Meryl Streep will certainly go down in history as an actor who made one of the most powerful acceptance speeches ever at the Golden Globe Awards. On Sunday, upon receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement, she gave a memorable speech. Rather than focusing on her phenomenal career, she chose to shine a light on the controversial 2016 presidential election and the fact that Donald Trump will soon be the nation's leader. Not everyone may have applauded her words, but if you were a fan, take a look at the best quotes from Meryl Streep's Golden Globes speech.
And even if you don't agree with her political views and that fact that she chose to call out Trump in much of her speech, Streep also made some solid points that everyone should take note of.
Streep showcased how important it is for humans to have basic empathy for others no matter their gender, sexual orientation, skin color, where they were born, and so on. If you think about it, the state of the country relies on it. So with that, here are the best quotes from her speech, which will hit home for many.
When She Made A Joke
Similar to Hugh Laurie's acceptance speech, Streep also made a joke about the combination of words that make up "The Hollywood Foreign Press Association." She said, "Just to pick up on what Hugh Laurie said, you and all of us in this room really belong to the most vilified segments of American society right now. Think about it: Hollywood, foreigners, and the press."
When She Dropped The Mic
After going around the ballroom and listing off different actors and where they were born (most outside of the United States), Streep poked fun at that whole situation revolving Barack Obama's birth certificate by saying, "Where are their birth certificates?"
When She Mentioned Ryan Gosling
In relation to the above quote, Streep also mentioned Ryan Gosling, all while incorporating how every Canadian is believed to be super friendly. She hilariously said, "Ryan Gosling, like all the nicest people, is Canadian."
When She Told The Straight Up Truth
Streep is so not here for Trump's wall or for kicking anyone out of the country who wasn't born in the United States. As she said, "So Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners and if we kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts."
When Trump Became "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named"
Did you notice Streep never once mentioned Trump by name? It's like he's Voldemort from Harry Potter. Also, take note of how she called his campaign a "performance." As she said, "There was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks into my heart. Not because it was good. There was nothing good about it. But it was affective and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth."
When She Empowered Everyone
People in positions of power are there to inspire and lead, not the opposite. That's what Streep also believes, especially when it's someone who is running the country. She said, "This instinct to humiliate, when it's modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everyone's life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing."
When She Made So Much Sense
I mean, this is just so good — and common sense: "Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose."
When She Said What Everyone Should Already Know
"And we have to remind each other of the privilege and the responsibility of the act of empathy," she said at the end of her speech.
When She Credited Carrie Fisher
Finally, I leave you with these words from Streep about the late Carrie Fisher. "As my, as my friend, the dear departed Princess Leia, said to me once: 'Take your broken heart, make it into art.'"
Preach, Meryl. Preach.
