Halle Berry Happily Accepted Catwoman's Razzie And Then Set It On Fire
The character of Catwoman has enjoyed a celebrated history on page and screen, but as unfortunate as it is to say, Halle Berry's portrayal of the anti-heroine might be the lowest point in that history. And that's pretty much all that needs to be said about the failure of 2004's "Catwoman." We all know by now how disappointing the film was, there's no need to go on about it 20 years after the fact.
And there was arguably no need to pile on at the time, which is why it's unfortunate that the tiresome Golden Raspberry Awards decided to do just that, nominating the film for seven "prizes" and handing out four of them to Berry's ill-fated action thriller. One of which was bestowed upon the actress herself for her lead performance. And to everyone's surprise, Berry actually showed up at the 2005 ceremony to accept the worst actress award in person, thanking Warner Bros. for "casting [her] in this piece of s***" and telling the audience, "My mother told me that if you couldn't be a good loser then there's no way you could be a good winner."
In a review of her 2017 drama "Kings," Variety opined that "Berry has given some of the best and worst performances of the past quarter-century." That couldn't be better exemplified by the fact she's been the recipient of both the best actress Oscar for her role in 2001's "Monster's Ball" and her worst actress Razzie. But despite going from an undeniable high to a sobering low in the early 2000s, Berry took the whole thing in her stride, weathering her Razzie experience with good humor. And it seems she's maintained that mature perspective ever since, given what she said in a 2021 interview.
Taking risks didn't necessarily pay off for Berry
Following her 2002 Oscar win, Halle Berry decided to take some risks. As she told the LA Times back in 2007, "After 'Monster's Ball,' I really wanted to go in a different direction. Sometimes those things work really well. Sometimes they don't. But as a person, and as an actor, it worked well for me. I tried new things. I took risks. I faced certain fears." Those risks never resulted in anything quite as impressive as an Academy Award, but they did demonstrate her willingness to put herself out there and almost led to her own James Bond spin-off — even if she did have to appear in the abject "Die Another Day" to get the ball rolling. (And no, it isn't an underrated James Bond film.)
Alas, the planned "Jinx" spin-off, named after Berry's NSA agent from "Die Another Day," wouldn't come to pass. Instead, we were all treated to her starring role in 2004's "Catwoman," about which we've already agreed there's little that needs to be said. But back then, the people behind the Golden Raspberry Awards didn't see it that way.
Since 1981, the awards had been taking aim at Hollywood snootiness, providing a satirical take on the Academy Awards that was initially designed as a subversive enterprise. But as /Film's own Danielle Ryan has argued, the whole thing has long since become "mean-spirited bullying for the lowest common denominator," and at this point, it's pretty obvious that it's time to retire the Razzies forever. However, after being nominated, Halle Berry was much more gracious about the whole thing.
'We all take ourselves so seriously'
In the early 2000s, the Razzies were already well on their way to proving their obsolescence when the spoof award show handed out an array of "honors" for "Catwoman." But Halle Berry, remaining graceful in the face of her film being nominated a full seven times, seemed to see the Razzies as still fulfilling a purpose in a Hollywood that remained a fairly elitist industry. Being one of two Oscar-winning actresses to accept her Razzie in person, she told Vanity Fair:
"I went to the Razzies because I feel like we all take ourselves so seriously. If we get an award, if we get the Oscar, we somehow are made to feel like we're somehow better than everybody else, but we're really not. You were just chosen that year by your peers, and you were acknowledged for doing what they considered stellar work. But are you better than the next person who didn't get that award? No, not at all."
That's a pretty healthy perspective to maintain. Seeing through the trappings of an Oscar win and its ego-bloating potential allowed her to seemingly maintain some equanimity in the face of her Razzie win. The actress added, "If you find yourself face to face with a Razzie, does that mean you're the worst actor there ever was? Probably not. You just got the piss taken out of you that year by a group of people that can."
Despite her balanced and good-humored response to her Golden Raspberry experience, Berry did make sure to confirm that the physical award was quickly disposed of, saying, "I had a great time and then I set that thing on fire."
The Razzies are redundant
The Razzies have been in the business of beating dead horses for some time now. What started as a kind of amusing dig at Hollywood elitism now just seems irrelevant in an age where anyone can take aim at actors, directors, producers, and even executives who they feel made an inferior film by simply logging onto Twitter.
That's not to say there's no room for negative criticism. In fact, that's more important than ever in the era of social media-influenced forced positivity. But the Golden Raspberry Awards don't seem to be bringing much in the way of nuanced criticism, and arguably the joke had run its course even back in 2005 when Halle Berry showed up to collect her prize in person.
Considering she got her Razzie the same year she finalized her second divorce from then-husband Eric Benet, was it ever really that funny to remind her how bad her movie was and how her risk-taking had backfired? Thankfully the actress was able to be a good sport about the whole thing and has since said she's even open to playing Catwoman again in the future, to which I say, good for you Halle Berry but let's not get carried away here.