Meryl Streep might’ve recently won a Golden Globe Lifetime Achievement Award for her notable work in acting, however, the part that made various headlines has less to do with Streep’s acting accomplishments, and more to do with her verbal attack on president-elect Donald Trump.
The 74th annual Golden Globe awards took place on Jan. 8 to recognize the work of many talented actors and actresses, though Streep’s nearly six-minute controversial speech stole the show.
As silence occupied the room, Streep first graciously accepted the award, then went on to refer to an infamous moment during Trump’s speech made in November 2015.
“It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power, and the capacity to fight back,” Streep said.
In an interview the following morning with The New York Times, Trump stated that he was “not surprised” referring to Streep’s speech and pointed out that she was a supporter of Trump’s defeated rival, Hillary Clinton. He also, again, denied mocking the reporter, claiming that “I was never mocking anyone,” Trump said. “People keep saying that I intended to mock the reporter’s disability, as if Meryl Streep and others could read my mind, and I did no such thing.”
Anyone who has viewed Trump’s speech would clearly see that he did indeed mock the disabled reporter. I see this as a typical act of Trump to be in complete denial.
Streep said Trump’s attack on the reporter was considered bullying, stating that, “It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie, it was real life,” Streep said. “This instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in the public … by someone powerful, it filters down into everyone’s life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same.” She then added: “When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.”
I definitely believe that someone who is asking to hold such a respected position in our country should have the same respect for everyone. Another quality the president should possess is honesty.
Streep even went on to ask audience members to support the nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists “because we’re going to need them going forward and they’re going to need us to safeguard the truth.” Many took to Twitter to defend Streep.
As journalists I feel it’s their job to report the truth and to keep us informed about the White House and president in an honest fashion. Now that Streep has used her speech to highlight this nonprofit committee, journalists should now redeem themselves from their less-than-adequate job reporting on the candidates and facts before the election by making sure people are aware of what goes on in the political world.
Despite the many controversies surrounding Streep’s speech, it ended on a heart-warming note with a quote from her recently passed friend, Carrie Fisher: “Take your broken heart, make it into art.”