Halle Berry Talks Hollywood Diversity Since Oscar Win Archives

Hollywood diversity has been a real hot topic as of late. New school and old school entertainers have all took a turn weighing in on things. This week Halle Berry spoke of Hollywood diversity while she attended the Makers 2016 conference.

This year the Oscars were deemed as being slanted or one-sided. Halle would be the perfect woman to speak on this matter due to the fact she has actually won an Academy Award. Moreover, her acceptance speech highlighted the very struggle actors and actresses of color faced… Hollywood diversity. Berry reminisced,

“I believed that in that moment, that when I said [during my acceptance speech], ‘The door tonight has been opened,’ I believed that with every bone in my body that this was going to incite change because this door, this barrier, had been broken. To sit here almost 15 years later, and knowing that another woman of color has not walked through that door, is heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking because I thought that moment was bigger than me. It’s heartbreaking to start to think maybe it wasn’t bigger than me. Maybe it wasn’t. And I so desperately felt like it was.”

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA - FEBRUARY 02: Actress Halle Berry speaks at the AOL 2016 MAKERS conference at Terranea Resort on February 2, 2016 in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) — Actress Halle Berry speaks at the AOL 2016 MAKERS conference at Terranea Resort on February 2, 2016 in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Yes, believe it or not it has been 15 years since Halle’s win and a woman of color has not won since. Therefore, what is the problem, why are actors/actresses not winning or being nominated? Many have their views and theories, but some feel Viola Davis hit the nail on the head when she said, “Opportunity.” Halle Berry seems to agree, at the conference she stated,

“As filmmakers and as actors, we have a responsibility to tell the truth. And the films, I think, that are coming out of Hollywood aren’t truthful. … They’re not really depicting the importance and the involvement and the participation of people of color in our American culture.”

Opportunity of receiving choice roles and true representation in film seems to be slowing progress in Hollywood. Where is our Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, Ben Hur, Chariots of Fire, Terms of Endearment, Rain Man, Forest Gump, Gladiator, Million Dollar Baby, The Artist and Birdman? Most films that win Oscars only show people of color under one light. From Gone With the Wind to 12 Years a Slave movie goers have only been treated to one part of Black History. We challenge filmmakers to go outside the box and take chances. For if we want Hollywood diversity to change we must also be diverse in story lines and production.