The art of being mindful, careful, and diligent; we must remember these things when writing and reporting, but most of all when we’re consuming.
The mob mentality of the Internet has made such things increasingly difficult, especially at a time when important conversations about issues of racial and gender equality are on the table each and every morning.
In the war against the patriarchal domination of the film industry (let’s not forget that only 7% of the 250 top-grossing films of 2014 were directed by women), we need people willing to speak out against a system that simply doesn’t foster inclusion or channels for diversity to thrive. This does not mean blindly calling the Academy racist; this does not mean slamming every opinion that doesn’t strictly adhere to the narrative created by ill-informed instigators disguised as legitimate social justice warriors. This means instilling the notion that equality is not a tool, but rather an ideal we must believe in, subscribe to, and work for in order to make it a livable reality.
Attention and visibility are key, and sensitivity about the ways minorities are represented and discussed in public forums is ok when we’re trying to shift the conversation in the right direction; it’s important to call people like Julie Delpy or Charlotte Rampling out when they make careless statements about real issues. Still, it’s not our inherent responsibility to demonize irresponsibility, but rather to edify and educate in the hopes that change will sprout from understanding.
Meryl Streep, president of the 2016 Berlinale Jury, is someone who gets it, and the Court of the Internet (otherwise known as Twitter) is somehow unjust, lazy, and totalitarian for having taken the actress to task earlier this week without first doing its homework.
The actress came under fire after her comments–or rather, the headlines reporting her comments–at the festival’s opening press conference rubbed many the wrong way. You can watch the full press conference for yourself right here, but let’s set the stage, shall we?
First, a reporter directed the following question to German actor and fellow jury member Lars Eidinger: “Did you notice that there are no black people on the jury at all? There’s not one black person and no people of color. That has been the case for five years. What’s your opinion on that?” Eidinger sort of brushes the question off, saying that the failure to include people of color in the jury wasn’t a conscious decision. And with that affable sidestep, the moment ends.
Another reporter then asks Streep a question about women’s rights and Berlinale’s history as a progressive, political, socially-conscious festival that represents strong female perspectives both in front of and behind the camera, to which Streep sort of responds with an answer to the previous reporter’s question about diversity: “Well, I’m very committed to equality and inclusion of people of all genders, races, ethnicities, religions; there should be inclusion and this jury is evidence that at least women are included–and in fact dominate–in this jury, and that’s an unusual situation in bodies of people who make decisions, so I think that the Berlinale is ahead of the game.” Perfect answer, right?
Several minutes pass. A writer from Cairo introduces herself to the jury and asks Streep the following: “There is a film that is representing Tunisia and the Arab world and Africa in the main competition. How do you see this part of the world, and is it easy for you to understand that culture, and are you following any Arab movies?”
Streep takes a moment, but responds with earnest appreciation for such a direct question: “Yes, in fact I’ve just seen a film called Theeb, which I loved. I saw Timbuktu recently, but I don’t know very much about the Middle East, and yet I’ve played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures. The thing that I’ve noticed is that there is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture. And, after all, we’re all from Africa originally; we’re all Berliners, we’re all Africans, really. We have critic on our jury, we have a director on our jury, we have actors, a photographer, cinematographer; people will be looking at different things in these films, but we’re human beings, and film is an emotional experience. We’re going to make these decisions based on what our head wants to say, but we’re first attacked in the heart.”
The Internet did not like that carefully-worded, well-intentioned response one bit, choosing to focus on the broader picture (a jury of white people were asked a few questions about diversity) instead of the true context. One Twitter user even said, and I quote, “It seems like she’s saying ‘oh, well we’re all from Africa, so the lack of diversity on the jury doesn’t matter.’ How condescending.” The fact is that Streep was not asked a question about the lack of diversity on the jury (Eidinger was), despite several irresponsible headlines from reputable sources that made it seem as if her comments about Africa were directly related to her feelings on the jury’s lack of racial inclusion.
Here are just a few examples of the selectively misrepresentative headlines which followed the “incident” (I hesitate to even call it that).
Vox: “We’re all Africans really”: Meryl Streep defends heading up an all-white film festival jury
The Atlantic: Against ‘Humanism’: Meryl Streep explained her all-white film-festival jury by claiming that “we’re all Africans, really.” She’s right, and so wrong.
Variety: Meryl Streep on Diversity at Berlin Film Festival: ‘We’re All Africans’
The Hollywood Reporter: Berlin Jury Chief Meryl Streep Responds to Diversity Concerns: “We Are All Africans Really”
Those are loaded headlines with the intent to stir shit up in the absence of a body squatting over the bowl in the first place. Streep was, by all means, not responding to the question about diversity on the jury; she was responding to a specific question about her connection to films from the (as the reporter put it) “Arab world,” and simply noting that despite not knowing much about that particular part of the world, she is willing and open to exploring other cultures through character, cinema, and compassion because she recognizes that we are all equal, emotional beings with equal origins.
These headlines–like the first reporter’s question to Eidinger–seemingly spring from a place of of-the-moment urgency to discuss relevant social injustice in the film industry and beyond, and they certainly caused an uproar aimed squarely at Streep. Topical trigger finger leads to healthy conversation and visibility in some areas, but merely talking about an issue for the sake of talking about it–not when a real issue is present–is dangerous. It creates a vile, combative atmosphere where the only result is unfair victimization. Yes, Streep is a white person in a position of power, but her comments were not ill-informed, irresponsible, or inappropriate. Celebrating a humanist view as a long-standing champion of equal rights for women (in case you forgot, Streep often puts her money where her mouth is) makes you true to your word, not a flippant racist, as some corners of the internet would have you believe.
I must admit that when I read these headlines, my palm met my forehead faster than it ever has before. Then, I actually read the articles instead of indulging the Internet’s desire to make me act on a feeling versus fact. The Hollywood Reporter‘s story does’t even mention the leading quote until it’s nearly over, instead choosing to report on Streep’s message of female empowerment as she takes on a position leading one of the most prestigious festival juries in the world. The Vox piece completely disregards Streep’s comments in context, instead choosing to connect her comments about Africa to the question about the lack of diversity on the jury’s panel, which is outright deceptive (and misleading) journalism. Is it really worth chasing momentary validation through devious, selective reporting that plays into other people’s legitimate concerns over a real issue?
The scary thing is that now we can see that even the trade publications are purposefully speaking to an increasingly lazy audience that doesn’t want to put in the work. No one wants to feel anything more than what a headline tells them to. People want to feel angry, and they’ll take a headline that panders to their heart whether those few lines of text accurately reflect the subject at hand or otherwise. If a false construct fits the calculated narrative, it’s used as a weapon, and we’re all expected to get out of the way when it comes time to launch the rocket.
Perhaps a white person commenting on a topic of racial exclusion currently exists outside the realm of acceptable discourse, and that’s a shame, because we need more voices like Streep voicing empathy and understanding across lines and divisions. We have to start somewhere, and that means reporting facts as facts and not interchangeable pieces of a puzzle that can be rearranged to create a typhoon in the name of a few clicks. We didn’t fight the battle that mattered this time and for that I must extend an apology to Meryl Streep on behalf of the thousands of condemning voices that won’t do the same.
_________________
Joey Nolfi is an awards season, film, and pop culture fanatic currently working as an editorial intern at Entertainment Weekly. His work has appeared in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, AFROPUNK, East End Fashion Magazine, Naima Mora Online and Serving Cinema, an Oscar blog he founded in 2014. He also acts, makes films, and can’t wait for the day his friends have children he can to take to the zoo one time and then spend the rest of his life patting himself on the back for it.
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Well put. Out-of-context quotes are what people who could learn a thing or two about actual expositive writing from ME(?!?) use instead of actually reporting. What do you see in the modern newsroom these days, you know, when a reporter is speaking from ‘the bullpen’, so to speak? A huge crowd of drones sitting in front of 42-inch HDTV monitors, all tuned to Google News. It’s great to be alive in this day and age, once you’ve been trained to tread water in the sea of BS…
Wow…this article is well written. I saw the video and I was appalled by what these reporters were writing. One even wrote from “one white woman to another” and then went on an epic rant of ignorance. People must learn to discover for themselves the truth because they risk causing irreversible harm to others if they don’t
Yes, I do think that the question reflected the German context better.
I didn’t mean to say that all of you are that way, just many and it’s something that can happen easily sometimes – it’s hard to always consider all aspects of an issue. And then there are reasons like the fact that we are immersed in American movies/TV shows/music etc in Europe, so we learn to consider that context more than is the case the other way around and I don’t really blame individuals for that. But looking at the jury, I also noticed that 3 of 7 come from English-speaking countries, which I also believe to be an imbalance.
I’m not German and don’t know everything there is to know about German history, so I was very surprised to find that they have in fact had colonies in Africa. It’s not a very well known fact in Europe as a whole, I think (though it might be in Germany).
I didn’t mean that they should be excluded from the discussion of diversity, I just meant that each country has minorities that are more present than others in discussions of diversity: I mentioned the ones that I believe are most present in such discussions in Germany and I believe that African-Americans are a major part of that discussion in the US. In the future, immigrants and refugees from Northern Africa (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco), Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan will realistically be the main part of that conversation in Germany and in the US, Latinos (I hope that’s the correct term?) will probably play a bigger role in that discussion.
Not too long ago I had a conversation with a black German friend of mine about racism and she said that she hadn’t encountered racism in Germany, though she added that since she grew up as the daughter of academics, her experience might not apply to everyone. It’s subjective and only one experience, of course, but the case of Germany is a very interesting one, I think, because (and this is of course only my personal impression) it seems that the majority of people has learnt from the horrific actions of their parents & grandparents generation during the holocaust and is genuinely invested in not discriminating due to race or religion. There are still plenty of issues to work on of course and there are certainly racists there, too.
Louisa, I think you’re right about what you’ve said about us Americans. As a whole, we can be really bad at the context thing, and do have a tendency to export our understandings of problems to other places. And I definitely agree that we haven’t done enough to look at the whole range of racial groups that have been (and continue to be) excluded. It may very well be that the question that Streep actually got about the Arab & African world better reflects the current context in Germany.
My only quibble is that if we’re going to say that there’s a different context, then we ought to look at the entirety of the context. After all, Germany had some rather significant African colonies in its history. It’s not an accident that only 1% of the population is black, but rather the direct result of racist exclusions in their colonial policies and immigration policies over decades and centuries.
So for me, that 1% stat seems less like an explanation, and more like a perpetuation of the problem. “Germany has excluded black people so thoroughly and completely that they can now get away with excluding them even from the definition of diversity.”
OK, I apologize for teasing Streep, but that won’t change the reality that some Africans are more equal than others.
“I had been reading about their behaviour”
Wonderful wording you have there, ace. It’s almost, like, trans people are animals in the wild or experiments. Who the fuck doesn’t believe in free speech? Trans people? Are you kidding me? Free speech and the right to be heard is what anybody but a white male, yours truly included, has fought very hard to earn over the course of centuries. In fact, people who want their rights are beaten and killed on a daily basis. Sure they may have some of their rights but they are oppressed by the majority of society for using said voices. But please, if they annoy because of little tidbits you picked up from Ru-Paul and She-Mail, which is probably the end all, be all information outlet on a group of people around the world for anybody who tries to label those who stand up for others “liberals”, you’re welcome to go study more of their “behavior” and be better informed.
That’s a very well-thought response on how Germany would include which members.
Keep talking. You’re making a great impression.
Trans people do annoy me because they have absolutely no sense of humour and don’t believe in Free Speech. I said that mainly because I had been reading about their behaviour over ‘She-Mail’ on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Unlike you Liberals, Free Speech is everything to me.
I trust all my own judgement thank you and I have a mind of my own. I don’t conform with Liberal idiots like you.
Yes, Ryan and I are friends……it’s the only reason I’m saying anything. I thought maybe someone might be thoughtful enough to listen and consider what I’m saying.
I do admit though some of these defenses are coming off like Academy member letters to THR.
I am deflated at the moment and truly am not coming back again now. I wish Disqus didn’t alert me to comments.
We are privileged as white people, Ryan. It’s just true. And so are our opinions, we give them from a safe place where those words really don’t make a difference to us in our lives. I’ve been doing a lot of work to be sensitive to it, b/c it’s on us to cut it out.
How many times are you not going to get that the whole article is saying that what she said is not insensitive and IT IS STILL INSENSITIVE. That’s about race. White people are deciding here, that what she said isn’t insensitive in a different context. And I’m saying, that’s old. I’m really done….people are basking in their privileged white blind spot. Her words, IN CONTEXT, are STILL INSENSITIVE. I’ve said that a million times now. I don’t know any other way to say it.
Many of you should read this, if you care at all:
http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/02/white-people-emotions-tears/
I wasn’t saying it’s wrong to advocate for African-Americans’ rights, I was genuinely interested in the reasons and that seems plausible to me, so thank you! Actually, the issues that have come up recently, have surprised me somewhat. I would have thought that since you have an African American president, things must have advanced a great deal. Maybe not – incidents like the Ferguson shooting are simply appalling.
From a European point of view and since I live in a neighboring country of Germany, I still think that in this case, the American media has applied the American context to the vastly different German one. As I’ve said, Germany doesn’t have a history of slavery and it has a very small black population, therefore the inclusion of people of color isn’t the first thing that people think of when they consider diversity. Within Germany, including Jewish people, people of Eastern European origin and Turkish-Germans would be the first impulse, I think. If you consider that this is an international film festival, an effort should be made to include people of different origins (Asian, Middle Eastern, African, South American etc). That effort has been made where the film selection is concerned but not with the jury, that’s certainly true.
I don’t know, maybe it is because African-Americans have been in America for centuries and have suffered the most discrimination in US history. Every discrimination should be fought but African-Americans have faced historical injustices that’s and having fighting it for centuries. If other minorities get justice then they have African-Americans to thank for carrying the fight. Other minorities should stop bitching about African-Americans getting justice and should join the fight rather than leave it to them carry the heavy load by themselves.
While I think your question is valid, I also feel that the American media has failed to realize that while #OscarsSoWhite etc are big issues right now in the US, that’s not so much the case in Germany. They don’t have the same kind of history and only 1% of the German population is black. They’re a minority of course and one should aim to include them but the discussion would have to be about including other minorities as well (people of Turkish/Arabic/Eastern European/Asian origin etc). And I would like to ask you Americans: why are you advocating for African-Americans to be included but not for Asian Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Americans of Arabic origin etc?
I try not to judge people by one comment.
happily, Disqus lets us explore other comments people have made.
like, a few days ago, RobMiles had this to say:
“(I deleted the bit about Trans people because they piss me off).”
so, ok. I have enough evidence with which to judge now.
– Do I need to stretch first?
– Ryan’s going to have fun responding to that…
ha! I almost said: “No more than you already do every day, probably.”
but then I remembered this whole post Joey wrote is a plea for people to please stop making gossipy assumptions.
Ryan’s going to have fun responding to that last part.
I’m not sure if you should trust your own judgment, considering you thought posting that comment was a good idea.
I don’t owe anyone an apology. I can think for myself thank you
That sounds like a threat. Do I need to stretch first?
It’s the thing to do now, to call racist, sexist or homophobic anyone you disagree with. This recently happened even to Peter tatchell when he was called racist by a student who was too scared to debate him.
– “Are you asking me to incite people for the sake of conflict?”
That’s my job.
“What if they’re white Africans.”
Charlize Theron and Sharlto Copley. Oh wait…they’re not the type of Africans the players of the “gotcha!” game want to play with.
You’re an excellent associate editor, Paddy. No joke. Thanks for your help.
(Joey and I already had a good conference last night before we published, but this line was something that slipped past both of us.)
(Paddy, you know better than anyone what a pain-in-the-butt worrisome cunt I can be about phrasing. Looking forward to being your pain-in-the-butt worrisome cunt when you report for us again from the London Film Festival in October.
john smith — I’ve come to know you as a really good guy, and I feel sure that you’re playin’
It might not be so clear to casual readers who don’t know how well you and I get along.
Anyway, as we all know, there is no greater privilege than being born gay 🙂
(and for gay people who can avoid being persecuted I’m not even really joking)
(For all our LGBT brothers and sisters who are not so lucky, please forgive my flippancy. Never give up, never give in, never be anyone else’s ideas about who you should be. Never stop being who you know you are and you’ll be ok. Never hesitate to reach out to those of us who are luckier if there’s ever any way we can help you.)
“Especially when I’m being labeled ‘privileged’ by another white person who is no less privileged than I am.”
I am astonished at your homophobic comment! Just like was shocked by Sasha’s misogynist and racist comments.
Thanks for recognizing the true intent of my post!
Joey reminds us for the umpteenth time: “Again, the question directed to her was not about the lack of black people on the Berlin jury.”
Thank you so much for your patience in explaining this again and again, Joey.
This line that you wrote (in a reply below) is such an important thing to clarify. It doesn’t even bother me that we have to keep repeating because it bears repeating.
The headlines all across the world — in supposedly reputable publications and cheap tacky click-bait venues alike — attach “diversity” to Streep’s 4 words, even though Joey has shown the two things were not remotely connected in the course of the press conference.
And here’s something I’ve been wanting say:
I think it’s crude to the point of almost being disgusting that people hear the world “Africa” in a sentence and they immediately want to drag a question about an African film into an issue of diversity in the Western world of Europe and America.
There’s no effing connection at all between #OscarsSoWhite or #BAFTAblackout or even about a Berlin jury to the word “Africa” —
People who jump on that false trigger are coming perilously close to really weird type of racism of their own creation: The strange and utterly incorrect implication that all black people are all alike.
The question Meryl Streep answered was about a movie called Heidi by Muslim director Mohamed Ben Attia.
He’s not black. Hardly anyone in his movie are black. It’s a movie about the Arab experience. In Africa.
It’s therefore the height of ignorance and crude blanket assumptions to jump to a conclusion that this question would have anything at all to do with the issue of diversity as we confront it 99% of the time in current hot-button conversations about Hollywood — or any country’s film industry.
It’s simply ignorant to hear the word “Africa” and think: “aha! Black people!”
It’s even MORE ignorant to hear the word “Africans” and think that the problems faced by anyone in Africa (be they black or white or whatever) has anything at all to do with the questions of diversity that many people have sense enough to legitimately discuss in the West.
Even if someone can stretch the bounds of logic and somehow try to connect a question about “why so many white people on the Berlin Jury?” (a question that was NOT addressed to Meryl Streep) and then attempt to lasso Streep’s answer about Arab filmmakers and tie the two unrelated things together … oy! .. MORE ignorance.
It’s as if the people screaming in hysterics over Meryl’s 4 words expect THIS might be a good solution:
“Just invite a bunch of Africans to be on the Berlin Jury, why don’t you?”
Cool plan, bro. What if they’re white Africans. Then fucking what?
I know what you mean. Thanks for pointing it out. I certainly didn’t intend to come off that way. My mistake!
Does this count as my good deed for the day, the week, the month or the rest of my life? Is it even a good deed?
Being familiar with Streep’s fight for equality and reading the quotes, I wouldn’t take “we’re all Africans” as offensive at all. In fact, quite the opposite. I know it’s not what she meant but I am just saying that I wouldn’t take “we’re all Africans” as an insult. It’s the same as “we’re all Berliners” and that didn’t offend anyone. I understand that she answered the question of diversity in her first answer and in her second answer she was talking about how can she make judgement on films from other cultures and she gave a good answer to that. I think the problem is her second answer and “we’re all Africans” can be applied to the question about diversity. And even though she didn’t apply to the question of diversity, people can see some similarities and make a connection because they’re closely related and happened within a few minutes of each other.
That’s sweet. I’ve just only ever heard that phrase used before by dickheads, and hate to see it co-opted by intelligent people and its usage normalised. Thanks for taking my feelings into consideration!
I think my opinion on the matter is of no interest to you (are you being shady with this question? I can’t tell).
“The same question for Ryan too. What do you think of being called privileged for having an opinion? “
I do not appreciate it. Especially when I’m being labeled ‘privileged’ by another white person who is no less privileged than I am.
Overused words like this deployed like automatic pop-ups begin to lose whatever legit meaning they need to have. It starts to sound like noise on top of noise.
This actually is not what she meant. Again, the question directed to her was not about the lack of black people on the Berlin jury. That question was asked to Eidinger several minutes prior to her saying “we’re all Berliners, we’re all Africans.” Streep was responding to a question about her ability to connect with films from other cultures and if she was familiar with affairs going on in the Middle East. Streep said she was not that familiar with films in the Middle East, but that she had seen a few, and that cinema connects people through emotion, and she was able to learn that from playing different characters from different cultures. Her comments were not about race, feminism, or anything other than exactly what she said: she believes that emotions *IN CINEMA* unite us all and render her totally capable of being on a jury that judges films from all over the world.
I just wanted to ask you, I know you’re white but are you privileged too? The same question for Ryan too. What do you think of being called privileged for having an opinion?
That’s exactly what’s happening below, haven’t you read it yet?
Oh, be quiet! We’re exhausted of privileged white men talking about racism feminism.
You want her to step and demand inclusion but you want her to shut when she says we’re all Africans, as in we’re all the same and so shouldn’t discriminate?
“I’m exhausted with all the white male opinion on racism and feminism.”
Let me just change my skin color and chop my dick off. Does that mean my point is more valid? This is how I assume you would be in a lineup full of people giving their opinion on race and gender equality.
White man: “Blah blah blah blah blah.”
You: “He’s white and I’m tired of hearing his opinion.”
Black woman: “(Very same as white man’s) Blah blah blah blah blah.”
You: “That’s a fantastic point. Because you’re not white or a man I value your words even more than when the white man said the exact same thing.”
Your line is the epitome of baseless disregard for other opinions. The author, who is a fantastic writer, was defending a woman who’s words were being picked apart by vultures looking for 5 words to put together and gain clicks. He took the time to write out something far more observant and, more to the point, fair than what anybody else has written. This article, which tries to get to the root of the issue, is paragraphs upon paragraphs long as opposed to a multitude of reporters asking 8 word questions and hoping Streep says something like, “I know nothing of the world because I’m white and privileged.” Anything other than that and she became target practice.
Check that line after the touch-up, Paddy. Joey’s turned it inside out for us and now the silky side is showing
Are you asking me to incite people for the sake of conflict? Wouldn’t that be what we’re arguing against in this piece!? 😛
It’s bothersome that your replies are so much more chill and level-headed than mine.
🙂
I also must agree with Ryan (I’d be crazy if I didn’t, considering it’s my own work we’re talking about) when he notes that my piece is not really intended to focus on race at all. The bulk of what I’m saying (or at least what I intended to say) is aimed at the entertainment journalism industry and how it can pander to legitimate fervor by creating a situation where none is present.
We can differ on Streep’s “brushing off” of the struggle of other races (there’s really zero evidence to support that she was, because as Ryan and I have both said, she was not talking about the lack of diversity on the jury but rather responding to a question about her ability to connect with films from other cultures/if she’s following “Arab movies”), but the point of my piece was to call out the bigger publications for misdirecting the public’s legitimate desire to foster change in the film industry when an issue was never present here.
We need to pay attention, not jump at the first buzzy headline we see.
Thanks for having such faith in my piece, Ryan. I appreciate you defending it 🙂
Thanks for reading, Paddy. I definitely did not intend to demean the work of people who defend diversity and fair representation in society and in media. I made a mistake in using that term, when I actually meant people who don’t do their homework and go to battle over a headline instead of picking up a sword in the name of a well-researched point for the sake of brevity. I will change this line.
excellent reply to my post, truly, but I don’t buy it. She sounds dismissive, to me at least, and to others, it seems.
I like everything about this article except the use of the phrase ‘social justice warriors’. The people who willfully misinterpreted what Meryl Streep said, or those who reported on it without doing their research, were not fighting for social justice – they were fishing for clickbait, without any intentions one way or the other on the debate. I loathe the term ‘social justice warrior’. I’ve only seen it used by unintelligent, disrespectful right-leaning brutes before in attempts to belittle any call in favour of progression or inclusion, and never in any reasonable content. So, when I saw it in the article above, I winced a little, and braced myself for some staggeringly idiotic writing.
I didn’t get that. I got a great article, and I’m pleased to have read it. But still disappointed, that ‘SJW’ is seemingly becoming an acceptable term to describe those of us who defend diversity and fair representation in society and in media.
“A rich and famous old white lady saying “We are all Africans”
Fine. Latch onto the FOUR words you believe are less than perfect and just ignore everything else she said that was heartfelt, thoughtful, intelligent, sincere and eloquently sensitive. Cling to those 4 words that bug you and never go of them. Really healthy.
She couldn’t stop herself.
Sounds a lot like you.
And me.
I’m just happy that I’m an unknown nobody, so I don’t have to carefully phrase everything I say whenever a microphone is nearby. Being up there on the podium having to answer these loaded questions… Just imagine how hard it is to come up with an answer that pleases everyone and rubs no one the wrong way. And just imagine how difficult it is to give a respectful answer that at the same time acknowledges that you – the icon – are well aware that you are a very privileged person with no real say in how others feel?
Taking all this into account, I think Meryl performed well enough.
“Being tired of white male opinions on race isn’t belittling…”
I keep quoting this line because it’s so annoying in so many ways.
How many more times do we have to explain that Joey is not throwing unsolicited opinions about “race” in your face?
He’s not writing about race at all. Quite the opposite. He’s pointing out how the noise-makers on social media and legit movie sites took a question and answer about an Arab filmmaker and tried to spin into a childish GOTCHA! that falsely portrayed Streep as insensitive to diversity issues.
I said hours ago: I thought you said you read this piece.
If you did, then how can you still be accusing Joey of giving you his opinions about race? No. He’s writing about a sickening, exhausting and counterproductive social media illness.
And every time you try to say it’s all just “another white guy talking about race” you sound like you’ve been infected by that illness.
Here’s the difference between Joey’s trenchant headline and all the sensationalist vacuous headlines he quotes:
The brazen but vacuous headlines that prompted Joey to write what he wrote led to equally vacuous articles that did little to dispel the wrong impression they gave.
Joey’s headline is brash and catchy too. It catches the attention like a good headline should — and then it delivers.
First it makes people wonder: “What the heck is going on?” — and when they click to find out what the heck is going on, Joey gives them 15 paragraphs packed with crisp attitude, conscientious media analysis, diligent background research and a refreshing no-nonsense perspective.
Making her Joan of Arc thrown to the wolves…
I didn’t get that feeling at all. Alright, so you did. (I know It won’t bother you a bit to find that you’re one of the few here who read this post as martyr worship.)
Being tired of white male opinions on race isn’t belittling, it’s just saying I’m tired of it, which is why I like AD, usually.
“usually”? Take another casual jab at the work we put into this site and see if you can make us flinch.
You think Joey tossed this off in 20 minutes? He put a lot of thought and time and effort into it. You stop by to announce that it’s all a huge waste of your time. With 40 words, all of them dismissive and insulting.
What if one of our male readers here said, “I’m so tired of women voicing their opinions about every damn thing. I come to this site to get away from that noise.”
How’s that supposed to make a woman feel? Respected?
We don’t need advice about what we need to publish or not publish in order to ensure that you never run across something you don’t care about. I won’t stand back and let you bash without challenge something one of our contributors feels passionate about.
“Being tired of white male opinions on race isn’t belittling…
Remember earlier tonight when you said that people who say harsh careless things don’t get to decide how the people getting carelessly harshed upon should feel? True. You don’t get tell me that what you said shouldn’t bother me.
Yes, you can certainly waltz in and say “I’m sorry I ever read this thing. It’s so tiresome.”
And then you can certainly expect me to answer you.
Joey is too nice to say “ouch.” I’m not.
No Ryan, she literally said, “We are all Africans” like a cherry to top the whole shit show. She couldn’t stop herself. She couldn’t just leave it at a common human core or thread or whatever. I was trying to be nice there and give her a pass and simplify to Humans. A rich and famous old white lady saying “We are all Africans” is dumb in any context. And she knows it was too now, she knows that’s a dumb thing to say, trust me. She probably knew it the minute she said it. It’s cool.
I’m not shamed by it, I’m just saying that it’s a bit sensational and it doesn’t even say we all owe her an apology. It says that a bunch of media outlets took her “we are all Africans” out of context to gin up clicks and attention and whatnot and then calls into question people who piled on. All of that I’m actually fine with……she didn’t even need defending or to have excuses made for her or be upheld as the gold standard. Just those points about media and hyping up shit to incite ferver was good for me. Making her Joan of Arc thrown to the wolves was where I couldn’t take it any more, b/c IMO what she said was STILL DUMB and thoughtless even in context.
Anyhow, the title sucks b/c it’s as misleading as “Meryl Streep is a racist”
Being tired of white male opinions on race isn’t belittling, it’s just saying I’m tired of it, which is why I like AD, usually.
Ryan, you did not write it, but I feel like anyone who is not even trying to listen to what I am saying and is immediately prone to defend Meryl Streep rather than engage someone talking to them, is well….being strange.
I know you are being defensive b/c you are the editor and you must defend your writer here. I know full well you will drag anyone you feel like dragging if it strikes your fancy, including Meryl Streep.
I’m going to back out of this discussion now (probably).
Just wanns say: Though it might be hard to prove by the evidence on this page, Mel and I are good friends. We go way back. Bob and I? We go back even further.
I’m honored and lucky to know you guys.
Joey is a good friend too. And more than that, he’s a valued guest contributor who’s written something that impressed Sasha and it impressed me too.
I’d be a crummy editor if I hung one of our writers out to dry and not back him up for something we already vetted and approved.
And lastly, imo, the title of this article sucks. We do not all owe Meryl Streep an apology.
I know. #NotAllMen, right?
The headline is rhetorical It’s a rhetorical phrase.
Are you not the same person who started off this debate by saying:
“I’m exhausted with all the white male opinion”
Look around and see how many white men with opinions on this page that you are casually belittling.
All of us who know we’re NOT typical males were not offended.
All of us who know we do NOT owe Meryl an apology do not feel shamed by this headline.
“BASICALLY turning someone’s actual words into something that sounds deliberately clumsy is exactly what the lazy headline writers all did.”
One million claps for you, Ryan.
sure, Mel. You know me. I’m all about blind celebrity worship.
You know me so well. 9 years we’ve known each other and you now throw me in the pile of people who “need for Meryl to be perfect.”
“they asked Meryl if she understood the Middle-Eastern and African cultures and her response was all, “Yeah, we’re all human”
In fact, what Streep said was this: “I don’t know very much about the Middle East, and yet I’ve played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures. The thing that I’ve noticed is that there is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture.”
To me there is a helluva lot more nuance in saying “there is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture.”
She never said “hee hee hee, we’re all human!” ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
Why do you want to dumb it down to stupidest terms: “DUH! We’re all human people!” — and then claim that your blunt oversimplification is the thing that Streep said? (“basically”)
Because you know what? Fuck “basically.”
BASICALLY turning someone’s actual words into something that sounds deliberately clumsy is exactly what the lazy headline writers all did.
Almost no other website bothered to print the entirety of the more carefully worded and intelligently nuanced part of what Streep said.
They all wanted to do what you have just done:
They all go: “You guys hear what Meryl Streep said?!? She basically said we’re ALL ALIKE because we had a common ancestor 60,000 years ago! What a crude old rich white person she is ! Just because we’re all HUMAN?! What a privileged thing to say!”
Thank you for this article.You gave words to my thoughts.In this recent scenario where the world is already falling off,the media should act sensitively.We are not there,we are sitting in our houses,its the media that conveys us everything going on around the world.Falsely quoting people or showing one-sided stories just spreads a wrong notion about a person or a community.Its Lethal!
First: of course it’s a friendly argument !
“Streep was questioneded about her ability to understand Arabs and Arab cultures… She was specifically asked if she had been following Arab film makers.”
No need to paraphrase. Let’s look at the exact question:
So. The exact question was “Are you following ANY Arab movies?”
Streep gave an exact answer. She names 2 recent movies that she “loved” that involve Islam and Arab characters: Timbuktu and Theeb.
How is that NOT truthful, Bob?
You say that this is what you wish Streep had said:
The right answer would have been to say what was probably the truth, “No, I don’t. I do the best I can with my limited knowledge and focus on the things we have in common”
And yet, literally in a split second here is the instant answer Streep gave:
“I don’t know very much about the Middle East, and yet I’ve played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures. The thing that I’ve noticed is that there is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture.“
Bob, You had many many minutes to come up with a “better” answer that — in all honestly — looks to me to be almost identical to what Streep said right off the top of her head.
for the sake of a friendly argument….
The way I read it, because the all white jury had just been challenged, Street was questioneded about her ability to understand Arabs and Arab cultures, that being a hot topic in Germany. She was specifically asked if she had been following Arab film makers. The right answer would have been to say what was probably the truth, “No, I don’t. I do the best I can with my limited knowledge and focus on the things we have in common, though I’m sure I miss many cultural references. But, after decades in the business, I do know film, and can bring those skills to a film festival jury.”
Honestly, put on the spot like that, I don’t have any idea I would have done better than she did, but that’s PR. Sometimes its good and sometimes not. At the very least she left herself open to criticism, and IMO, it’s good that reporters are challenging the stars about this.
Hopefully Streep and her peers will ask before agreeing to participate in non-inclusive projects. Just maybe, some of them have half the stones Bowie had.
I gave an example up to of what would have been a better response, but frankly, I’m getting worn out. Uncomplicated love of Meryl Streep and needing her to be perfect is outweighing people’s desire to respect different cultures and experiences.
I need Awards Daily, b/c Awards Daily is about the only place that will explore a different perspective and I like how Sasha writes with passion and I’m loving all the content that Jazz is bringing. This is usually cutting edge for the most part and not my Mom’s conversation on the couch with her neighbor about how persecuted poor Meryl Streep is before they then talk about how Black people are overtaking entertainment.
First of all, I’m not angry. Why is it that when anyone disagrees they are angry? This is really nothing, that on any other website I just roll my eyes and scroll on by, but I feel like this site it special to me so I had to say something. I strongly believe in saying something within our personal circles if something bothers us…..it’s nearly the only way I think we really can make anything happen.
Second of all, they asked Meryl if she understood the Middle-Eastern and African cultures and her response was all, “Yeah, we’re all human” basically. Which, is bullshit. It totally erases the unique perspective, issues, point-of-view. We aren’t all one. I can’t even say I got all of Straight Out of Compton even though it took place during the same time I was their age in the same country, it’s just not my world or experience, but I did really love and enjoy it. What would a better response be? NO, it would be “NO, I can’t say I do always completely understand, but I am present and my heart and my mind is open and I enjoy the experience of witnessing a journey very different from and separate from my own and I enjoy finding things that move my heart in a completely different life experience that reminds me of our connectedness with each other in a global and diverse community and I feel incredibly lucky to see these films here and be exposed to this point of view and culture.” Or I don’t know anything other than, “Well, we are all human” which makes the experiences and culture seem completely unremarkable or noteworthy at all.
Third of all, just because someone does great shit, doesn’t mean they get to coast and stop learning and growing. I do not think Meryl Streep would want to coast b/c she “brought us great joy”……this is in the same ballpark as people excusing churches of their egregious crimes against humanity by pointing to all the “good they did.” Now I’m not saying Meryl having a brainfart of privilege is anything like that, but your line of thinking here is that same line of thinking that lets shit go b/c of all the “good” something does while being sometimes exponentially more harmful in other actions.
Fourth, not always agreeing, but talking it out is FINE in my book. I’m glad I decided to comment further. I feel my interaction with Joey is going well. We should be talking about this obviously if the need was felt to devote an entire piece to this now mostly dead story in the media.
And lastly, imo, the title of this article sucks. We do not all owe Meryl Streep an apology. Maybe Joey thinks he does, maybe he thinks much of the media does, but otherwise, it’s as clickbaity as the , “Meryl is a racist!” headlines. I don’t owe her one, I didn’t even think much of it other than older privileged liberal white people love the “we are all the same” narrative and still haven’t gotten how dismissive and disrespectful that attitude has become. They really do it b/c they are uncomfortable still deep down with difference, but don’t want to be and are trying really hard.
Thank you for this! I hadn’t heard the larger context (or actual questions to her) before.
I wouldn’t be able to go as far as you in saying that her first answer was a “perfect” one. Surely she knows that you can still have a female majority by including black actresses, right? But it’s certainly better than the half-story (I’d go as far as to say made-up story) that I saw reported everywhere else!
For me, the “journalists” didn’t just fail in the headlines they chose to use. They also failed to ask the really hard questions to begin with. It’s not just “what do you think about diversity in general or the lack of black people on this jury.” It’s “Why did YOU agree to serve on a jury that doesn’t include any black people?” Until we start asking white people that question — not just about feelings and good intentions, but about actual actions or lack of actions — we’re not going to get very far in solving this.
I up-voted this and then I saw it said, “We don’t NEED Awards Daily for that matter.”
wait, wut? 🙁
“Her comments were erasing, privileged pollyanna thoughts in any context.”
I thought you said you read this piece?
Meryl Streep specifically spoke about the mutual inherent core of humanity we all share, and her comment was a precise response to HEIDI — a movie made by Tunisian filmmaker Mohamed Ben Attia. It’s the first film in Arabic and set in the Arab world shown at major European film festival since 1996.
The question and her reply have exactly NOTHING to do with the questions of racial diversity that clueless people have tried to attach to it.
So can you please refrain from insisting Streep was inadvertently trying to “erase” anything with her “privilege”? — It sounds like sentence made from rearranging Outrage Refrigerator Magnets.
Nothing Streep said had fuck-all to do with race — except for the crude misleading shrieking headlines that spread faster than itchy pinkeye in Hugh Hefner’s hot tub.
Many people swallowed those stupid headlines hook line and sinker.
Most of us feel that Joey has done an impeccable job explaining why those headlines were a crass misrepresentation of what actually transpired.
If you don’t want to understand that, fine.
If you insist on remaining pissed off — or even peeved — by a lie that gained traction, fine.
Bob, I’m surprised at you too. You talk about the 5 billion things that are more important to you than this topic.
How about the 2 or 3 billion hateful people on this planet who have done jack-shit to contribute joyous works of art to the global community compared to the things Meryl Streep has been able to achieve — yes, largely thanks to the power of the privilege she has deployed in more intelligent and heart-changing ways that most of us can ever dream of accomplishing.
Go roll your eyes at every word spat out of the mouths of those 4 billion WORSE people, Bob. Stop by and sneer at Meryl Streep after you’ve first sneered at 150 million other crazies in America. First things first. Check your own priorities.
Some of you are sure wasting a lot fucking time reading things that do not interest you and berating those of us who are interested.
I’m just here to say that we would not have posted this piece if we didn’t believe that Joey has done an honorable forthright service. He wrote this to help people save themselves the trouble of being pissed over something that was never anything at all but a word-twisted distraction.
Why do some people want to stay pissed about this? Why not instead focus on being pissed about things that are actually important.
Mel, some people have plenty of capacity to be pissed about important things and still have ample anger to be mad about every bullshit brushfire that any stray Twitter screamer wants to ignite.
I’m not one of those people. Neither is Sasha. Neither is Joey. Neither, it seems, are 95% of the people responding with nods and cheers to this gracefully judicious post Joey wrote.
That is not what she was saying at all. Please tell us what she should have said that would have satisfied you? No we don’t NEED a defense of Meryl Streep. We don’t NEED Awards Daily for that matter. But some of us appreciate both.
I agree that journalism is a lost cause for the most part and it’s not journalism at all anymore, it’s a business to make money. Say what you want about Truth, but when Redford’s Rather talks about the moment they realized news could make money it was all over, he was right. It’s all clickbait now and so making a headline out of some beloved famous person saying something that could be “racist” is all they were after. So we agree there. What we don’t agree on is that what she said was fine.
And I don’t think certain people are only allowed to talk about anything. Anyone can talk about anything. I am just real tired of hearing white people explain what is and isn’t racist or insensitive, when it really and TRULY is not even in our realm of capabilities to really KNOW. We have controlled the dialogue forever and it’s hard for us to accept our word/opinion isn’t always needed though. It’s especially good for us to talk among ourselves and figure it out, that’s our job really as good citizens and not put that burden on those who are marginalized to make us understand something we just never will….it’s our job to just listen, be open-minded and be better people. Respect the differences, celebrate the differences, honor the differences……not try to make everyone all the same. We aren’t all Africans or Berliners, we ARE all humans but what does that even mean? To me it means we are highly complex and very different with so many different experiences and struggles and realities and there is no need to homogenize those into a single thing that fits us all. Trying to do that is so harmful and the result is continued white supremacy because we keep insisting on controlling the conversation and making it about us.
I can assure you that you’re correct: I am not a bad person 🙂 I certainly don’t hold anything against you for feeling the way you do about the article I’ve written, and I appreciate that you’ve taken such care in crafting your response. I must say, however, that to punctuate these discussions with immediate dismissal based on my status as a white male is irrelevant to the point I’m trying to make. We don’t have to subscribe to the notion that only certain people are allowed to talk about certain things. I think that my opinion is one that could have been held by any person of any race. The point of this piece is not to demean anyone’s struggle; hell, it’s not even really about racial injustice, feminism, or racism. It’s about clarifying sloppy journalism, especially when it’s coming from the likes of major trade publications. I’m ok with your opinions on the matter, I’m just not ok with people who don’t take the time to do their homework before forming an opinion. I’m not saying you did this, but the rest of the Internet seems to have taken the irresponsible headlines at face value.
This is what I was feeling……do we really need a deep-reaching white defense of Meryl Streep? Her comments were erasing, privileged pollyanna thoughts in any context. And really, so was this piece in thinking what she said was fine in the proper context. Was it AWFUL? No, but it’s just so typical and it’s how racism persists and pervades in an insidious fashion. “I saw Beasts of No Nation and I felt things, I understand everything now!” We don’t, we won’t and we never will…..which is why we need them to keep telling their stories and for it not to be token or niche.
White people are so used to being the norm, we think everything is for us to get and normalize and accept and assimilate into our existence. Well, it isn’t.
I’m outraged at the outrage. If somebody could be outraged at my outrage on the outrage that would be perfect.
And also, I don’t think Joey is a bad person. Seems like a good person. Just as I am sure Meryl Streep is a good person too. All I can say is the most growth I’ve ever experienced in life was when someone called me out on something I was blind to when I was speaking or acting with good intentions. Some things I just can’t see or understand b/c I’m me and no one else. I can only be thoughtful and listen and try to behave.
I also don’t think the purpose of cinema made by people of color is to make me, a white person, understand or walk in their shoes (I never could). I think it’s just to tell the story, be witnessed, heard and maybe enlighten others to a reality they might not know existed. You’d have to ask the filmmaker though (and I myself am getting into the bad territory, by speculating what a person of color intends)…..I know if I made my film that would be the purpose. It would not be to make men or straight people to understand me or walk in my shoes……I’d just need them to witness my story, let me tell it, respect it, think about it. We are not all ANYTHING and that’s great.
Anyways…..I’m out of the discussion. Everyone else stick around to make themselves feel better about loving Meryl Streep (hint, you can love her and admire her even if she doesn’t always say the perfect thing, who does)
Very well written. Thank you. When I saw this “news” pop up a few days ago, I had to read it for myself and of course it was a bunch of hullabaloo about nothing. Nice try nasty internet. 2 days ago I deleted my 2 social media accounts (Twitter and Facebook) – 7 years of stuff accumulated gone because I just can’t stand it anymore. The fun is gone. It really is. At least I still have you, Awards Daily. I’d kissy face emoticon you if I knew how to kissy face emoticon from my desktop computer.
Awe :”>
Also–are those italics?
(Edit: yay!)
I read the article Ryan and I found her response in context to just be just as problematic and more of the same old white people erasing unique experiences and realities of POC with rose-colored privileged bull. It doesn’t even matter what I think though in the grand scheme. I’m white and what dumb shit she perpetuates doesn’t really affect me. It’s not my place to either defend (she doesn’t need anyone to defend her, she’s capable of clarifying if she wants) nor condemn her. I just listen to the reactions and thoughts of the people these things really hurt and try to better myself, be thoughtful and act right.
And as a woman, honestly, no, I don’t give a shit about male critiques of feminism, men can bang that out among themselves but I don’t give a single fuck about hearing them tell me what is or isn’t feminist or what feminism should or should not be. I don’t need a male opinion to school me on what it’s like for a woman and how I should react. Nope. I appreciate enlightened men, but no I do not really need their opinions on that type of thing, even if I could appreciate those opinions. I’d appreciate more they just act among each other to correct their bullshit and not think I need to be told what is what.
Meryl Streep can say some privileged, problematic stuff. We all do…and we learn, when we listen, if we are good people. We don’t make excuses. I was hoping not to see those excuses here. Tis all. Just not the kinda thing I’m interested in and yes, it’s tiresome to me.
It’s time for leaders like Streep to step up and demand inclusion before they participate in a project. I do not agree with fawning over stars, actors and directors, while railing against faceless, nameless suits. How many of these fabulous roles would Streep have landed had she been a black woman? Maybe she has taken some undeserved heat for her comments, but has she not enjoyed unearned privilege? Of all the problems in the world the negative press she has received for her goofy remarks is lower than five billion on the list.
I knew that. We all knew it, because we know you.
Just wanted to help underline it, and playfully nudge you into saying it yourself.
“I’m exhausted with all the white male opinion on racism and feminism. How much more do we need?”
If they’re anything like this, then a lot more.
Yes–but I did mean the childish and mercenary reactions to Streep’s words.
All this continuous outrage is nothing than an attempt from the outraged party to self assure they are definitely not racist, misogynists, or whatever other flavor du jour. It’s actually pathetic and thank God it will always be saved in some corner of the internet so they (and everybody else ) will be able to see years from now what losers they were at this point in time.
um. nobody knows what this means, Bryce.
I can tell you mean to be vague because you didn’t nail it down with a full-stop period at the end.
🙂
Plus Meryl Streep is not the one charged of putting the panel together, what was she supposed to do throw a tantrum and leave the jury? That wouldn’t be polite, she did her best to try addressing the issue without offending her hosts.
What a load of crap
“I’m exhausted with all the white male opinion on racism and feminism.”
Well good.
Then you should be happy to learn the actual facts here at AD that nobody else was telling us about this situation on any other site:
Meryl Streep’s quote was crudely twisted into a click-bait fake-outrage by supposedly reputable film sites and it had nothing to do with feminism or racism.
She was simply explaining why it’s no problem for her to watch a movie from Tunisia with an open mind.
She was only saying that ANYONE who is intellectually curious should have no trouble appreciating a movie from ANY culture — because that is EXACTLY what watching movies from other cultures are supposed to do: educate and enlighten us to other ways of seeing this world that we all share.
Nothing about Racism or Feminism in the question.
Nothing about Racism or Feminism in the answer.
But even if there was — Women do not own feminism. Men can be feminists too, and many of us have opinions that are perfectly in line with astute female feminists.
I would hope that feminists would be happy to find men who have sensible intelligent views on feminism.
Instead of being told that we are “tiresome.”
The question Meryl Streep was answering was about a movie from Tunisia. Maybe stop fixating on the fact that Tunisia is in Africa, and look at what was actually being asked and answered:
Namely: Do you watch movies by Arab filmmakers and what do you think of them?
On the most basic level of your apparent frustration, Mel, you say that you’re tired of hearing White Men talk about race and gender issues.
Then rejoice. This entire well-reasoned and sensitive post was written in defense of an articulate gracious WOMAN who’s expressing her feelings.
It’s a smart polished defense you will not find anyplace else on the shitty internet — so there’s another great reason for Awards Daily to remain your favorite site.
===
If you have any misconception that Joey is just another noisy interfering white dude, go follow him at @joeynolfi and @servingcinema. You’ll soon see what a great guy he is.
Start by reading his interview with Phyllis Nagy: http://servingcinema.com/2015/12/phyllis-nagy-interview/
Fantastic write-up, mate! Nicely done!
I really wish I hadn’t read this article….and on my favorite site no less. I’m exhausted with all the white male opinion on racism and feminism. How much more do we need? Everyone is entitled to their opinion but shit they don’t all need publishing. Tiresome.
lol! I’ve been dying to ask you, could you please do me a reading? what do you see abt my life past, present, future, sentimental, professional, in a nutshell? thank you very much!
Funny I was there and after the panel, Streep bumped into me and caused me to spill my coffee.
“Oh my God I’m so sorry!” Said Streep.
I laughed it off and said : “That’s okay- we’re all from Starbucks so it’s no big deal.”
Oh.
Some people just want to misunderstand you. Well written article that puts everything into perspective. By the way, Mrs. Streep took Berlin by storm, she got two standing ovations at the opening ceremony and people went crazy for her on the red carpet.
It’s actually a very carefully-worded, reasonable answer given that she didn’t have time to prepare her answer beforehand and just improvised. Few people could’ve crafted a better answer under pressure. We see she’s a pro at that sort of thing, but even a pro can’t satisfy them all.
Context is everything. We live in a media world of sound bytes.
Right on, Joey!
“People want to feel angry”
This is precisely what’s fucked up about the world and internet culture. Everybody is looking for the next “gotcha!” moment.
“Perhaps a white person commenting on a topic of racial exclusion currently exists outside the realm of acceptable discourse”
Yep. If the answer is not, word for word, anything like, “White people are fucking everything up, every single white person.” then the comment gets picked apart to shreds. We do need more voices like Streep and less like those who rely on TWITTER for fucking news. Thanks for the very awesome post, Joey. We need more voices like yours as well. Internet culture, take note and read this.