...a candid blog devoted to the incomparable American actress, Meryl Streep.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Meryl as "The Donald"
I couldn't pass up posting about this. Last night at New York's annual Shakespeare in the Park gala, Streep transformed herself into the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and performed a tune with Christine Baranski. There isn't really much I want to say about it, other than that I love the fact that Meryl is making fun of Trump. Is this eligible for a Tony?? The video can be seen here.
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I don't even know how to feel about this. This is honestly quite hilarious and makes her seem more hip with the younger crowd I'm sure. At the same time, I worry whenever Meryl lets herself get too political. It just invites such harsher judgement from people and I don't want Meryl to be a target of hatred that has nothing to do with her acting. I just wish all these women's campaigns and appearances like this weren't at the expense of real acting work. I've always admired Meryl's class and rejection of "celebrity" so it worries me to see her all over the news for stuff like this. She's always led best by example in my opinion- with her always excellent acting work. This past year has been terrible for her in terms of press- too many things got twisted too politically and the public reaction has been harsh. I just want her working on a real project(hopefully an apolitical one)so she can really shine like no one else can rather than just superficially attaching her name to various causes.
ReplyDeleteUnderstandable, but don't forget that Meryl is actually a real person. She has interests and opinions. I'm guilty of as well of just wanting her to perform like a circus animal to my interests, but that's a selfish perspective to have. I say brava to Meryl for putting her weight behind causes about which she feels strongly. Fuck the press.
DeleteI do think of Meryl as a real person- and that's why I hate when she unnecessarily leaves herself open to criticism. I'm just afraid the "orangeface" thing will be blown out of proportion. Meryl's already been accused of being racially insensitive more than once this past year. I don't want her destroying her reputation and losing people's respect after a lifetime of being revered for her talent and class.
Delete"Orange face?" Donald Trump is a white man who makes his face orange. Pull it together. She is not going to destroy her reputation by making fun of a blubbering, racist idiot. If anything people will like her more and it will give her career a boost.
DeleteWell I hope so. Those aren't my words, just the kind of comments I've been seeing. I'm definitely no fan of Trumps. I just wish she were getting publicity for better reasons I guess- like actual movie projects. You're right though and I'm sure it'll be over by tomorrow anyways.
DeleteOkay serious question I'm curious for opinions about: what do you think has changed and/or stayed the same about Meryl over the years? We're limited by the way she presents herself in public, of course, but this Trump impersonation thing has got me thinking...when I think back to her earlier interviews, pre-Adaptation, and even pre-Prada I just don't think she would have ever done something like that, publically at least. She's always been honest and outspoken, but there seemed to be maybe a shyness/meekness about her on talkshows at least (Like on Leno in 1998 and maybe even up to Letterman in 2006). It just seems to me that post-Prada she seemed to have a different public persona, ballsy in a way that she hadn't seemed in the past. Does anyone else sense a difference? Has she changed over the years? Is it just a matter of her changing her public persona or has she herself changed considerably?
ReplyDeleteAlso maybe another example being the difference between her cute and frazzled Golden Globes acceptance speech in 2003 (for Adaptation) and all her speeches subsequent to that.
DeleteOf course she's changed. I imagine she's more comfortable with her public persona and is at a stage in her life/career where she just doesn't give a shit what people think. If she speaks her mind regarding a political or humanitarian issue...good for her. There's more to life than acting. She's done enough incredible work to fill five fantastic careers compared to most other screen actors. She's letting her hair down a bit at times. I like it. I do not believe it means she will never do a serious role again.
DeleteWell i think Meryl know what she does! And still love her also for saying what she thinks ... And in my opinion she doesn't change through the years and is the same person...
ReplyDeleteLWP may be right in his assessment. I grew up with Meryl in the 70s and 80s and I remember watching her interviews on TV (no internet at that time) and thinking how restrained and guarded she was - you can see that all on youtube now. She also tended to speak more softly and laughed less than often. But somehow after Adaptation, something unleashed in her - the outright laughter, the mock-surprise, the dramatic swoops and gestures, etc whenever she was interviewed. I think she's relatively willing now to reveal more of her true self (deprecating, funny) and I like it better. The only quibble is that she carries all that flourishes and gestures to her string of recent performances which blunt the element of surprise for me. Other than that, she's just being authentic and I'm loving it.
ReplyDeleteI do agree there was a change in how she presents herself - Could it be as simple as between 1983 and 2003 Meryl was nominated for many awards but hardly won anything - therefore we didn’t really have the opportunity to witness her becoming more comfortable as a public figure talking to a wide audience?
ReplyDeleteAlso, the transition from her being revered and greatly respected to being adored and popular started happening in these years. I expect Meryl gained confidence from her movies being more widely embraced and getting such an enthusiastic response from audiences. At the Mamma Mia premiere she was treated like a rock star!
I think she also embraced the fact people want to be entertained when watching interviews and people accepting awards – not bored by someone too worthy, dry or intellectual. Maybe as well she stopped caring so much how she came across or what people thought of her as she’s got nothing to prove? This often comes with age..
Anyway, I love the way she comes across, I could listen to her talking for hours on end. Let’s just hope we hear more about these hushed up projects very soon and fingers crossed Florence keeps a good pace!
Good perspective. Meryl has also said that at a certain point it's more difficult to bring oneself to despairing levels some characters require. She's stated she hesitated about Violet Weston because of how awful she had to make herself look/feel/act. She's enjoyed more "fun" and light-hearted stuff probably for that reason. This may explain why she's been drawn to Ricki or Florence or the Witch. But again, I don't think it means she'll NEVER portray someone who is more sullen or dramatic. That's why I keep saying I want her to play Hildy Good! She's a bit of funny and tragic at the same time, not unlike Florence I suppose, but less quirky or campy.
DeleteNow that you say it, Hildy is a bit like Florence (even though on the surface they're nothing alike). Both a tragic in a way, and funny partly due to the fact that they're a bit in denial. I enjoyed the book and I think the script has the potential to be a bit meta- blurring the lines between what's real and what isn't (how Hildy sees herself vs. what others see). There's potential, but it would have to be done the right way. I'm not as desperate for her to play this particular character as you are Jeff, but I am desperate to see her line up real work. I'm still baffled that we've heard nothing when she finished filming Florence all the way last summer. Are there really no good scripts out there? I remember when she joked that it's a lot harder to say no to projects than yes because she's an actress- and yet it seems she's holding out for some reason.
DeleteI'm not sure if I'm desperate specifically for Hildy Good, or just desperate for something different, yet still fantastic from her. Agreed regarding the possibility of the script for The Good House potentially being meta...the possibility of which I'm more excited about. But yeah, I definitely greatly enjoy the character.
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