BY DERON DALTON
Growing up in the ‘90s means I got to experience the “Golden Age” of Black Hollywood. Of course, at that time—like today and most definitely before the ‘90s—there was a lack of representation of Black actors and filmmakers in Hollywood.
Though also like nowadays, Black cinema—hood movies, comedies, family dramas, romances and biopics—still thrived.
Despite Hollywood still lacking in representation of Black filmmakers, a lot of progress has been made, especially in the 2010s and 2020s, thanks in part to the ’90s.
Unlike previous generations, where Black talent was limited to being typecast in racist stereotypes on the silver screen, the ‘90s is regarded as the Golden Era of Black Cinema and Black Hollywood. We got to experience the talent of at least a handful of Black A-list male actors: Lawrence Fishburne, Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, Cuba Gooding Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Wesley Snipes, Denzel Washington and more.
And while there were even fewer parts for them, there was still an array of talented Black actresses—Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Whitney Houston, Vivica A. Fox, Robin Givens, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Regina King, Queen Latifah, Jenifer Lewis, Nia Long, Brandy Norwood, Lela Rochon, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Lynn Whitfield, Vanessa L. Williams and Alfre Woodard—who became prominent and powered through the ‘90s. Each of these women gave us iconic characters for the culture and cinema that Black people revere to this day.
And then there was Halle Berry. Often regarded as one of the most beautiful women to ever grace this earth who both benefited from pretty privilege and yet had to fight for respect as an actress for that very same reason. And oh—because she, too, is still a Black woman. So her beauty—Black beauty—came with conditions.
Nevertheless, Berry persevered and remained resilient throughout the ‘90s. By the early ‘00s or the aughts, as I like to call the decade, she reached new heights of success as a blockbuster-level box office draw, movie star and acclaimed actress.
At this time in the early aughts, I was going through the growing pains of middle school and being a repressed, confused queerling. Watching Berry’s drive and determination to succeed despite the odds stacked against her also inspired me to strive to do the same. She not only became one of my queens, again as a deeply closeted gay Black boy, but she also became my “pretend” crush or my “celebrity beard,” as I now call her in my adulthood. Berry, the A-list movie star and Academy Award-winning actress, became my security blanket. My protector.
Before I break down even further how she became my middle school celebrity beard and what a beard even is, let’s dive into the iconiness of Berry.
Read more via Pop Queen Journal.