List of Previous Titles

Friday, February 16, 2007

Halle Maria Berry


WOMAN ON A PEDESTAL
Of course, every man has his own idea of the perfect woman. Mainly, I suppose she should be attainable and actually have some flaws so as to be real. Ms. Berry seems to be all-too perfect, and therefore, to a lot of men she's simply an illusion. We don't lust for her, nor do we fantasize or even dream of her because in reality, she works best for us as eye candy.
But, Halle Berry has far more substance to her than that. I've decided that I want to write about her because she is a fascinating study about someone who has gigantic helpings of everything, including unhappiness. Her natural beauty and female charms are overwhelming; she has fame, respect, power, more in riches than she will ever need for the rest of her life, yet she is childless, for to become pregnant would spoil the most perfect form. She has been married and divorced twice, and in both cases infidelity was cited. I'm not certain about who stepped out of line in the first marriage, but in the second her ex-man admitted his indiscretion. My question is, with whom?
When you're already sleeping with the pin-up queen of the world, who else could you possibly lust after? It seems that only one of her problems is that she cannot keep a man. That's probably not entirely her fault, but rather a case of what man could feel adequate to the job of playing her "other half." Perhaps a highly successful businessman who wants a trophy wife? Halle Berry isn't going to put up with that!
She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States, August 14th, 1966, a Sunday's child. She has celebrated her 40th birthday. If only all forty-year olds could look so good. Her mother, Judith Ann Hawkins, is from Liverpool, and her father is Afro-American, Jerome J. Berry. (Those folks sure do good work!) She has a sister named Heidi. Given the usual sibling rivalry, what must life be like for her?
Halle apparently got her name from a department store of the same name-go figure! Her biography says that she has starred / participated in over 60 movies, some of them real stinkers. Hollywood has the same problem with Halle as it does with all of its beautiful actresses: finding really substantive scripts that go beyond what the women look like. In the case of our Halle, her body is so obvious that not to focus on that part on her would be just plain dopey.
I remember watching "Swordfish", in which she plays Ginger opposite a demented and very dangerous spy, Gabriel, played by John Travolta. In her first and only on screen performance in which she bared her awesome chest, every man in the theatre stopped breathing, not just once but twice. (Aren't we silly?)
She is described as being the first black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Leticia Musgrove in "Monster's Ball." However, I have trouble thinking of Halle as being black or white. Her skin colouring is a golden hue, and she appears not to have any racial hangups, coming from inter-racial parents. I think perhaps that may be part of her success.
How, or why should one person have so much of everything? She has even recently released an album of songs. For many men Halle stands tall among women, but would I like to meet her? Would I like to have the experience of dining with her and getting to know her well as a friend? Absolutely not! She is best admired from afar. Up close she is probably insufferable and very intimidating. How does a human being know humility with so much going for her. I don't really need to be made to feel insignificant in her presence. Perhaps her second husband's admitted infidelity was a form of protest and an attempt to redeem his ego.
I think other women might want to appreciate her business brains; after all she gets paid about 15 million dollars for doing just one job. She does have it all, and even if other women will never attain all that she has, nonetheless she has pushed the bar to another level giving women in general incentive to aim higher. I am all in favour of universal respect for women as full human beings.
Halle Berry may be one of a kind, but the only real woman who actually means anything to me is my wife. Personally, I am content to wish Halle good luck, and above all I hope that she finds permanent personal happiness and contentment.
Having said that, I shall quit while I'm ahead!
Copyright (c) 2007 Eugene Carmichael