Taking a look at Meryl Streep's Golden Globes speech

As a person who has just earned my BA in the theatre arts, I feel that it is my duty to selectively analyze bits of pop culture as it relates to the arts. Thus, I will be picking apart some of Meryl Streep's speech from the 2017 Golden Globes, and criticisms from antagonists. If you have not done so already, please watch the video. I find that it is better to observe something in its full context before critiquing it. If you are morally opposed to video watching, I guess a transcript will have to do.


The main reason I have seen people arguing over what Streep had to say revolved around politics and art: 1) Artists, including actors, are paid to make art, not talk about politics; 2) she said that football and martial arts are not the arts.

To clear the air...Yes, the arts and politics mix. A little too well. Because history has seen to it that art and politics should not mix. Governments, especially tyrannical ones, do not like freedom of speech and expression, including art. In recent times, the Cuban arts have been suppressed. Nazi Germany was not nice towards artists and their work (and other people) either. If you want to look more into the suppression of the arts, just ask...Google, because I am not an art historian. (Maybe check out Doctor Zhivago.) The point being if you are afraid about how your government is going to (or may) go after you or others because they do not like your art, you have the full right to speak out.

Also, when you write, perform, paint, etc. content, you are a product of your times. I am an early 21st century writer, and a libertarian. Whether or not I write about the 21st century or libertarianism, this background information will manage to show. Even if I strove to not make myself sound like I am from this time period or a libertarian, it would be hard to manage. Political and cultural events are some of what make us who we are. If you are trying to find deeper meaning within an artistic piece, you have to learn about the artist and where and when they lived.

Now with what is not the arts...It seems to me that Streep is saying if we keep out immigrants (or kick them out) and inhibit diversity, we will lose the arts. And she said that football and martial arts are not the arts, which upset many people.

Before I go into this, I need you to understand what art is. What is art if not all paintings are art? Neither are all illustrations, statues, performances, etc. Sure, they may have artistic elements or require great skill to be made, but that is not what makes art. Sometimes what people mistake for art is actually decoration, propaganda, imitation or whatever else. And remember, art is not about being beautiful; sometimes it is ugly or disgusting.

Stalinist propaganda. Beautiful, skillful propaganda.

Art is a creation using emotional labor and technical skill, resulting in a piece or presentation that naturally comments upon the subject and produces an emotional or intellectual reaction within an individual, understanding that the reactions will (and should) vary. It is really hard to define art. People have been doing it for thousands of years. Then there are debates about what is and isn't art. (If the debates don't get too hostile, they're pretty fun.) I would not think that any two people who understand what art is would agree 100% on what constitutes it.

Both football and martial arts have elements of art in them. Would I call them art? No and yes. I do not think that football is art. Martial arts? Yes, to an extent. It is kinda in the name, but what I think can make martial arts an actual art is if it is performed theatrically, such as in a presentation. I would not call fighting art, even if it is skillful. You could argue that wrestling WWE-style is art. Related: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is a play that looks at wrestling and art.

My problem with Streep's statement is not that she does not think football and martial arts are not art, it is that she comes off as dismissive of these activities, whether she meant to or not. It is true that sports (or athletic activities - whatever you want to call them) is not the same as art. In putting down martials arts and football, she provides more ammunition in furthering the divide between socioeconomic classes. If she had worded it differently, I think much of the controversy regarding football/art/martial arts would have been avoided.
Now that the art versus football and martial arts section has been covered, it is time to move on to another controversy - speaking out against Donald Trump. As I had mentioned earlier, politics and art are linked. So, were her criticisms fair?
I think so. We could probably argue all day about whether or not Trump actually did make fun of the disabled reporter, as Streep and others have claimed, but I think this really comes down to something else. Other than saying artists should not talk about politics, I have noticed Trump supporters clinging onto a few other arguments: 1) These artists would not dish out criticisms towards liberal politicians, and 2) she is (and the Hollywood Elite are) out-of-touch.
So what if Hollywood artists are hypocrites, staying silent when their favorite politicians do things that they would be all too eager to harshly criticize a conservative politician for? Like I said, it is hypocritical, and I wish people would notice their inconsistencies more often, but people are going to criticize no matter what, and if I have a liberal criticizing the bad stuff Trump does while ignoring what Obama has done, I will still take it over no criticism at all. Some of these conservatives just come across as being infuriated that anyone has opinions different than their own. (And it is not just a conservative thing...Look at liberals and the 2016 presidential election.)
Meryl Streep mentions that it is a privilege to be an actor, although I would not say in the way we are used to using the word now. The whole reason she gave this speech was to remind the room and the world about the diversity of Hollywood, and that those who are privileged need to stand up for immigrants since Hollywood is shaped by (and currently consists of) them, as well as First Amendment rights because of his feud with the media.
Will a Trump presidency be as bad as Hollywood is making it out to seem? I hope not. Does Meryl Streep have valid concerns? I think she does. Was it appropriate to make this kind of speech at an awards ceremony? I don't know, and I don't care too much. I do not watch them, and I know that people make all kinds of speeches while there, including letting others make speeches for humanitarian causes. Instead of dismissing what Streep has said, we should weigh each of of her points. Everyone has a right to let their political views be known, so let us brush aside the guise of shutting down misinformation by saying, "This person doesn't know politics!" (in this case, artists). That is just an attempt to silence people.  (How do we even figure out who is qualified enough to talk about politics? Am I? I'm an artist.) What we need is to engage in dialogue, and most of the criticism I encounter does not do that.

Maybe Trump supporters are still butthurt over this.

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