Nerd Girl of Note #72

I try, on occasion, to pick a Nerd Girl of Note that my wife approves of. Not that she necessarily disapproves of many, but I don't always pick women that she really likes. I am hoping Halle Berry is on her good list.

Berry has been around the block, role-wise. Some of her Nerd Girl qualifying roles include Storm in the X-Men films, Jinx Johnson in Die another Day, Patience Phillips/Catwoman in the much maligned 2004 film, and Miranda Grey in Gothika. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role as Leticia Musgrove in Monster's Ball (2001).

I have to talk about Catwoman for a bit. This movie took a lot of flack because it took an iconic character and changed most everything except the name and the ears. Oh, and the whip. We are talking about a character that immortalized Julie Newmar, Lee Meriweather, Eartha Kitt, and Michelle Pfeiffer. She is one of Batman's oldest nemesis, and here we have a movie with no Batman. Period. People could not stand this idea, it seems. Personally, I liked the movie. It was not great, but up until recently, most super hero movies were not either.

I think Berry's least fortunate big-time role was that of Storm in the X-Men films. They did not give Storm much to do in the second two films. It was primarily the "Wolverine and Jean Grey show," which makes sense as that is how the comic has always leaned (from an outsiders perspective, that is). I think they were smart to get Berry, and she was smart to take the role, but I feel like they just decided they would make fans happy by not making the wrong casting choice. They needed a big name, light-skinned black woman to play the only black X-Men member. Who else were they going to choose?