It is my personal and professional belief that when a tweet related to Mary Louise “Meryl” Streep goes viral, it is necessary to unpack it with the haste and vigor that you might devote to, say, a checked bag lost and newly found. This is how I found myself retinas-deep in a thread with 20,000 replies and counting, all responding to a seemingly simple request:
social experiment: if you come across this tweet please comment the first Meryl Streep movie that comes to mind. WITHOUT looking at the replies.
— Keeley ✨ (@SassenachIsles) June 19, 2019
As you might suspect for a woman with 85 acting credits, the answers a) varied wildly and b) elicited hundreds of micro-conversations and responses of both the critical and positive variety. Below, a rundown of takeaways by the numbers (guestimations, obviously, because it is also my personal and professional belief that Mary Louise “Meryl” Streep would want me to finish this story before lunch).
At least three people seized the opportunity to share a gif from this scene in Death Becomes Her…
Death Becomes Her. I love it & I’m not even sorry… pic.twitter.com/gG1Hfo6XiC
— Charlotte Henshaw (@CHenshawGB) June 19, 2019
At least 50 people answered, “Mamma Mia,” eliciting equal parts derision and gentle support…
So sweet of you to remember her worst movie.
— Camilo Hernández🇨🇺🇻🇪🇺🇸 (@camilo_hdezd) June 19, 2019
Feel no shame it was a fun movie about ABBA enjoy it
— Patricia A. Feeley (@FeeleyTrisha) June 19, 2019
At least one person confused Meryl Streep with Glenn Close…
https://twitter.com/marcelleissweet/status/1141187887347556354
At least 60 people said, “Sophie’s Choice,” convincing at least two people (this man, and myself) to watch Sophie’s Choice…
Guess I gotta watch Sophie’s Choice now.
— Peter Darker (@IAmLeoGlaze) June 19, 2019
At least one person made a dad joke about It’s Complicated…
https://twitter.com/elongreen/status/1141329487851905025
At least one person squished two answers together, possibly to be funny or possibly fully serious, but nonetheless planting a seed for what could be a very interesting crossover…
Sophie Wears Prada
— Tony Margiotta (@DrtmargTony) June 19, 2019
Speaking of Meryl crossovers (!) at least one major television network weighed in with an alternative suggestion…
not a movie YET but I'm praying for a Mamma Mia/Big Little Lies crossover
— HBO (@HBO_UK) June 19, 2019
Literally only one person (no guestimation necessary here) said, “A Series of Unfortunate Events“…
A Series of Unfortunate Events. pic.twitter.com/SZ6LR9mkTX
— 💀🎃🖤 j u l i a n a 🖤👻🍂 (@_beetlejuls) June 19, 2019
At least 40 people said, “Kramer vs. Kramer,” one of whom shared a corresponding gif that made me want to wear my hair in a half ponytail until the end of time and no sooner:
Kramer Vs Kramer #KramerVsKramer … because coincidentally my parents went through something similar about me around the same time. pic.twitter.com/Km6yg38vlJ
— Evelyn Zaida Young (@EvelynZaida) June 19, 2019
Infinite private accounts responded with infinite private answers, at least a few of which had to be The Ant Bully, a 2006 classic, I’M SURE…
The purpose of the social experiment has yet to be revealed, but if the intention was simply to determine how many thousands of people would drop everything to dispatch a tweet about the first Meryl Streep movie to surface in their subconscious, well…touché.
Photos by TM & Copyright (c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp via Everett Collection.
