Taking Advantage of the Spotlight

Melanie Anish, Features Editor

Meryl Streep took the stage at the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards and gave a speech addressing today’s societal issues that took everyone’s breath away.

While most celebrities receiving Golden Globe Awards used their speeches to thank those who have helped them reach this achievement, Meryl Streep used her time on stage to acknowledge the transition that our country is currently facing.

While accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award, Streep began to address this controversial topic in a light hearted way, joking about how her award was received from “Hollywood, foreigners and the press.” Continuing to further demonstrate this point, Streep went into detail about where certain well-known actors and actresses in the room were from, making a statement about how diverse the arts truly are.

After calling out some of the many talented artists at the Golden Globes, Streep concluded, “And if we kick them all out you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”

Streep shared a heartbreaking example of how President-elect Trump used his power to imitate a disabled reporter. She then explained how people who are fortunate enough to be powerful public figures have a civic responsibility to use that platform for goodness and not to tear down others.

But if they do tear others down, she said, it is the responsibility of the press to “hold power to account, to call him on the carpet for every outrage.”

While explaining how important the press truly is, Meryl then asked everyone in the room to then join her in “supporting the Committee to Protect Journalists, because we’re gonna need them going forward, and they’ll need us to safeguard the truth.”

Wrapping up her beautiful speech, Streep focused on Hollywood, saying that artists are meant to give an audience a new perspective of someone else’s struggle and life. She reminded all the actors and actresses in the room how lucky they are to be able to share another perspective with the world through this art form.

Streep’s final words brought tears to her eyes as she acknowledged her recently departed friend Carrie Fisher and quoted her, saying, “Take your broken heart. Make it into art.” Her time on stage then concluded with a standing ovation and loud cheers of support from her peers and other talented artists.

Meryl Streep used her moment in the spotlight to make a statement and call out what she believes is wrong in the world. She gave people something to talk about and caused commotion –  the Internet is buzzing as we speak with people who agree and disagree with her. This controversy is exactly the response she wanted: people are holding public figures to account.