By Adrianna Cole
After witnessing the Green Bay Packers demolish the New York Giants, my friends and I decided to flip to NBC and watch the Golden Globes. We tuned in just in time to watch Meryl Streep be presented with the Cecil B. DeMille Award.
Her acceptance speech was nothing more than an excuse to bad-mouth the then-president elect and all who voted for him. Because, what kind of Hollywood award show would it be if no actor pushed their political agenda?
The so-called “brave” actress gave her speech in front of an audience who did not boo her or tell her to be quiet. In fact, this group shares her view point. That’s not being brave. That’s called feeding your confirmation bias.
While Streep has every right to say how she feels, the listeners also have the right to not be fed false information and be fooled by the hypocrisy in her statements.
“Vilified” Hollywood is at it again by making the claim that they are victims and nobody likes or listens to them. Well, my twitter feed begs to differ.
Do not pretend that this film company does not contribute to an election or political party’s standing. After all, it was Hollywood, in 1972, that stuck the far left with the ‘elitist’ label. Hollywood also holds responsibility for former President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage when stars were not making donations due to his lack of response on LGBT issues.
So when Streep cries out about being hated and written off, remember that she contributes a lot more than the average politician.
Streep called out the President’s plan to deport illegal immigrants by stating Hollywood is full of foreigners and “if you kick ‘em all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but Football and Mixed Martial Arts.”
You know what contributes more than the famous actress and politicians combined? Football and MMA.
While we may hate to admit it, without the NFL, the United States would be out $5 billion. What would happen to the 110,000 jobs supported by the industry if it did not exist? Hollywood would not take its place, that’s for sure.
Whether you support them or not, both sports are immensely popular in this country. The Superbowl is the most watched televised event, surpassing the Oscars by a landslide.
There was one point in the speech, however, when I did agree with the actress. We need journalists. We need actual journalists, but we do not need Hollywood to “safeguard the truth” because of what she said only moments earlier.
Streep referenced Serge Kovaleski, the disabled reporter Trump is accused of mocking in a speech. In a story run by “New Standard Press” it’s reported that the President has been seen making the same type of gesture while mocking others, including Senator Ted Cruz and General George Stephanopoulos, both are able-bodied men.
Like Streep, these are details most of the press also left out. Not to mention, sources such as ABC did not show a video of Kovaleski, who is not as “spastic” as Trump is seen being in his speech.
The Hollywood star said it “sank its hooks” into her heart and she could not help but feel stunned after watching. I could not help but feel stunned when I saw a clip of Streep standing up and applauding at the 2003 Oscars for Director Roman Polanski, who was charged with the rape of a 13-year-old girl and fled the country after he pleaded guilty.
Is it not hypocritical to preach on the immorality of others but refuse to take a step back and look at how you compare? Applauding for a rapist is just as appalling as making fun of someone with a disability. Preaching on the importance of the truth, when the candidate she supported disregarded it like it was nothing, contradicts the message.
Stating that disrespect incites disrespect is a valid point, but when this entire speech held no sort of respect toward the other party, does it do it any justice?
While we all have the right to protest, when are we going to actually sit down and talk to one another? Why do we insist on blaming the other side for our issues when we keep using the same rhetoric over and over again?
With this new term starting, let’s try to have some faith that there will be some positive change, and let’s not go around insulting everything. Remember, go Packers.
