Meryl Streep covers the December issue of Vogue to promote The Post, the Steven Spielberg film where she plays Katharine Graham. The late Katharine Graham was the legendary publisher of the Washington Post and one of the most powerful people in Washington (and beyond) for decades. The film follows Graham and Tom Hanks’ Ben Bradlee (another legend of journalism) as they fight to publish the Pentagon Papers in the early 1970s. Bradlee was memorably played by Jason Robards in All the President’s Men, and I honestly always associate Bradlee with Robards, so it’s a shock to see Hanks play this man. As I said in yesterday’s links, I find the trailer rather overwrought, and I’m worried there’s a big tone problem in this film:
I think my problem with it is that the trailer makes this seem almost like a thriller, like we don’t know what to expect next. The actual story of the publication of the Pentagon Papers is rich and dramatic enough without turning it into a Jason Bourne movie, you know? Then again, I’m sure many people don’t know anything about the Pentagon Papers or Daniel Ellsberg or any of that.
As for Meryl and this Vogue cover… well, the cover story isn’t even about Meryl, which is an interesting way to go, I suppose. You can read the cover story here – it’s all about Katharine Graham and how she became such a legendary force in Washington society. Vogue did something fun though – they invited Meryl down to the Conde Nast office and they made a Devil Wears Prada-esque video of Meryl and Anna together. This is actually adorable.
I like what both women say here – I like the conversation about investigative journalism and how certain people (Trump) are agents of diversion. The question comes up of what you talk about with your kids at dinner. Meryl says “Harvey Weinstein” and admits the push-pull of wanting her daughters to be proud and fierce and unabashedly “female” but also wanting them to be aware of the inherent danger of the male gaze, and that there will always be predators lurking. Wintour tells Meryl that she should run for office and Meryl is like “no, you should!” Meryl says she thinks that she’ll see a woman president in her lifetime, which… I don’t know. I think I may see a woman president in MY lifetime, but in Meryl’s lifetime? In my mom’s lifetime? I don’t know.
Cover courtesy of Annie Leibovitz for Vogue, additional photo courtesy of Getty.
Queen
I love Meryl Streep
Love her!
Btw Kaiser have you seen the Allison Mack story?
Never would seen that one coming.
Crazy stuff
Meryl Streep gave Roman Polanski a standing ovation, I just can’t look past that. Actually most of Hollywood gave him a standing ovation…
Yeah, I would like to see his supporters who are now scrambling with statements about recent events, to address their support of him.
Anyone who said, I didn’t know, but still signed for Polanski.
I doubt anyone will say anything, they don’t want to admit hypocrisy. I mean Meryl said that she’s “very sorry that he’s in jail”…very sorry that a pedophile rapist is in jail. It’s absolutely sickening, what is wrong with these people?
I love Meryl as an actress, in that aspect she’s amazing. But I’m so disappointed in her as a person because of her support of Polanski.
And Harrison Ford presented the award; if you call out Meryl then there’s loads of others you need to call out.
I did say” most of Hollywood”, they should all be called out for their support of Polanski. I only mentioned Meryl here because this article was about her.
This. Plus the fact that I don’t believe her at all when she said she never heard anything about Weinstein. She’s done to me.
Her support of Polanski and even her sort of playful allusion to Harvey W here… wtf.
…. ” horrible”/flutter of hands, like a 17th century lady gossiping about the indiscretions of someone’s firstborn with a housemaid.
It made me freshly sick. And more than ever, from this, I feel like she knew, is ashamed to be caught knowing, and that silly mumbled reference to maybe she should tell her daughters what’s up in the world…..I get that this is supposed to be a lighthearted faux interview, but please. Her daughters aren’t little kids. They work in the business. They know.
Smiling and simpering and fluttering while talking about a close close pal who is allegedly a serial rapist and maybe sociopath…god.
I watche it three times. I honestly feel they were both giving him edge room in case he gets away with it and swans somehow in the Hwood way back to the top again. Even if she plays the pearled, naive cosseted West Chester frau here, she knew. This and Polanski? No. You want a woman president, but are ready to cover up for male predators in your social circle of peer or job opportunities??? No. Cancelled.
Maybe it’s just my screen but the lighting looks terrible on that cover! Her face looks too pink and nearly embalmed. Hair looks greenish, frazzled and brassy.
Same here. Terrible!
Yes! It looks like a 5-year-old put on her makeup (in a cupboard). I was wondering if it was my screen too!
The most unflattering picture I’ve ever seen of Meryl! Who hates her there??
Same here, and on a phone, tablet and laptop so think it’s Vogue, not us.
agreed! simply awful 🙁
At first I was just glad they didn’t photoshop her face into oblivion but, yes, you’re right.
Haha, same here. My first thought was, that is an edgy interpretation of Batman’s Joker ;’D
It looks like a cover from the 80ies. Totally weird, even the clothing is weird. Havent seen such a bad cover in a long time.
That was a beautiful start to my Friday.
I am dissapointed a bit, in the beggining it looked like they were making a video of possible meeting between anna Wintour and Miranda Priesly. It would be such an awesome thing to see Meryl in character talking to actual person her character was based on.
On a complitely different note. Could have Anna bothered to memorise those couple of questions because when she speaks she keeps looking at the papers and it sort of bothered me because it sort of demonstrates lack of respect, I guess. She is not conducting an investigative interview or having a lecture, that should not hae been so difficult.
By today’s standards, Brad Bradleee would be branded a traitor / enemy of the state and go on the run to countries without extradition treaties or jailed.
The pentagon papers would be characterised as stolen documents, empasis on the stolen part and not the content.
Katherine Graham and other media wouldn’t publish them, and if they mentioned them, it would be coached in terms meant to belittle the contents yet spotlight the ‘stolen’ part.
The color tones on the Vogue cover makes Meryl Streep look like she has green hair.
Am I being really stupid or isn’t it strange that Wintour was outed as manipulative moral abuser and still has all the power and her job role was never affected? How can Meryl be friends with her knowing she was such a b*tch? Here we are in a place where it’s final out in the open that there are sexual predators and, still, certain situations are still “normal”. I don’t get it. And Wintour dresses horribly, not a great representative of great fashion.
Meryl S seems perfectly ok with creeps such as Polanski and this horrid woman as long as they are not being roasted by the press. I’m gald they gave her snotty hair.
Absolutely agree with you. She is supposed to be a horrible, horrible boss, but she has a lot of power. On the other hand, she has never sexually abused or physically harmed any one. I think there are legions of people who are horrible bosses. Being a horrible boss is not against the law.
I agree, Anna Wintour is a horrible person! She abuses her staff and uses her power to basically do whatever the heck she wants to people just like Weinstein — psychological abuse is equally bad! And yet nobody cares, what the hell. Meryl portrayed her JFC she should know better than to willingly kiss her ass in public in this way. So disappointed.
The Spotlight trailer also made it seem like that movie was more of a thriller than it was. I don’t think you necessarily need to worry that the film is too thriller-like.
Yes her hair is green, why? Streep is a fine actor doing consistent good work but I know she’s acting. I hated the final scene in Devil/Prada when she’s in the cab, spots Hathaway and does a sparkly smile then pulls back her icy exterior. Hated! It felt so wrong, like she couldn’t bear to have the audience dislike her character or a kind of watch-me-guys-while-I-pull-this-trick-out-of-my-hat-see-how-I-can-suddenly-switch-characters.
We shouldn’t normalize Anna and her behavior with her employees it is just as problematic as stories of male bosses being pricks.
Thank you! Phew, finally! I don’t get it, she’s a moral abuser and should have been fired years ago. She must have dirt on someone.
The powerful support the powerful. They all keep each other in place as much as possible. Keep your enemies close thing in part. It’s society and success at top levels. Everyone does it. Like living on your street in a neighbourhood, everyone wants peace kept. Same thing.
Absolutely. This has been bothering me for a long time. And she is not even that good of an editor. So to me it looks like her behavior got her the job. But thats life i guess.
I can’t actually believe that the mental abuse that she put her assistant through was so spectacularly ignored by the world!! I mean if Wintour’s behavior towards her employees was (and is apparently) deemed acceptable no wonder Weinstein got away with what he did for so long.
Katharine Graham’s autobiography is a MUST READ. Such a great book! Her life was so rich and varied… too bad this movie doesn’t encompass more than this particular chapter. I highly recommend it as a window into a most extraordinary woman. I remember when I read it (years ago), I also read a biography about Pamela Harrison — it was like seeing how a woman gains power in Washington DC from opposite ends of the telescope.
Yes Ms. Streep’s hair looks greenish in this photo and yes someone overapplied pink blusher but otherwise — whoever is responsible for this photograph has my thanks. Thank you Vogue for printing a photo of a 68-year-old woman with wrinkles and looks beautiful. Thank you for not re-touching her face to make her look 40-something. And applause to Ms. Streep as well for apparently not succumbing to her industry’s pressure to plastic surgery her face into a mask.
Yeah but at a second glance its just a bad photo, technically. The lighting is bad, the clothes are bad, her posture is unnatural. Whoever did this photo, didnt do her a favour. You can show wrinkles and peoples natural age with way better photography.
For someone so obsessed with looks Anna Wintour looks horrible! Now I know why she always has sunglasses on, wow she did not age well to put it mildly. I mean she was never a looker to begin with, makes you wonder what gives her the right to judge other women’s appearances so harshly.
And her fashion sense is ironically absolutely RIDICULOUS.