The Iron Lady, a movie about the life of Margaret Thatcher, hits theaters December 16. Meryl Streep took on the role of Thatcher. Although their politics don’t match, The Daily Mail claims Streep brilliantly portrayed Thatcher:
Well, only an actress of Streep’s stature could possibly capture Thatcher’s essence and bring it to the screen. It’s a performance of towering proportions that sets a new benchmark for acting, a searing interpretation that looks at the big forces that shaped Mrs T’s life.
However, Lord Tebbit, who served in Thatcher’s government from 1979-87 disagrees:
However, she was never, in my experience, the half-hysterical, over-emotional, over-acting woman portrayed by Meryl Streep. She could be angry, but then so could I, and on at least one occasion I walked back to my department unsure whether I would find on my arrival that I was no longer the Secretary of State. Contrary to some accounts of her negotiating tactics, I never felt that she was playing “the feminine card”. It was all about reality, not emotion, and she was no stranger to the game of hard ball.
Whether you agree with the portrayal of Thatcher or not, at least this movie will bring Thatcher and her policies into the spotlight once again. I hope Administration officials will watch the movie and be reminded of what Thatcher did to get Britain’s economy going again. It wasn’t easy, and as Americans, we must remember that it’s not easy. She understood the role of government was to be limited, not expanded. That is a lesson that we must be reminded of continually.