The Impact of Halle Berry on Black Cinema

I don’t know Halle Berry at all. Heck I’ve never even met her. So this blog isn’t personal.

I’m writing about Halle Berry from an objective reviewer’s perspective and a business perspective, the same way studio executives, producers, and directors do. And from that standpoint she’s not that pretty.

All I know of Halle Berry from is her body of work. And from that resume of performances I know that she started out as an actress with a lot of promise. Her work in early films like Jungle Fever, Losing Isaiah, and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge showed a great amount of passion and heart. I felt her energy and spirit in every performance.

However, in her later years her body of work stopped being strong. After the first X-Men Movie something got lost. A spark. That passion. That heart. Then Came Swordfish, a gratuitous nude scene and her onscreen energy wasn’t the same. Monster’s Ball may have won her an Oscar, but it was clear she’d lost her soul as a performer. After that Oscar win her acting became more flat and uninspired. In films like Their Eyes Were Watching God, Catwoman, and Perfect Stranger It was like watching a DEAD woman onscreen. Looking at her early work and then her later films It’s like watching two different women onscreen.

Looking objectively at her body of work I saw her strengths and I saw her weaknesses as an actress. While Halle Berry is attractive and very talented, she has lacked in several areas craft wise as a performer. First off, she has no charisma. That prevents the audience from connecting with her in lead roles. It prevents her from disappearing into a character. It prevents the audience from seeing her character or her character’s problems. It prevents us from feeling her character’s energy. And if an actress can’t get the audience to see their character, identify with their character or their character’s problems they won’t be able to relate on a personal level when watching a movie.

Halle also lacks the ability to convey emotions effectively. Due to her lack of charisma, we rarely feel her characters emotions. This weakness doesn’t come across in most dramatic scenes, (drama is easier) but it shows up consistently in comedy where the small nuances of within facial expressions are crucial for telling a joke. She lacks subtlety; we can’t tell how she’s feeling by just a look or a glance in a single shot. Moreover, we don’t feel the “vibe” (subtext) between the lines when she speaks. And it’s this inability to transpose the subtext between the lines of a screenplay that keeps her from having effective chemistry with her co-stars, leaving her performances stiff and awkward in romantic scenes.

In addition to lacking charisma and emotional conveyance Halle also lacks screen presence. When she’s onscreen she isn’t the center of attention; the audience doesn’t feel like it has to pay attention to her. when she’s onscreen by herself she’s mousy and awkward and doesn’t take control of the scene. Worse, she gets overpowered by stronger actors like Robert Downey Jr, Terrence Howard, Penelope Cruz, and Ruby Dee. A lead actress has to COMMAND the screen when they’re on it and Halle Berry isn’t aggressive enough to do that.

Without these two elements it’s impossible for an actor to carry a movie for two hours. Moreover, it’s impossible for the audience to CARE about the film they are watching for two hours. And if the audience doesn’t CARE, then it has NO REASON be compelled to watch the movie. It has NO REASON to be COMPELLED to pay $12 of their hard-earned cash to watch a movie.

Compound this with the numerous POOR CHOICES she makes regarding projects and it’s clear why her career is in trouble.

Right now, Berry picks projects that aren’t a good fit for her. While many of her early films (especially the African-American ones) played to her strengths, Many of the roles she’s starred in post-Oscar play up all her weaknesses. In Gothika she was overpowered by stronger performers like Penelope Cruz, Charles Dutton, and Robert Downey Jr who had much stronger screen presences. Catwoman was an edgy role that required an actress have an aggression, intensity, and a strong screen presence. She looked like a wimp. Perfect Stranger was role that required a charismatic personality which had grit, tenacity, and toughness. With Halle It felt forced and awkward. Their Eyes Were Watching God required an incredibly strong screen presence and an intricate nuanced performance to make us care about Janie Crawford’s struggles and understand her plight as a black woman. Halle looked lost and confused for most of the movie. And her more recent films like Things We Lost in The Fire and Frankie & Alice left the audience indifferent about her performance and the story onscreen.

And Indifference in the movie business is BAD. Indifference does not generate buzz. It doesn’t sell movie tickets. It doesn’t generate word-of-mouth that gets repeat moviegoers. In the film industry indifference is the KISS OF DEATH.

Actors who make the audience indifferent are BAD FOR BUSINESS. Studio Executives HATE THEM because they can’t open movies. Screenwriters HATE THEM because they can’t carry a STORY. Seasoned Directors HATE THEM They can’t emote properly and draw audiences into the story. Seasoned Producers HATE THEM because they are a BLACK HOLE of time and money they can’t get back. While they may have a name, they just aren’t worth a serious investment.

Do I hate Halle Berry? No.

She makes me indifferent.

So why am I concerned about Halle Berry making me indifferent? Because I understand the long-term impact of Halle’s poor business choices on Black Filmmakers, Black actors, and Black cinema overall.

And that makes me passionate.

When a Halle Berry vehicle fails, it makes nervous studio executives think twice about casting other black actresses in lead roles. That costs sistas who are better performers WORK. There are a dozen black actresses who can carry a movie from start to finish but are denied a chance because studio executives look at the poor box office performance of a bad Halle Berry movie (the black female A-lister who can’t open strong) and that lead role winds up in the hands of a Latina, Asian, Indian or a White actress.

When a Halle Berry vehicle fails, producers who already fear making Black movies become more apprehensive about greenlighting projects with black women in the lead roles. So when Hollywood’s leading black actress picks poor quality projects like Catwoman, Perfect Stranger, Things We Lost In the Fire, Frankie and Alice or Dark Tide that can’t open well or can’t get distribution, it makes executives think twice about investing $15 or $20 million into the budget of a film featuring another black actress in a lead role. That may not be a lot of money to Ms. Berry, but to a small very creative filmmaker and a very talented actress, it could be the breakthrough project that opens doors for them.

When a Halle Berry movie fails, it hurts many smaller black female filmmakers. Many sistas have great films touring the festivals and are deserving of distribution. But thanks to Things we Lost in the Fire not being able to pick up an audience and the one-woman disaster Frankie and Alice, not even getting out of the gate, those small independent films aren’t going to get a chance to get picked up for distribution or an opportunity to find an audience.

And when a Halle Berry project like Catwoman goes into production and fails the impact is like an EARTHQUAKE. Those Black fantasy, and science fiction movies brothers and sisters clamor for? DEAD BEFORE THEY’RE EVEN PROPOSED. You will NEVER see a Black Buffy the Vampire Slayer type movie, Xena: Warrior Princess type movie, EVER. Why? Hollywood put up $ 160 million on Catwoman and came back with a LOSS that BROKE THE BANK. Hollywood was once burned on Homeboys in Outer Space and Mercy Pont, twice burned Pluto Nash, three times burned by Catwoman. Now studio executives won’t even consider a fantasy or sci-fi project with a black lead. Sad shame, because I know there’s a market for an African-American fantasy/Sci-fi film. If they had the right story it could be a blockbuster.

Ultimately, when Halle Berry’s projects fail at the box office it KILLS several other Black film projects in development. When one black movie fails, two more others don’t get distribution. Three more don’t get financing. Five screenplays by black writers that were under consideration don’t get a greenlight. Ten more don’t get optioned.

Sure Halle won the Oscar, but in her current role of A-list superstar she’s killing the black film industry. Worse, she doesn’t see the domino effect her poor business decisions have on others. Every bad movie she stars in keeps several good ones from making it to market. It keeps other talented sistas out of work. And it keeps black audiences from getting quality films.