In January, Meryl Streep received the Golden Globe’s Cecil B. DeMille Award. After a heartfelt introduction by Viola Davis, Streep chose to speak about one topic and one topic only – Donald Trump’s treatment of freedom of speech, freedom of press and his treatment of disabled people. Trump was elected President for only two months, and Streep was the first actor in Hollywood to not only speak about the election, but criticize his actions (which, in hindsight, was only the beginning). She received much applause from her Hollywood peers, and was at the receiving end of endless online harrassment by Trump supporters – and even the President himself, calling Streep a “most-overrated actress”. The Streep-treatment, as I like to call it was a watershed moment on the one hand, and a clear sign towards Hollywood actors to not play with fire if they want to sell movies. As celebrated as Streep was for speaking her mind, not many have followed her way to endanger their income by speaking their minds. In the end, Hollywood had to suffer a much bigger blow by the end of the year when The New York Times published explosive allegations against Harvey Weinstein, sending an avalanche through the industry and creating what might be the biggest achievement of this decade for women in the workplace – more on that in the chronology for 2018. Streep spoke about the sudden focus on her political thoughts at the National Ally For Equality Award by the Human Rights Campaign in February:

I am the most overrated and the most overdecorated… and currently I am the most over-berated actress. The weight of all my art is part of what brings me here to the podium. It compels me. It’s against every one of my natural instincts, which is to stay the fuck home. (Meryl Streep, February 11, 2017)

In what has been a whirlwind in the last three years of this decade, Streep pulled out maybe her best performance of the last 10 years in Steven Spielberg’s “The Post”. Spielberg read the screenplay and decided to direct the film as soon as possible, citing that “when I read the first draft of the script, this wasn’t something that could wait three years or two years — this was a story I felt we needed to tell today.” Chris Nashawaty wrote in Entertainment Weekly: “The beauty of Streep’s performance (and it’s one of her best in years) is how she lets you see her grow into the responsibility of her position. She elevates The Post from being a First Amendment story to a feminist one, too. Spielberg makes these crucial days in American history easy to follow. But if you look at The Post next to something like All the President’s Men, you see the difference between having a story passively explained to you and actively helping to untangle it. That’s a small quibble with an urgent and impeccably acted film. But it’s also the difference between a very good movie and a great one.” “The Post” started filming in May 2017 and was released by December of the same year! Both Hanks and Streep received critical acclaim for their performances. The film received two Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress.