Meryl Streep has all the answers.
I wonder if Meryl Street ever feels our collective adoration. i wonder if that feels heavy…or if maybe it feeds her talent like a gluttonous Mayan Goddess. I look at her like Tina Fey’s character Liz Lemon from 30 Rock viewed Oprah. Infallible, all knowing, someone who has the missing ingredients to my proverbial souffle. Give me answers Meryl, I beg of you.
But, she is just a woman. Supremely beautiful, talented and successful, but just a woman. We, she and I, are members of the same species. Flesh, bone, blood, skin, hair, spark of life. And yet, there is something about her that makes me believe she has answers.
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Maybe it’s the profound “mommy issues” I carry with me like a rock filled satchel. Watching Mamma Mia and relating to both Donna and Sophie in different ways. Seeing how having a mother I relate to and being a relatable daughter could be all while singing along to the blissful melodies of Abba is my happy place. If I believed in heaven, it might be the set of Mamma Mia…the first one. We don’t talk about the sequel and I won’t be taking further questions on the issue.
Back to Meryl. Saint Meryl. Mother Meryl. Without diving down a rabbit hole of research and walking a thin line between adoration and obsession, I fear I am Julie from “Julie and Julia”. Julia Child was perfect to Julie…until she wasn’t. What happened? The real Julia Child had no idea who Julie was and no amount of time spent studying Julia’s life brought Julie any closer to knowing her. Instead, it dissolved the illusion and left Julie with a profound sadness.
Never meet your heroes they say. I say take what you admire about them and make it a part of your lore. As a mother to a daughter, I will be in the kitchen making pastries while dancing to “Super Trooper”. If it turns out that Meryl is indeed a goddess among mere mortals, maybe she will bless my offering. Either way, my Sophie and I will have cookies.
