Part
of the show involves the host and producer, Georges Béleck, far left,
chatting with cast members and guests, including the Haitian author Gary
Victor, far right.
By
ALESSANDRA STANLEY
Published: July 10, 2012
Published: July 10, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Two and a half years after the earthquake that
devastated Haiti, life here can still be a struggle.
“I couldn’t even get my mom a decent Mother’s Day gift,” Soraya said,
pouting. “Finally, I used my measly allowance and bought her a ticket to
Paris. It’s nothing special, but I figure it’s the thought that
counts.”
Soraya isn’t a real Haitian, at least not exactly. She’s a character
played by a 26-year-old actress named Belinda Paul in a sketch-comedy
television show called “Regards Croisés.”
Soraya is a caricature of a certain kind of privileged, bubbleheaded
daughter of the Haitian elite — a Zuzu. Zuzu girls are conspicuous in
places like Miami and Paris, but they are hard to see in the hills of
Port-au-Prince, where they shop, go to the gym and party behind high
walls topped with bougainvillea and concertina wire. Zuzu-speak, an
affected whine of Creole, French and “omigod” English, is deliciously
recognizable to the less fortunate masses, and every Saturday night
Haitian viewers roar, clap and rock with laughter at Soraya’s airs.
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