I have always liked an admired Meryl Streep, but in the past hour I have decided that she is a MORON.
Yep, you heard me right.
She was giving a speech last week about her friend Emma Thompson, and she used the occasion to rant and rave against Walt Disney, as reported in Time.
"Variety reports, read a letter that Disney, described as a “gender bigot,” sent to a female animator in 1938 that included the line: “Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that task is performed entirely by young men.”
Really?
Streep was presenting the best actress prize to Thompson at the National Board of Review awards in New York. The
CBS News story gives some more details.
Was Walt Disney sexist or anti Semitic? I don't know. I don't think the occasion was an appropriate time for Streep to say nasty things about the man. The occasion was meant to HONOR EMMA THOMPSON. Emma Thompson won an award for her portrayal of
PL Travers in
Saving Mr. Banks.
Was
Walt Disney a saint? A superman? Politically correct by the standards of 2014? No. I don't think it's fair to judge the man that harshly, however. I did some research, and he was a member of a conservative group called the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. Their main purpose was to be anti-Communist, judging by what I read online.
I find no proof that he was anti-Semitic.
Was he sexist? Undoubtedly. However, most men born in 1901 were sexist, and wouldn't hire women for certain jobs. My mother encountered that a lot when she was young. Disney was a product of his time.
I am no great fan of Disney movies. I don't collect them, like a lot of folks. I make no huge effort to see Disney films, or to avoid them.
I am also not ant-Semitic, racist, sexist, or anything else, BTW. I would never defend people who espoused those sorts of viewpoints.However, to diss famous people that one disagrees with - famous people who died decades ago - is insane. He wasn't there to defend himself. The speech was supposed to be about Emma Thompson. What Streep did was utterly and unforgivably INAPPROPRIATE.
It was bad manners.
I hate when Oscar winners stand up at the podium and start ranting and raving about their political opinions. YUCK.
I want to see Saving Mr. Banks. It looks like a terrific movie. I am not interested in the politics of anyone in the movie.
Whatever his politics,
Walt Disney undoubtedly changed the face of entertainment in the 20th century. His contributions to animation are historic and verifiable. Billions of people have enjoyed his movies. The guy died in 1966, before he could be enlightened about women's rights, political correctness, and anything else today's actors and actresses think is important. Slamming him publicly the way Streep did simply caused pain to his children and grandchildren and other family members, and that's just UGLY.
Shame on you, Meryl.
Guess she has no plans to ever work on a Disney film...
