To Meryl, with Love

Hollywood actors are: educated, diverse and liberal, "just a bunch of people from other places." And Meryl Streep is their queen.

She didn't disappoint last month, accepting her lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes and delivering a speech that cut right to the heart of the issues of this election: insiders vs. outsiders, freedom of the press and what we can possibly do next.


Some of my favorite moments:

"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...When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose."

"We need a principled press to hold power to account, to call them on the carpet for every outrage. That's why our founders enshrined the press and its institutions in our constitution."

And, quoting Carrie Fisher, "Take your broken heart. Make it into art."

Long live, Queen Meryl. We're going to need her wisdom in the days, months and years to come.

Dear Ellen, I'm Ready

Why have I been resistant to, or skeptical of, the awesomeness of Ellen? Internalized homophobia, or mistrust of how she can still be so incredibly cute at the age of 58?

But seriously, Ellen is so joyful, even when she's talking about oppression and patriarchy.

I was reminded of Ellen a few weeks after the election, when President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He had the nicest things to say about her bravery.

Seeing the video above, and reflecting on the kind words of the best President of my lifetime, made me comb the archives for what she had to say after the election. Donnie will be sworn in on Friday, and I needed a little hope. She didn't disappoint.

 

Dear Ellen,

My happiness -- my particular (hopefully) marketable brand of gay happiness, that is -- will be different than yours. 

I'm a little too melancholic to maintain your indefatigable optimism. I have that academic's bias that in order to say something new, we must be very logical and serious about it all. 

But I'm ready for a little silliness, too. Thanks for the reminder. 

Yours very truly, 
A Lesbionic Sister