The 74th Golden Globe Awards took place last Sunday night on January 8th. The event highlights and praises the best in film and American television from the past year. All was going as planned, with new movies such as “La La Land” and “Moonlight” winning several awards, until a certain guest made a shocking speech.

Meryl Streep made her way to the stage to accept the Cecil B DeMille award. However, the actress’s speech was not the cliche spiel of pouring out thank you’s and tears to all who have helped her along the way.

Instead, she used her esteemed platform to spread awareness to a relevant and important issue; our new president elect.

“There was one performance this year that stunned me — it sank its hooks in my heart,” Streep said, “not because it was good; there was nothing good about it. But it was effective and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh, and show their teeth.”

“It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter.”

This performance Streep was referring to is the new presidency of Donald Trump, elected this year as the United States 45th president.

Trump mocked a disabled reporter during a campaign speech in November 2015. He mocked the physical appearance of the reporter by flailing his arms and stuttering, which was seen as a way of mocking his disability.

Trump is no stranger to controversy; his string of offensive tweets throughout the years and his crude comments about objectifying women are just a few examples.

After hearing about Meryl Streep’s speech, Trump did what he does best and took to Twitter to complain.

Trump’s approach to this situation makes him appear even more childish than before, as he criticizes Streep as being “overrated” and a “Hillary flunky who lost big.”

Meryl Streep’s speech and Donald Trump’s Twitter responses are both prime, and different, examples of how celebrities and other public figures use their platform to voice their opinions.

The acclaimed actress used her’s to spread a valuable message to the people of our country in regards to our future president.

“And this instinct to humiliate, when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing,” the actress said.

Her statement is true, children and young people often look up to these celebrities and political figures and base their actions and words on what they hear in the media.

Regardless of a person’s political stance or even opinions on Meryl Streep, the 74th Golden Globe Awards gave an important lesson to take away. Celebrities have an advantage to voice their opinions, and it’s important that these people use that platform they are given.

High-esteemed figures in our society have one of the largest impact on children and adolescents, and it’s vital that they use their words carefully in order to inspire and spread hope rather than to tear down and criticize.