Meryl Streep is without question and actress of extraordinary and seemingly limitless talent who was recently recognized as one of our national treasures. Her portrayal is so uncannily believable we are persuaded Streep is Margaret Thatcher. She is truly a phenomenon, convincing us what we see is actual reality, not virtual reality. That the famed Weinsteins have used the greatest living actress to humiliate Baroness Thatcher is both disgraceful and unforgivable. Moreover, they have also disgraced America in the eyes of the world. To laud them for this churlish deed would be absurd, if not criminal.
Margaret Thatcher is Britain’s only female Prime Minister, the woman whose determination salvaged her nation’s economy, restored its pride and ended the Cold War with her political soul mate, Ronald Reagan. President Reagan has been the leading target of the venomous attacks of Hollywood’s liberals. Prime Minister Thatcher is the latest name to be added to the list of conservative leaders and intellectuals they have sullied and defamed, including our Founding Fathers as well as Jesus Christ and God.
The woman who made the knaves and devils of the world cower in fear is depicted as an addled, demented old lady who lives in memories and in conversations with her hallucinated dead husband. The film begins and ends with this remarkable woman depicted in this senile, quasi-psychotic state at the very moment she is about to be honored by her grateful country.
We are permitted to witness the measure of Margaret Thatcher’s true stature only in a few brief clips that depict the memories of an elderly deranged woman imagining her past life. To add insult to injury, the movie ends with Thatcher leaving a soapy teacup in her sink as she departs for the ceremony where she will be honored as one of Great Britain’s three greatest statesmen. The irony and outrage are simply stunning.
Anyone with the slightest sensitivity seeing this film experiences a physical pain watching a world leader being degraded and treated with contempt. It is particularly painful in light of Thatcher’s declining health due to multiple mini strokes. Despite these physical insults, she has retained her grace and charm. The most recent photograph taken during the Christmas holiday shows her as elegantly dressed and coiffed as her silver screen Doppelganger.
Hollywood’s relentless attack on those who disagree with the orthodox views of its liberal elite has struck a raw nerve this time. Although Meryl Streep may well win an Oscar for her surreal performance, it is a pity her vast talent couldn’t have been used to render unto Prime Minister Thatcher the esteem and respect the Iron Lady is truly due. The world owes her a great debt of gratitude. The brothers Weinstein chose ingratitude.
Shame on Bob and Harvey Weinstein for their perfidy. Shame on Hollywood for its need to celebrate their invidious, spiteful calumny. It is a work of character assassination for which they should be taken to the woodshed.
R. Claire Friend, MD
January 22, 2012
Thank you for your passionate and articulate defense of Prime Minister Thatcher.
I, also, saw the movie… At times I was embarrassed by the misrepresentations and dramatic hyperbole. Yes, the acting was superb– but the inherent (political) messaging was shamefully unfair to both the “Iron Lady” and to the United States..
Thanks for the kind words. The film has generated a global reaction of distaste and disgust. Daniel Yergin wrote a response in the WSJ which prompted the following reply. As you’ll see, the key to understanding the Weinsteins’ hateful portrait of the storied Iron Lady is male envy. As always, the mother is the problem or, in this case, her ungrateful sons.
Iron Lady: Matricide by Film
Having just seen Iron Lady, Daniel Yergin’s essay (The Real Margaret Thatcher Story, WSJ, 1/26) struck a chord, prompting these comments about the role our personal psychology plays in the creative process. Only an analytic autopsy might explain why the gifted and creative Weinsteins would choose to humiliate and shame such a towering figure rather portray Britain’s Mighty Margaret as one of a handful of leaders most deserving of the world’s admiration and gratitude. Yergin’s comment that the Prime Minister had bested her male competitors in an arena they had always dominated suggests that the real motive behind both her historical and theatrical demise was female envy.
The halls of Parliament and the studios of Hollywood have been traditionally men’s clubs. Women who dare to enter do so at their peril. The film illustrates how very easily their reputations and careers can be destroyed. One wonders if the incomparable Meryl Streep, one of our true national treasures, will be caught in the backlash of global outrage the film has generated.
From the beginning moments of the film to the welcome final scene, we are forced to suffer Margaret Thatcher as a pathetic, demented old woman who has conversations with her hallucinated dead husband and lives in memories of her storied past. We are permitted to see her as the woman before whom the world’s knaves and devils trembled in fear for only a few brief moments, and it is in these segments that we can appreciate Meryl Streep’s extraordinary talent. She literally becomes Margaret Thatcher. Our minds are convinced it is actual, not virtual reality our eyes see on the screen. It is all the more offensive she was used as their hatchet man. Whether or not she wins an Oscar for her performance, it will not be a credit to her legacy.
The fatal blow to Baroness Thatcher’s dignity is struck in the final scene as she exits to attend the unveiling of her statue honoring her as one of Britain’s three greatest statesmen, their Mount Rushmore. As the entire country is about to pay her the greatest of tributes, placing her beside those of Winston Churchill and Lloyd George, the Weinsteins show her absent-mindedly put away an unwashed soapy teacup before walking to the door. The contrast between reality and Hollywood un-reality is the final coup de grace. This last dose of poisonous envy obliterates any hope of appreciation or respect for the film makers.
Not only have Harvey and Bob Weinstein disgraced Lady Thatcher, they have also disgraced America. For both offenses, they deserve to be taken to the woodshed. To laud them for this churlish deed would be absurd, if not criminal outrage. If Margaret Thatcher is a national mother figure, one is left to ponder how Miriam Weinstein must be feeling…..
R. Claire Friend, MD
Newport Beach, CA
January 29, 2012
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