Like most of you, I didn't watch the Golden Globes - but I did hear about Meryl Streep's acceptance speech. I also heard that people are ticked at her for sermonizing about Donald Trump.
She was right, though - hear me out on this . . .
She was dead on when she said that no one should make fun of someone with a disability. Point for Streep. I'm not sure that Donald Trump has ever really admitted that he should not have imitated a reporter in the way that he did in his campaign, but Streep is right. Trump was wrong.
Why?
"Because it gives permission for the rest of us to do the same thing," she said.
If I was there I would have stood up and applauded. Bravo! So right! When people in the spotlight do something it often gets imitated - that is why you have to be very careful what you do in the spotlight.
She went on . . .
"Disrespect invites disrespect . . . violence incites violence."
On point. Well said. Way to go. Woop woop! Say it louder for the people in the back!
Just when I thought she was going to go for the jugular she finished up and sat down.
Wait, what? Keep going. You're on a roll! This is the perfect time and the perfect audience to push this further. You are in a room of the very people who make our culture on the screen and you are talking about violence - don't sit down, for heaven's sake!
But she finished up by praising actors and actresses for their craft. She said she was, "very proud of the work Holywood honors here tonight."
Are you kidding me? How can you be proud of Hollywood and decry violence in the same speech?
Hollywood is the nation's largest purveyor of violence. Go to Esquire.com and you will see a list of the top 25 films of 2016. Look at some who made the list:
Kill Zone: A film about a guy who sells his organs on the black market and plans to kill his brother for his heart.
Don't Breathe: A story about guys who plan to rob a blind man and get gruesomely murdered in the process.
The Handmaiden (called deliriously violent and sexually deranged by movie reviewers) - the story of a pickpocket who gets sent to an insane asylum.
The Invitation: A guy gets invited to dinner by his ex and husband only to find he and his girlfriend and a handful of other guests are about to be murdered.
Hush: A woman in a cabin is about to be killed by a deaf mute.
Elle: A Woman seeks vengeance after being raped by a masked intruder.
Green Room: A punk band accepts a gig at a Neo-Nazi club and witnesses a murder. Movie reviewers called it "the most hardcore thriller in years . . . bursts of brutal violence."
Ouija: The Origin of Evil: A young girl contacts what she thinks is her dead father in a seance but winds up inviting a spirit that creatively dismembers their entire family.
Those are just the movies!
I can't tell you how many times I watch football on the weekend and the commercials are for TV shows where someone is pointing a gun in someone's face. I will literally say out loud, "hey another show where bad guys stick guns in your face and the good guys defeat them by sticking guns in their face."
And we are surprised by the violent culture we have given birth to?
Don't tell Streep to be quiet. Get louder. Tell all the people in that room, "stop making movies that glorify violence. Take responsibility for our culture and make movies that families can go to. Make movies that inspire us to be better people. Make movies that teach life-honoring values."
And you - reading this - when someone brings this up in conversation, talk about how she is right and the time is right for us to tell Trump, Hollywood and whoever else stands in the way of decency and the value of human life, "you're fired."
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