Not everyone is aware that Miss Halle Berry actually first appeared on the screen as a contestant in the Miss USA pageant in 1986, but that became extremely apparent when NBC's broadcast of the pageant delivered a throwback video of Halle Berry answering a typically Miss USA question. Berry, then Miss Ohio, answers the question "What do you hope to symbolize as Miss USA?" which is just about the most typical pageant question known to glitter-covered gown-decked women everywhere. Berry answers perfectly, saying she wants to be a "positive role model, not just for women" but for people everywhere. It's so perfect, you'd almost think you heard it before.
And while Berry's answer sounds like it could have been ripped from the Miss United States theme song in Miss Congeniality — "she's beauty and she's grace, she's Miss United States" — it's still pretty darn adorable. Of course, it doesn't seem like young Berry was the sort of woman who'd go on to star in movies like Monsters Ball or X-Men, but maybe that's an important observation.
While this competition seems like a silly pageant full of silly canned answers, that doesn't mean we should discount these women. If the first black woman to win an Oscar graced that stage, maybe another record-breaking woman is up there waltzing around in a pretty gown to a Florida Georgia Line song. Think about it.
