Meryl Streep is... Iron Lady

The first picture of Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher is out. Courtesy of the BBC.

Meryl Streep and Margaret Thatcher, The Iron Lady

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I worry about this biopic given that the director of Mamma Mia! is helming. Hopefully she learned what a camera was and what editors do and somesuch on that practice run. I'm also curious about what drew Streep to the project. I don't know a lot about British politics but I know enough to know that Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister, was no friend to the liberal artsy set (i.e. Meryl's people) and I've heard Thatcher vilified in films like Hunger (2008) and in various songs from the likes of  Sinéad O'Connor. Anyone remember that kick off to Boy George's "No Clause 28" which was fighting against anti-gay legislation at the time?

[Thatcher impersonator] "The aim of this government is to make everyone as miserable as possible!" ♫

I'm sure there are more examples of famous progressives publicly hating on her or at least the politics she embodied as Conservative Leader.

But back to Streep. What I really want to know is why Meryl so rarely works with the great auteurs? Imagine the potent combo. I mean think of Daniel Day-Lewis paired with P.T. Anderson or Emily Watson with Lars Von Trier. If Meryl ever faced a director on her level the earth might spontaneously combust from the artistic fire.

Remember that awesome speech Nora Ephron gave about Meryl Streep playing you? So so funny. Here it is again just for kicks. The best comedy bit that Nora Ephron ever wrote?

Ronald Reagan Centennial

It's a big day for USA history today. 100 years ago today in 1911 Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois. He lived there until his college graduation in the early 30s. By 1937, after a brief dip in Iowa, he was seeking movie stardom in Hollywood. Forty-four years later he became the 40th President of the United States.

Reagan in the late 20s or early 30s in Illinois

He remains the only US President who ever starred in motion pictures, though he isn't remotely the only entertainer who has been elected to public office. Even when movie stars don't express a desire to run for office, they often dive in in a big way. (Warren Beatty is a prime example. His political life has a supporting role in the book STAR. Today is the last day to enter the contest to win the book).

Jane Wyman & Reagan in 1940. She won "Best Actress" shortly after divorcing him.My own feelings on Reagan are mixed.

I loved the idea of a movie star president as a kid and because of my general proclivities towards arts & entertainment I'm still fascinated -- sometimes against my better judgement -- by stories in which politics and the arts are entangled such as the political leanings of various actors, Lincoln's assassination in a theater, political battles over arts funding, the assassination attempt on Reagan himself by a deranged fan of Jodie Foster and Taxi Driver, etcetera.

I wasn't politically aware in the 80s but as I mapped out my own political feelings later on, I became horrified. I think the play Angels in America  which takes place during the AIDS crisis when Reagan ruled America and was unforgivably silent on the matter helped me along the way to that. Imagine what immediate funding for research and prevention could have done early on; speeding us to a cure or saving millions and millions of lives.

Though Reagan himself was more liberal than today's right-wing (what past Republican isn't? Things have become... extreme.) the movements that he pushed forward like the deregulation of the economy have had disastrous long term effects: see Oscar's documentary frontrunner Inside Job next time you're in the mood for the scariest movie of the year.

Confession: Strangely, I have never seen a Ronald Reagan movie. Not even King's Row or Bedtime for Bonzo! Have you?

Frank Rich on True Grit & The Social Network

Illustration by Barry BlittThe invaluable Frank Rich has a great op-ed on the success of True Grit in the age of The Social Network. It's beautifully written and interesting in the context of both awards season heat and our current political and economic climate. If I have one gripe with it it seems to downplay the fact that TSN is quite successful financially. Just not as successful.

I won't spoil the expert finale of the piece which shifts to The Social Network but here's a part I liked about True Grit which he correctly identifies as both elegaic and escapist for left and right wing Americans.

More than the first “True Grit,” the new one emphasizes Mattie’s precocious, almost obsessive preoccupation with the law. She is forever citing law-book principles, invoking lawyers and affidavits, and threatening to go to court. “You must pay for everything in this world one way or another,” says Mattie. “There is nothing free except the grace of God.”

That kind of legal and moral cost-accounting seems as distant as a tintype now. The new “True Grit” lands in an America that’s still not recovered from a crash where many of the reckless perpetrators of economic mayhem deflected any accountability and merely moved on to the next bubble, gamble or ethically dubious backroom deal. When Americans think of the law these days, they often think of a system that can easily be gamed by the rich and the powerful, starting with those who pillaged Lehman Brothers, A.I.G. and Citigroup and left taxpayers, shareholders and pensioners in the dust. A virtuous soul like Mattie would be crushed in a contemporary gold rush even if (or especially if) she fought back with the kind of civil action so prized by the 19th-century Mattie.

The whole piece is well worth a read.