All of us, even celebrities, can still speak freely

In an acceptance speech for winning the Cecil B. DeMille award at the Golden Globes ceremony on Jan. 8, 2017, actress Meryl Streep voiced personal thoughts that were well received by some and ill received by others.

Streep’s speech took on a political tone and indirectly targeted president-elect Donald Trump. She began by recognizing her fellow actors and actresses that have lived in other countries.

“If we kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts,” said Streep.

In addition to the aforementioned “foreigners”, Streep identified Hollywood and the press as those that “belong to the most vilified segments of American society right now.”

She congratulated the works of those present and referenced Trump’s mocking of disabled New York Times reporter, Serge Kovaleski at a South Carolina rally in 2015 as another performance that caught her attention.

“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,” said Streep.

Though her speech was applauded by some like actor George Clooney, and widely circulated through social media, it also drew criticism from others.

Through Twitter, Trump fired back and called Streep “one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood” and a “Hillary flunky who lost big.”

In another highly circulated video, hip-hop artist An0maly criticizes Streep for insinuating that Trump is “bringing violence into politics” despite the country’s acts of war.

This begs the question of whether celebrities should freely voice their opinion given their status.

Though most of what society considers celebrities make more money than that average Joe could imagine and have several other privileges, they are, at their core, individuals with opinions. It is the job of the audience to interpret their words, which must be taken with a grain of salt, no matter the location or speaker.

photo credit| Us Weekly