Hypocrisy, Hatred & Hollywood - Why Meryl Streep Got it So Wrong but Chip & Joanna Got It So
Like 20 million other people, I watched the Golden Globes on Sunday Night. I watched the red carpet to see "what they were wearing". I heard the gaffes by Jenna Bush Hager and Michael Keaton over "Hidden Fences". I cringed when Sofia Vergara made her poorly timed jokes while introducing Sly Stallone's daughters as the Miss Golden Globes (??) for the year. I laughed at Kristen Wiig and Steve Carrell's bit. On the whole I was looking forward to Meryl Streep's speech spanning her career. I was disappointed.
She was absolutely 100% correct when she said, "And this instinct to humiliate, when it's modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody's life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose."
Although she said some very true things, her words rang empty and hollow in my ears. I realized it's because she doesn't really believe what she's saying - nor do her actions reflect those words. She only believes it if people think and believe like she and her peers think and believe. If you disagree with their social agenda, their politics, or their beliefs, then you are promoting hate and intolerance. I thought about the "backlash" BuzzFeed tried to create at the end of last year regarding Chip & Joanna Gaines. I thought about how their response to the disrespect, bullying, and challenging over their speculated beliefs hit the right tone. It was absolutely perfect, and said and did more than anything Meryl Streep could have said or done Sunday night. You can find it here.
What Meryl Streep and the Hollywood Elite have forgotten or maybe never have realized is that there are millions of people outside of their "world" who are smart, funny, and have informed opinions that just happened to be different than theirs. It doesn't make one side necessarily right or wrong just different. It doesn't mean that those beliefs and opinions should be dismissed out of hand. It means that no matter who you are or what you believe, in America, you innately have value and worth just by being an American.
When she said, "Once when I was standing around on the set one day whining about something, we were going to work through supper, or the long hours or whatever, Tommy Lee Jones said to me, isn't it such a privilege, Meryl, just to be an actor. Yeah, it is. And we have to remind each other of the privilege and the responsibility of the act of empathy."
One word from that quote spells out the difference between why so many Americans resonated with what Chip posted - empathy. Empathy for all people - not just those that are part of their social agenda.
Meryl Streep and many in Hollywood believe is that they, by virtue of being "artists", are somehow more intelligent, more enlightened, and more entitled than the rest of America. They most certainly know better on how and what we should believe and like, and anyone who disagrees or doesn't follow into the sheep branding line is a bully, disrespectful, racist, etc. We are to be dismissed and disregarded. After all, their opinions and beliefs are so much better and higher than ours. She summed it up, ..."you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts." Really? So, those who watch football and MMA are not entitled to have an opinion, are not entitled to think differently, aren't smart enough?
Also, since when is an athlete not an artist? Do they not put time and effort into their craft? Do they not bring entertainment and joy into people's life? Do they not reach into and grab the emotions of those who are watching and participating in much the same way an actor does with the audience? What makes one form of "art" higher than another? Because you won a Lifetime Achievement Award for a career of pretending to be someone else said so?
Here's what makes the world of difference between Chip and Joanna Gaines and Meryl Streep - it is not only the belief, but the modeling of what they say. The respect shown for each and every person - no matter who they are - especially if they believe different from you. We all have worth. We all have value. We all have the right to hold our beliefs and opinions. We live in a great country that gives us those rights.
The key is in respecting and celebrating those differences. The key is to treat each other with dignity and respect, no matter what side of the aisle your beliefs or politics lies. I love a good Steelers' football game as much as I love going to the ballet (well, maybe not in the same way - but I appreciate both for what they are). However, celebrating and appreciating the ballet doesn't mean I'm better than my husband who would pick a tractor pull over the ballet any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
As most everyone in that room was busy breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for their progressive, accepting views of society - they belong to the biggest institution that reinforces stereotypes and racism. In Hollywood a go to drug lord is usually Hispanic, the maid/help is usually African American, the drug dealer/gang member is usually African American, the terrorist is usually Middle Eastern, and the rich and powerful is a middle aged white male.
Chip's post was genuine because he and Joanna model that belief and behavior. They don't just say those words, they mean them - they live them. Meryl's was just hypocrisy at it's finest. So while she spoke some words of truth, they were empty because of the very hate and hypocrisy that was hid beneath that speech of inclusion and acceptance.
So, while I respect Meryl Streep's right to her freedom of speech, it really means nothing to me when it's not lived out. Give me people like Chip and Joanna any day who, when they exercise their freedom of speech, do it with grace, humility, love, and model the words they say.
