It feels like during every awards show in recent memory, Twitter picks an unexpected presenter pairing to anoint as The Couple Who Should Star in a Rom-Com. Last night, Halle Berry and Lena Waithe were that couple. 

Halle and Lena are working together as executive producers on a BET series based on 1992’s Boomerang, which Halle starred in with Eddie Murphy, and I have not seen because I am SO young. The series will follow the lives of the children of the OG characters so Halle and Lena will not be making out on screen. The image of these two walking out onstage holding hands with Halle in that dress (not my fave) and Lena wearing the sh-t out of her 90s R&B turtleneck and Sisqo hair (a MOOD) will have to be enough for your fan fiction. 

Last year, Lena was fresh off an Emmy win but didn’t take home any Golden Globes - she did get left out of Aziz Ansari’s speech though. This year, she’s casually holding hands with HALLE BERRY and delivering moments like this:  

She’s looking at the envelope, right? God, these two. I don’t want a rom-com (first time I’ve ever said that in my life); I want a sweeping romantic drama with these two starring as lovers who find each other against all odds, directed by Barry Jenkins. Put Halle back in the awards conversation and give us ALL THE LOVE SCENES. 

Lena Waithe is now an awards show staple. We expect her to show up. We expect her to not only show up but to answer the tough questions she gets on the red carpet (more than some of her peers I should note) thoughtfully and intelligently, as she does. Lena never shies away from speaking up for her community or providing a shining beacon of LGBTQ+ love beside her fiancé Alana Mayo. Lena was one of the few stars I’ve seen who was asked about Kevin Hart. As usual, her answer was thoughtful and intelligent, and probably gave Kevin Hart more compassion that he currently deserves while still standing up for the people in her community who have been hurt by Kevin Hart.  

“We got to make sure that the gay community is no longer the butt of the joke.” 

For the whole time Lena and Halle were onscreen last night at the Golden Globes, my timeline was wishing for a love story between two black women and it wasn’t a joke. It was a dream. It was as normal as shipping Kerry Washington and Garrett Hedlund (I still think of them together monthly). Twitter was shipping these two like we would any two straight presenters. As Lena becomes more and more of a presence on shows like this, and she opens the door for others like her, hopefully moments like these won’t even be worth a mention because they’ll be normal, frequent, and even ordinary. 

It wasn’t surprising to me that Lena Waithe delivered a moment last night that we’re talking about today and it also wasn’t a surprise that she looked GREAT. Halle was a surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see Halle Berry last night and because of the nice surprise it was to see her ageless stupidly flawless face, I’m going to forgive her for wearing an iteration of the same dress she’s worn so many times. Halle hasn’t worn something worthy of her in YEARS. The ponytail was a great idea in theory but lacking in execution.