Never thought I'd be saying this but I actually agree with British journalist Piers Morgan about something - Meryl Streep is in need of a slap.
Here are my favorite points he made:
1. THE MOST VILIFIED?!?!
"She began by saying that Hollywood, foreigners and the press are ‘the most vilified segments of American society right now’.
At which point the cameras panned out to hundreds of the richest, most privileged people in American society sitting in the audience in their $10,000 tuxedos and $20,000 dresses, loudly cheering this acknowledgement of their dreadful victimhood."
I have a cousin who is on the police force in a small town south of Atlanta. I worry every day that he will be the target of violence against police. We have seen that skyrocket in recent years.
What about women and children who are victims of sex trafficking? I'd say they have a much bigger claim to being vilified than a bunch of rich Hollyweird elitists.
2. MAKING MONEY OFF VIOLENCE
"what Streep said next: ‘Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.’
At this point, I laughed out loud with incredulity.
Not at the words themselves, which are laudable.
No, it was at the hypocrisy.
You’d be hard-pushed to find an industry that encourages more disrespect and violence than Hollywood.
A place where rich powerful people make billions of dollars by regularly pandering to the lowest common denominators of sexism, racism, homophobia and misogyny.
And happily exploit ever more hideous, graphic violence to make a fast, easy buck."
There are very few movies nowadays that don't feature graphic sex, violence, bad language, etc. Silly violent action movies with nearly incomprehensible plots like the Avengers movies are prime examples. Or the Transformers series. Or the Batman/Superman movies.
There are movies aimed at people over the age of 13, such as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, that MAKE MONEY. Hollyweird lives off the comic book exploitation flicks, though.
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Those are just my two favorite points. He made a lot of other good points.
Meryl needs to stick to acting -- which she's good at, I admit. I've enjoyed her movies immensely over the years. She is drunk on power, though, if she thinks most Americans agree with her point of view. Hollyweirdos do, yes, but they have no clue how the rest of us feel.
Thanks, Mark Walberg:
"And she’s simply re-confirmed to them what Mark Wahlberg said a few weeks ago when he urged actors not to talk about politics:
‘A lot of Hollywood is living in a bubble. They’re pretty out of touch with the common person, with the everyday guy out there providing for their family.’"
I also applaud Kellyanne Conway who pointed out that Streep didn't say one word about the white teenager tortured live on Facebook last week.
