Hollywood legend Meryl Streep has given a poignant and beautiful speech at the 2017 Golden Globes. At first the star apologized for having lost her voice. Then began what was clearly a very emotional reaction to current events and the polarized political climate. Streep began listing names of some of those at the awards and stating where they were from. She then answered who Hollywood was with:
“…Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners and if we kick them out you will have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”
To this, most of the crowd cheered and clapped. She was not finished. The respected actress then went on to talk about a performance that had profoundly affected her in the past year. That performance was by president-elect Donald Trump when he mocked a reporter with a disability.
The actress expanded and spoke about the level of humiliation that action created. Making the point that when someone in power does something like that to someone less powerful than them, it “filters down” and “gives permission” for others to also behave like a bully. She then made the statement:
“Disrespect invites disrespect.”
The speech was epic, it was emotional, empathetic and heartbreaking. Meryl Streep said the impassioned words with raw emotion and many of the crowd were also brought to tears when she spoke of an actor’s job being to bring “empathy” and to understand being in another person’s shoes.
This is pretty much the opposite sentiment of Trump’s campaign. His was a campaign based on fear. Trump used bullying behavior often and a president is supposed to be a role model.
Streep was visibly upset, not only presumably because Donald Trump is about to have the most powerful position in the world, but also because she has lost a friend. Holding back tears, her brilliant speech finished with a quote from Princess Leia, of course she was referring to Carrie Fisher, it was this:
“Take your broken heart, make it into art”
This is sage advice for everyone. We should do something constructive with our sorrow, make art, we can still have empathy, be compassionate, and hold love in our hearts – regardless of him.
Watch the amazing speech here, warning: you may need some tissues:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxyGmyEby40
Featured image via YouTube video.
