A film about journalism and U.S. history starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, directed by Steven Spielberg, shouldn’t even need nominations. The Post has so much cred to its name that the Academy might as well just hand over the Oscars now. As I walked into the theater today, smuggled candy in my pocket of course, I was a little wary that the film might not live up to its hype. Boy, was I wrong.
I’ll admit, at first this film was slow-going and a little hard to follow. But as the pace began to pick up, I slowly began to feel empowered and excited to learn more about a newspaper, Richard Nixon, and the 1970s. Those are three things I’ve never felt enthralled about watching on the big screen.
The most memorable and enchanting thing about The Post was Meryl Streep, in yet another role that was made for her, as Katherine Graham. Graham was the daughter of the publisher of The Washington Post. After her father died and her husband committed suicide, Graham took on the business. At first she was overwhelmed and timid in her new position. The beginning of the film portrays Graham as clumsy and small compared to the men that surrounded her on the board of the newspaper.
Several times The Post shows Graham as the only woman in a room full of men. This is incredibly powerful, but Streep’s character really takes a turn as the movie nears its climax. As Graham begins to stand up to the men around her and speak her mind, she empowers the women around her and probably women in theaters all over the country seeing The Post. In fact, on several occasions I had to resist the urge to shout “YASSSSSS GIRL!” in the middle of the theater.
Streep in this role brought tears to my eyes as I thought about all the women who came before me. I thought about the women who paved the way for me to be where I am today. They made it possible for me to be who I am today. They made it possible for so many women to be free, to have rights, to have choices. But they aren’t done yet. We aren’t done yet.
So as I left the theater along with my incredibly empowering mother and my empty Ziploc bag that once held Junior Mints, I decided that The Post was definitely worth the hype. It empowers women, it empowers writers, it empowers everyone. But most of all, it really, really made me want a typewriter.