CREDIT: PRODUCED BY SUBURBAN PICTURES PRODUCED BY TODD SOLONDZ
Much like Todd Solondz's film Welcome to the Dollhouse, the next four years under a Trump presidency are going to be a little messed up. Don't worry, Dawn. We'll all make it through.

If you were fortunate enough to have a platform where you were able to reach hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of people at one time, would you use that power wisely?

In the social media age, many take advantage of how easy it is to share our opinions; all it takes is a few seconds and you can send out a tweet, blog post, Facebook post or more and let everyone know what you had for dinner, or your opinion on last night’s episode of The Walking Dead. But realistically, how many people are going to see that, and what impact might it have on the rest of the world?

As a journalist, in particular an editorial journalist, I am part of a medium in which I can say and write what I want and have my voice heard at a higher rate than the average citizen. When something I write is published in the Interrobang, I know that the people who read it have a higher expectation of me and what I have to say. It is a power I respect and am grateful for.

At the 2017 Golden Globes awards on Sunday Jan. 8, the stars of Hollywood gathered at the Beverly Hilton for a night of celebration and a chance to recognize amazing work by their fellow actors and filmmakers, but cinema wasn’t the only thing discussed that night.

While celebrities already have a greater opportunity than most to have their voices heard (nothing like having millions of followers on social media to make that easy), what’s a better way to share your opinion than when you’re on stage in front of dozens of cameras with millions of people watching live? Meryl Streep saw her opportunity to spread her political opinion and she went for it.

Hundreds of thousands of people on social media were talking about her epic speech made after accepting the Cecil B. DeMille award for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.

Rather than spend the time thanking the countless people who helped her get to this place, she instead openly criticized president- elect Donald Trump for making fun of a disabled reporter during his campaign, as well as for criticizing Hollywood, foreigners and the media, all without ever mentioning his name.

In her acceptance speech, Streep said, “It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter, someone he outranked in privilege and power and the capacity to fight back… And this instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing.”

Predictably, Trump had a less-than-presidential response to this, replying in a series of tweets at 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 9, “Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn’t know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a Hillary flunky who lost big. For the 100th time, I never “mocked” a disabled reporter (would never do that) but simply showed him “groveling” when he totally changed a 16 year old story that he had written in order to make me look bad. Just more very dishonest media!”

Though there is video evidence of Trump mocking the movements of a reporter with a physical disability, whether or not you agree with what Streep had to say is not the point. The fact that she was able to say it is what really matters here.

Later in her acceptance speech, Streep asked the crowd to join her and support the Committee to Protect Journalists because, “We’re going to need them going forward and they’ll need us to safeguard the truth.”

This is the point I’m trying to get to. Without people speaking out to stand up to leaders and politicians, journalists play a crucial role in keeping democracy alive. Democracy isn’t real if the voters don’t have the information to make an educated decision. It’s not a democracy if the truth is kept hidden, or if a false narrative is all that voters are being told.

Sure, journalists have a bad reputation for being liars and for writing misleading articles. But journalists are all that stand between us and the loss of democracy. So as a journalist, I would like to thank Meryl Streep for taking the opportunity to show solidarity with us and showed that we do in fact have the power to stand up to those who try and tear us down.

In the same way that Trump has been able to get away with saying whatever he wants, we are allowed to say what we want about him too. So take that, you shriveled scrotum with tiny, orange hands. Welcome to the Democrazy; it’s going to be an interesting four years.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.