Meryl Streep has spent a long time being treated as untouchable in Hollywood, but the web is suddenly asking an issue many movie fans never thought they’d hear: has the Oscar icon actually made that many great movies lately?
A viral debate over Streep’s modern filmography exploded online after social media users began revisiting a few of her biggest flops, divisive performances, and critically panned projects.
Even with “The Devil Wears Prada 2” dominating theaters, the actress is now facing renewed scrutiny over whether her legendary status still matches her recent work.
Meryl Streep found herself at the middle of social media discourse after a viral post declared her the best actor of the century.
Although the list was later revealed to have been generated by AI, it still sparked intense online debate about Streep’s work over the past 25 years.
One viral X post questioned whether the actress has actually delivered many memorable movies since 2000.
“I’ll offer you three possibilities to call Meryl Streep movie since 2000 and I’ll be shocked for those who can get to 2,” one user wrote.
Political journalist David Weigel added fuel to the conversation by criticizing several of her newer projects and even calling a few of them “Streepslop.”
Critics online pointed toward movies like “Lions for Lambs,” which struggled with reviewers and currently holds a low Rotten Tomatoes rating.
Others revisited “The Prom,” the Ryan Murphy musical comedy that did not recreate the success of Streep’s “Mamma Mia!” era despite featuring stars like Nicole Kidman and James Corden.
Streep’s Box Office Misses Are Being Revisited
As the web discussion intensified, several of Meryl Streep’s lesser-loved movies began resurfacing across social media.
Her musical drama “Ricki and the Flash” was once more criticized for failing to go away much of a cultural impact despite pairing Streep together with her real-life daughter Mamie Gummer.
The pair had also previously appeared together in 2007’s “Evening,” which received harsh reviews for what critics described as overly slow storytelling and “labored dialogue.”
Romantic comedies like “Prime” and “It’s Complicated” also became a part of the discussion. While “It’s Complicated” still earned impressive box office numbers, many viewers revisiting the film now remain divided about its long-term appeal.
Other titles receiving renewed criticism included “The Laundromat,” “The Giver,” “Rendition,” and “Dark Matter.”
Even a few of Streep’s award-recognized work hasn’t escaped scrutiny. Her Netflix satire “Don’t Look Up” divided audiences despite becoming a streaming sensation in the course of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, “The Iron Lady,” which earned the 79-year-old one other Oscar win for portraying Margaret Thatcher, still holds mixed reviews greater than a decade later.
“Meryl Streep’s performance as The Iron Lady is reliably perfect, but it surely’s mired in bland, self-important storytelling,” Rotten Tomatoes’ consensus reads per the Day by day Mail.
Meryl Streep’s Latest York Times Snub Still Divides Critics
One in every of the largest moments reigniting criticism around Streep’s profession happened years earlier when The Latest York Times excluded her from its list of the best actors of the twenty first century.
The omission shocked many film fans, especially considering Streep’s a long time of acclaim and record-breaking Oscar nominations.
As an alternative, the list highlighted performers including Isabelle Huppert, Nicole Kidman, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, and Daniel Day-Lewis.
After backlash erupted, critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott defended the choice publicly.
“Meryl Streep has given some very positive performances previously 20 years, but she’s also given some not superb ones which might be showy and overdone,” Scott explained.
He specifically pointed to “August: Osage County” and “The Iron Lady” while arguing her recent work reflected a “mixed record.”
Dargis also dismissed arguments centered around Streep’s long awards history. “People keep yelling at us about what number of Oscar nominations Streep has, as if that’s a metric Tony and I ever paid attention to,” she said.
Dargis continued, “This will not be an inventory of people that have been nominated for Oscars; that is our list of individuals we actually, really respect and love.”
Streep Still Has Several Modern Classics Under Her Belt
Despite the growing criticism, Meryl Streep’s supporters have been quick to indicate that her post-2000 profession still includes several celebrated movies.
Her performance in Charlie Kaufman’s “Adaptation” stays widely praised, and the film was later recognized by each The Latest York Times and the British Film Institute as one in every of the century’s best movies.
She followed that success with “The Hours,” which was eventually chosen for preservation in the USA National Film Registry.
The Hollywood star also earned back-to-back Oscar nominations for “Doubt” and “Julie & Julia,” while concurrently dominating theaters with the hugely successful “Mamma Mia!” franchise.
Later, she impressed critics again in Steven Spielberg’s “The Post,” portraying a journalist navigating the Pentagon Papers scandal. Now, Streep is once more sitting atop the box office due to “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”
The sequel has already grossed greater than $433 million worldwide against a $100 million budget and is projected to climb even higher.
Reports also claim that Streep negotiated lucrative box office bonuses that would add one other $20 million to her paycheck on top of her $12.5 million upfront salary.
Meryl Streep Shows No Signs Of Slowing Down In Hollywood
At the same time as debate round her legacy grows louder online, Streep appears completely unfazed by the criticism. At 76, the actress still has a packed slate of upcoming projects that would easily reshape the conversation yet again.
She is currently attached to play legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell in Cameron Crowe’s upcoming biopic, a job already generating early Oscar buzz.
Streep can also be set to look alongside Sigourney Weaver within the thriller “Useful Idiots” and can lend her voice to Greta Gerwig’s ambitious Netflix reboot of “The Chronicles of Narnia.”
The actress herself has long seemed tired of arguments about whether she is Hollywood’s biggest performer.“I don’t consider myself as the best anything—cook, housekeeper, actor, or developer of fabric. I don’t think there’s the very best of anything,” she told ABC News in 2010.