Anything Goes : Meryl Streep's comment by Ralph Barnette

It's hard to say without knowing the context in which Meryl Streep said this.... but knowing her feelings about the great need for diversity and equality within the industry, as she's expressed them more eloquently before, my assumption is that she's trying to minimalize the polarization of different groups of people by stating that we are all related to one another no matter our race. She's pointing out our connection as human beings, as a species, that in tracing back the evolution of humankind our origin is found in Africa—which has been proven through DNA. But, I agree, the comment is rather obtuse in reference to the industry's lack of opportunities. It certainly doesn't address current issues. However, I think her heart is in the right place, that underneath we're all the same. :)

Obtuse in what way? I read what she said then watched the whole thing. Neither time did it seem like anything other than her saying people have a basic core humanity that joins us all together. I’m missing why this is controversial. Particularly within the industry. This is a Twitter based “problem” fanned by twits who read twits posted by twits for twits and think that statements that can fit on a bumper sticker are deep and relevant. Those people who feel the need to be offended will be offended. By whatever. Always.

Thanks for commenting, Andrew. I haven't seen "it" yet. Haven't had time to search.. Was it an interview? What is "it" exactly? Is there a link? Yes, I can't stand Twitter! I stay away from it. I thought my assumption was close, as I have listened to most of Meryl Streep's other speeches/comments in full about diversity/racism/sexism/ageism.

Beth, it was during a Q&A at the Berlin Film Festival. Purposely I will not give the time of the statement in question. Watch the whole press conference to get the feel of it. Then consider what she said. This is the link from the official festival website. The complete press conference, not the short version. Purposely I will not give the time of the statement in question. https://www.berlinale.de/en/im_fokus/videostreaming/videos/06_streaming_...

Thanks Andrew! Very much appreciated. :)

A little research goes a long way. Twitter had nothing to do with it. Read about it in the major papers: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2016/02/11/meryl-streep-berlin...

Ralph If you look a little farther the first hit on pages of hits on search engines... "made headlines around the world and swiftly became one of the top trends on Twitter" http://tribune.com.pk/story/1045641/meryl-streep-sparks-uproar-over-were... Far more germane is that you haven't explained just how what she said in the context and place it was said is obtuse.

Okay, I just viewed the press conference in its entirety... And, sorry, I don't see the big issue here. If you actually watch the entire conversation with all the reporters and the overall tone of the press conference you understand exactly what she meant. This is a perfect example of how silly Twitter and its stupid little sound bites, or little news clips taken out of context create an uproar with those who are misinformed (generally speaking).

Oh, and she repeated several times her support and hope for the inclusion of all people in the industry.

I'm back after working on a film the last couple weeks. I thought it would be a good idea to post the full text of Meryl's statement in response to a question about the lack of Africans on the jury panel. I think there is more in the news conference that relates to this question and her statement, but this is the statement with my punctuation, minus a few stumbles. Meryl's statement: "I don't know much about the Middle East and yet I've played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures, and 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 al Africans really. . . Look, we have a critic on our jury, we have a director on our jury, we have actors on our jury, we have a photographer/cinematographer on our jury; people will be looking at different things in these films, but we're human beings. . . film is an emotional experience, so it's a way we're . . . uhh. . .going to make these decisions based on what our head wants to say but we're first attacked in the heart. . . that's an interesting process. I'm so looking forward to it."

She may be African, but her ancestors were never slaves. Meryl's statement fits into the "colorblind society," narrative which is problematic. See, we need to see each other as we really are. Yes, we are all human, but we have not all had the same human experience. "I don't know much about the Middle East, and yet I've played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures..." is very telling. For me, although she states that we share a core of humanity, she doesn't appear to have taken an interest in those cultures/people as human beings. What I mean is, if I were playing someone from the Middle East, I would want to know about, well...the Middle East. And, I wouldn't just want to know because I would be acting; I would want to know because if we do share a core of humanity, I would want to know just how deep that core was. If we are all Africans, can we assume that Meryl Streep's ancestors who came to America (or the ones who were born here) were slaves? Can we assume that her Swiss-German, German, and British ancestors had to fight for their freedom, or were subjected to civil rights violations in this country? If she is indeed African, would she audition for the role of Winnie Mandela in a film? I could go on and on, but I think you see my point.

Geveryl, obviously you did not watch the entirety of the press conference where the comment was made. I posted a link earlier in this discussion. Please watch the whole press conference.

As the initiator of this thread I thought it prudent to read all of the responses to it. And in a moment of full disclosure, I watched the full news conference before posing the question. I wanted to see what the responses of other industry professionals might be. The fierce knee-jerk defense of Meryl was certainly expected; I was reluctant to make criticisms of someone whom I hold in very high esteem in the industry, though I don't know her personally. My criticism is intended to be constructive by bringing subjects to the fore that are only occasionally touched on but which never seem to see much progress. I think that lack of progress has a lot to do with self-interest PR that spins almost everything in media. I think the iconic reverence reserved for industry giants like Meryl goes a long way in spurring people to respond to questions alluding to racist behavior with 'politically-correct' positive affirmation regardless of the facts. Here are a few facts and observations from the news conference and it's context. Twitter and other social media had nothing to do with bringing criticism to Meryl Streep's comments. While social media invariably had a lot to do with Meryl's comments spanning the globe, it has nothing to do with the obtuse nature of those comments. I learned of the comments through old-fashioned reading, then looked up the press conference only to get a better sense of context, hoping that would justify her comments. What I found in the full press conference I considered to be more shocking. Either I didn't watch the same press conference as many responders, or more than likely, I see the same things very differently. For instance, Meryl made the statements at a PRESS CONFERENCE, meaning the event was staged for the press (yes, bloggers and twitterers have that pesky freedom of speech right too) to take whatever information and comments offered and blast them around the world. In this context, I don't see where this nonsense about twitter and social media being such 'demons' comes in. As a veteran cameraman at many press conferences, this is what press events are designed to accomplish. Kudos to Meryl and co-jurors on successful press coverage. The content is another story. As for Meryl's comments, I have never heard her describe herself as anything but German-Irish. Her responses were purely an off-handed deflection of a question and criticism of the festival jurors she chaired. If one listens fully to the reporter asking the question, criticism of the festival jury's all white makeup is not something new, but an on-going criticism. In the face of such criticism, to declare oneself and the festival by inference, to be fair and seemingly innocent is to defend a racially skewed process. For that process to take place and those comments to be made at a film festival in Berlin, the Aryan race superiority center of history, is grotesque oversight or actions in line with the festival's thinking, that thinking possibly being that only whites have the intellectual depth and sophistication to judge film talent and quality in Deutschland. If an INTERNATIONAL film festival in Berlin is to operate out of the shadow of the country's recent history, I would think that taking the 'diversity' issue and obvious race-related disparities more seriously would serve the event well. Specific to Meryl's comments, she exhorts that she has played many different people from cultures all over the world, then intimates that many of these peoples/cultures she knew little about. I commend her for speaking truthfully, but did she hear herself? Really? How many times has she used her clout to get a black or brown face cast in a part playing a white person depicting European/Aryan culture? Let's say Meryl were to advocate for an all-black cast to perform in a $100 million fin re-telling of Michael Collins and the Irish Revolution; the Irish would be outraged and insist that she be examined or sent a letter bomb BECAUSE THE ACT WOULD BE ABSURD AND RACIALLY DEMEANING to Irish culture. Yet this is what has been done time and again with black African history, Native American history and Middle Eastern history, making a shameless mockery of the 'core of humanity.' Maybe I'll tweet her about it and get back to you. Or, just ask yourself the same question. I think you know what the answer is on this one. The same lack of understanding, knowledge and willingness to do things differently, more progressively is what we see at work in the Berlin International Film Festival juror panel and Meryl Streep's comments. Yet, there is this denial of industry racism and how it guides what happens in the formulation of film culture and subsequently determines what we see and much of what influences us and our children. I'm not sure Meryl understands the difference between 'from' and 'of' and the role of culture in relation to both. The same dilemma seems to inflict most of the comments. We all may be originally 'from' Africa, but we are not all 'of' Africa. 'From' speaks to estrangement, a loose relation that can be claimed or disclaimed with the convenience Ms. Streep exhibited. 'Of' speaks to content – 'I am of African descent.' Culturally, I am African and American as my skin served to caste me out of the European-American descended mainstream, [A mainstream that sustains division today with separate Opera, Ballet, Chamber Music, Orchestral and other alienated cultural monoliths supported by tax monies in almost every city; and please, don't hand me the 'first black' this, that and other such panaceas. As a member of several dance and theater troupes, I've been there and I will happily address such cultural racism in another thread.] in the same but opposite way it served to provide opportunity to the likes of Meryl Streep to project black and brown people's cultures, regardless of her knowledge of those cultures or not (yes I have seen Out of Africa and almost all of Meryl's films). As collaborative art, film is not just the projection of one person or actor or director, but to blanket-defend an admitted lack of cultural knowledge and speak without understanding the forces at work makes her statements obtuse. That core of humanity she refers to has been minimized and manipulated to maintain a racially skewed power structure not only in the film industry but in world politics, economics and culture. Al-Queda, the Taliban and ISIS reprisals surrounding cultural aggression have as much to do with portrayals of native cultures and encroachment of Euro/Western colonial cultures as it has to do with the Hollywood movies exported for the last 100 years. If it is hard for you to see the connection, I understand. Unless one has lived under the oppressive jackboot of race-based exploitation, seeing and understanding how to connect the dots can be a total mystery. If one has been intellectually oriented in a single cultural realm, it can be almost impossible to see beyond what one has been taught, essentially 'All white is alright' where the Berlin International Film Festival is concerned. Meryl's comments are much further reaching than I think she understands. Diversity. Hollywood has plenty of diversity and more than a century of content. The problem is that Hollywood's content diversity is almost all Euro-American and European (well, Australian too). There is no lack of stories relating the legacies and exploits of white/European Americans and their descendants. With media becoming the overwhelming conveyor of American, and now world image-borne culture, the smallest of the planet's racial groups continues race-based oppression and exploitation through other means in concert with military power. Guns tend to run out of bullets but images tend to project forever. The same lack of diversity and haunting stereotypes of the original Birth of a Nation are still with us as much as the Confederate battle flag. The only way to make progress and change these situations is to unscrupulously challenge and critique sacred cows that provide cover for legacy problems. That Meryl Streep's comments are couched in a lack of world cultural knowledge, her lack of sensitivity to the obvious on-going racially skewed festival jury she chairs in Berlin, and finally to deflect a reporter's honest to-the-point question with a 'core of humanity' dismissal is actually the core of the Festival's race problem, that problem being that it is alright for a all-white panel of jurors to pronounce judgement on a cultural cornucopia of festival content. Further, it is indicative of the film industry's race problem, a litany deflecting and pretending that the obvious does not exist. I agree with Morgan Freeman's assessment that it is the industry that must change to bring about true diversity and a breakdown of racism (my word). To address one without dealing with the other only makes the problem worse. To wit, the industry is the very actors, directors, cameramen, grips, producers, executive producers and yes, film festival judges who populate and persecute projects. So if the likes of Meryl Streep don't know enough, are not sensitive enough and simply refuse to recognize the problem when it's right in front of them, they should be called out and skewered. Or, they can simply refer someone qualified for the job.