jonathan and Nancy’s Relationship Did Die in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2, RIP
That doesn’t mean there weren’t any deaths in Stranger Thing 5, Volume 2. There just wasn’t the death of a character. Instead, we got the death of a relationship. When Nancy and Jonathan found themselves on death’s door, they were finally able to open up to one another about what they wanted in life. And— fortunately/unfortunately, pending your perspective on “Jancy”—that did not include a romantic relationship with one another. And so, Nancy and Jonathan’s tumultuous seasons-long relationship found its death on Stranger Things 5, Volume 2. RIP, Jancy. We liked you, but only because that meant we didn’t have to deal with Stancy.
Steve’s Beamer Met Its Death in the Upside Down on Stranger Things 5, Volume 2
Okay, sorry, we have to add one more addendum. There were no major character deaths on Stranger Things 5, Volume 2—but, in addition to a relationship death, there was a death of a VERY important fixture of the show. Yes, in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2, Steve’s beloved Beamer met its death. Steve’s BMW has been an important part of the show since its start. Notably, in Stranger Things 2, Steve’s Beamer was driven by Max to transport the party from the Byers’ house to the Upside Down tunnels so they could help distract the Hive Mind and give El the opportunity to close the gate. It’s an iconic scene.
The Beamer was also where Steve and Dustin’s adorable pre-Snow Ball moment took place, and we’ll never forget Steve telling Dustin that he looks amazing. Aside from this, Steve’s Beamer has come in and out of the show too many times to count, a safe place for much of our team, and we’ll miss it. Poor Steve clearly loved it very much as well. The death of Steve’s Beamer is truly a sad death on Stranger Things 5, Volume 2. And once again, we say RIP.
No Deaths in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2 May Mean MANY Deaths in Volume 3/The Finale
Okay, we were laughing, but now we’re serious again. No major characters have hit us in Stranger Things‘ final season, not in Stranger Things 5, Volume 1, nor in Stranger Things 5, Volume 2. And so we shudder to think what that means for Stranger Things 5, Volume 3. Although the Duffer Brothers have assured us that Stranger Things is not Game of Thrones, and that “there’s no Red Wedding,” they’ve also promised that Stranger Things 5 contains “the most violent death of any season.” And given that we haven’t seen any deaths yet on Stranger Things 5, we know we have at least that much to look forward to in the final episode of the series.
We’ll be clutching our Peanut Butter Boppers tight as we get ready for Stranger Things‘ finale. Stranger Things 5 Volumes 1 and 2 are now streaming on Netflix. Stranger Things 5, Volume 3, or Stranger Things 5: The Finale will arrive on December 31 at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET.
Rotem Rusak is the Editor-in-Chief of Nerdist. She is holding out hope that Steve and Dustin will survive Stranger Things 5… and maybe Eddie Munson can come back to life too.
Originally published on December 25, 2025.
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Make no mistake about it: Jamie Babbit’s feature directorial debut But I’m a Cheerleader is pitch black.
If you need evidence of this, look no further than a line spoken by Megan (Natasha Lyonne), the film’s lead character: “You’re right: I am a homosexual. But I’ll be normal soon.” Megan says this to her parents who have decided to quite literally ambush her with an involuntary trip to a “gay conversion” camp that is run by peppy autocrat Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty) and “ex-gay” helper Mike (RuPaul Charles).
Are you laughing yet?
1999’s But I’m a Cheerleader had all the potential to be a devastating drama. With just a little tweaking here and there, the film’s campy, satirical edge could have been blunted into something more dire and harder to watch. For example, this movie was released the same year as Boys Don’t Cry, the story of murdered trans man Branden Teena and another 1999 LGBTQ+ independent film that received a very limited release on a shoestring budget.
For an example of how easily this comedy shades into tragedy, look no further than the family therapy scene with Graham’s parents. Graham (Clea DuVall) is a “boyish” girl. She presents as more masculine and, unfortunately for her rich, image-obsessed parents, she likes other women. The family therapy, part of the general “conversion” therapy, insists that her parents help her see her abnormality and that she should be “normal” by liking boys and wearing brightly pink dresses in addition to a winning smile.
That they, and the program overall, is leaving Graham feeling annoyed at best and dehumanized at worst does not occur to them. What matters is that they maintain the image of American upper-middle class success: a wealthy, straight nuclear family that in turn produces other straight, wealthy nuclear families. Were it not for the score by Pat Irwin, which mixes surf-rock guitar licks, glockenspiels, and otherworldly vocal tracks, certain parts of the film might be unbearable to watch.
What’s most interesting about But I’m a Cheerleader is its focus on gender norms and how militantly they’re enforced. Much of the “conversion” meant to take place doesn’t center on sexuality as much as it does on gender roles. The girls are made to wear pink, and the boys are forced to wear blue. The girls are told to enjoy homemaking, while the boys are expected to like cars and sports. When looking to discover the “roots” of their homosexuality, characters have to think back on key moments of gender transgression they’ve done or witnessed (for Graham, it was that her mother got married in pants). For this particular queer 1999 film, the consequences of muddying gender roles could be played for laughs. In Boys Don’t Cry, late-1990s audiences got to see the other end of the spectrum.
Still, despite its goofier tone, But I’m a Cheerleader had some interesting insights. For example, the character Jan (Katrina Phillips) ends up in the program because she presents herself as more masculine. But, comically, she “comes out” as straight and laments that people only consider her queer (in every sense of the term) because she wears baggy clothes, plays softball, and prefers to rock a mohawk over pigtails. Once again, the movie, despite its more relaxed tone, has a pretty incisive analysis of gender presentation and how that plays into heteronormativity.
And the scene is quite funny, too, even despite RuPaul’s character casually dismissing Jan’s claims to heterosexuality with, “Jan, remember, you were molested. I mean just look at yourself!” For people looking to revisit this film, it’s important to know that this is the film’s overall comedic sensibility — pitch black horror given a pastel top coat. And maybe, given the subject matter and how it was to make and distribute the film in the first place, that’s for the best.
The MPAA wanted to give this movie, which contains neither nudity nor murders, an NC-17 rating. While the filmmakers had to make some cuts to get the R rating, they don’t mention if those cuts included anything pornographic or grisly — instances that actually merit such a rating. The movie’s sole crime appears to be being a gay film that contains a sex scene. Mind you, this sex scene is tame enough to merit inclusion in a PG-13 flick, but it is one that involves two women. And everyone knows if two women kiss it must be licentious, even pornographic.
This is all to say perhaps a mainstream late 20th-century film establishment wasn’t ready to be mature about this subject matter, so films covering it had to toe a preposterous line. It’s worth noting that Boys Don’t Cry similarly had to battle the ratings board to get an R rating over an NC-17, while 1996 gay male comedy The Birdcage apparently did not. It seems that anytime a queer story involved women or people perceived as women, the ratings board caught serious, comorbid cases of misogyny and transphobia.
On a side note, But I’m a Cheerleader received flak at the time of its release for its trafficking in stereotypes. In this movie, gay boys hate cars and sports. Anything “manly” is anathema to them. A gay male character notes at one point that “there isn’t one way to be a lesbian,” but this grace isn’t extended to gay men. The ones that appear here, for the most part, seem to be typical of mainstream late-’90s sensibilities that imagined most gay men as effete, silly, and twinkish.
This, however, is not the case with queer and masculine-presenting women. Megan genuinely enjoys cheerleading and makes a case for why there’s nothing contradictory with being a gay woman who loves this “girly” activity. Jan shows that “looking like a lesbian” actually means quite little. Meanwhile, Graham is a more masculine-presenting “tough chick” who is still able to succumb to familial and financial pressure to become more “normal” and feminine. It makes sense that a comedy hoping to have a campy tone might make its characters a bit one-dimensional; it’s just a shame that a movie so mindful of subverting stereotypes could make a habit of simultaneously playing into them.
“It’s not intellectual,” Megan says of cheerleading, “Cheers are supposed to be simple, make people feel good.” This is the character’s ethos and perhaps also the film’s. The characters tend to be one-dimensional and the humor is often predictable, but the film remains important because it attempts to say something subversive about what it means to be queer. This queerness can be extended to sexual orientation, gender presentation, or both, and, the film tells us, it is still something to be celebrated.
1999 was an interesting year for queer films. Both Boys Don’t Cry and But I’m a Cheerleader were released almost a month apart as seeming foils for one another. One was lighthearted and the other an Academy award-nominated drama. Both were released during a codified era of homophobia in the form of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policies and bans on gay marriage. And, despite everything, these movies asked us to look at the lives of queer people even if a system like the ratings board tried to thwart that. This alone is worthy of cult status.
But I’m a Cheerleader is free to watch on YouTube Movies and TV.
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