Monday, January 09, 2017

Meryl vs.The Donald, or America's Premiere Actress Deflates The Clown Prince of Vulgaria

Credit: Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images ©
Streep doing The Donald at a Delacorte Theater event on June 6

God bless the Golden Globes. Where else would one experience the unexpurgated joy of witnessing a serious, intelligent person putting our much-dreaded President-Elect in his place? And for giving a "bad performance," no less. Yes, we expect more even from reality stars.

Perfectly worded and immaculately spoken, with just the right vocal inflections and facial expressions, Streep's monologue did an exemplary job humbling someone who is unlikely to know the meaning of the word.

His first impulse, of course, was to dismiss her as an "overrated actress" - a frankly hilarious and clueless opinion given the mind-blowing montage of Streep film clips shown prior to her masterly on-stage performance.

This bizarre observation comes less than two - count 'em - two years after he praised Streep as "an excellent actress" and  "a fine person, too." But then, it wasn't so long ago that he cheered the Clintons. Fickle or forgetful?

Or perhaps it's simply a matter of veracity.

It reminds me of my late, much-missed father-in-law's take on the subject: "He's such a liar that I wouldn't believe him even if he swore that he was lying."

Note in Passing:  For those purists out there who think that only certain people are qualified to give political opinions and viewpoints, I ask, "Since when?"  Does Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow really know more about our political culture than Meryl Streep - or me or you?  (Meryl Streep is as qualified to talk politics as The Donald is to be president.)  As a critic, I've spent decades having average people come at me with critiques of movies.  (One guy recently went on about the "editing problems" of "Manchester by the Sea"!  Huh?)  I've had to get used to it.  I suggest that our politicians also learn to adapt.  With the 24/7 non-stop news cycle ever in our face, people will have opinions. And we won't be silenced.

We won't, I tell you!

6 comments:

Sheryl Z said...

fickle, forgetful, or perhaps early onset dementia. Not even original. Back in the day, in an episode of "Seinfeld," Jerry's character says, "oh that Meryl Streep, such a phony baloney."

Sheila said...

I, for one, am eagerly awaiting Trump's first reviews as President. After all, it is show business, isn't it? Anyway, I predict - to use a word that he favors - that he will be a "disaster."

joe baltake said...

No, Sheila, make that "huge!" (with the requisite exclamation point). -J

edward c. said...

Meryl rocks! She never disappoints, as either an actress or an activist. Cheers!

Brian Lucas said...

Your father-in-law was a very wise and witty man!

Lynn said...

Thanks for sharing. I think her speech was great!!