their eyes were watching halle

I had a visceral reaction to a commercial I saw last night advertising the latest Oprah translation of a classic African-American novel to the screen: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The memorable protagonist, Janie Crawford, is to be played by Catwoman Halle Berry. Despite discovering the teleplay is written by the impressive Suzan-Lori Parks, I just still can't get behind the casting. I had similar qualms about Oprah as Sethe in Beloved, which proved to be not so bad, but the fame and questionable dramatic talents of Ms. Berry have me worried. I've spent some time with the Zora Neale Hurston canon and Janie Crawford never struck me as a stand-in for a Bond girl. That was a significant element of her charms. I will watch the TV movie and if you tune in as well, do yourself a favor and read the book first.