University President Amy Gutmann was hoping for more Treats than tricks at her annual Halloween party at her mansion on 39th and Walnut Streets. But leave it to surprise guest Meryl Street, in her most provocative turn yet, to spark a national (and, arguably, international) frenzy. Meryl Street Magazine sifts through the controversy, the blogs, the rumors and the espionage to tell the true story behind the Meryl Street - Amy Gutmann Halloween photo scandal and looks for an answer to the question on everyone's mind:Is Meryl Street a terrorist?
The theme of the October 31 bash was The Wizard of Oz, with Penn's favorite sprite, Gutmann, dressed as Glinda the Good Witch. Over 700 unoffensively costumed students attended, along with dozens of faculty, staff and other guests. How could anyone expect what was to happen next?
Meryl Street, Academy Award winning actress and member of an alleged terrorist organization, was photographed standing next to Gutmann. After the media got hold of these photos, Gutmann, Penn, and Street herself were faced with a firestorm of criticism from blogs, lobbyists and student revolutionaries.
"The truth is that Meryl Street is a member of a known terrorist organization," Jenna McCarthy says. "Her actions have been documented in plain sight. She has been a member for 29 years."
McCarthy is the leader of a newly founded coalition of Internet bloggers leading an outspoken campaign in reaction to the photos of Gutmann and Street. The name of the coalition - Mitigating Terrorism Voraciously (MTV) - underscores its primary goal of cutting off terrorist thought at its source: the University. Some of MTV's main goals include the firing of Gutmann, divestment of funds and endowments from Penn, and finally a dissolution of the university.
"It is an outrage that Gutmann would pose in a photo with [Street]. This goes beyond an error of judgment. This reflects a deep-seeded mindset held by the University of Pennsylvania. This university supports terrorism indirectly, by harboring and giving them awards and funding. MTV is a call to arms against Penn and terrorist organizations like the one to which Street belongs."
The organization in question is the AMPAS, or the Academy of Motion Picture of Arts and Sciences. Known to many as the honorary and governing organization of the film industry, AMPAS has aroused suspicion of terrorism. Critics, like McCarthy believe that the organization exists merely as a front to conceal a complex terrorist network with international ties that range from Los Angeles to Bollywood. However, the specific type of "terrorism" that AMPAS engages in has been called into question.
"Using the word 'terrorism' to describe the actions of the AMPAS is ridiculous," said Tom DiFoolio, a political science professor at Penn. "The issues that people like McCarthy and others are afraid of is that actors like Meryl Street and other members of the Academy as so good - too good, in fact - at their craft, which, inherently they perceive as one of deception. When they see Meryl Street they are so unable to discern whether or not she is acting, that what they feel - as they describe it - is terror."
It hasn't always been an easy for Meryl Street: in fact, it's been long, African and riddled with potential terrorist contacts. Born in Malawi in 1400, Meryl was put into an orphanage after both of her parents were eaten by dingoes. A wild, promiscuous child, she entered the "Malawaian Idol" singing competition, where she caught the eye of a young Englishwoman on safari, Jane Austen. Enamored with the charismatic stage presence of the five-year-old girl, Jane resolved to adopt the child and raise her in Victorian England.
"If Meryl had stayed in Malawi, she would have become a terrorist's whore," the chief of the tribe said. "But Victorian England - the New World! Now there's a real land of opportunity."
As to the possibility of Meryl's continued contacts with her terrorist brethren, he pauses a few seconds, spits into the dirt and stares into the hot African sun.
Victorian England gives a few more clues to this enigmatic figure. Austen was kind to the eager Malawian girl, where she spent her days learning the harpsichord and entertaining several beaus. But her rebellious spirit never ceased, and the community frowned upon her racy feature film debut. As her old chaperone Jane Austen says, "Oh bother! The bodice of routine, one fears, was ever too tight." But as the toothless nursemaid, Ninny, explains while she's pissed drunk behind the outhouse, "She got a bit big for 'er knickers, she did. We told her to bugger off."
Meryl disappeared one night with her lover Guy Fawkes, and never looked back: she would spend the rest of her life in 1960's America.
She assumed the name of Patty Cond‚nast and lived a sordid lover's life in San Francisco with Guy, performing in local theater. She first rose to American fame, not for her acting chops, but for the notorious kidnapping by Marilyn Manson, a dark time during which, apparently experiencing the effects of Stockholm Syndrome, she was caught robbing a bank. Of his now-estranged kidnapee, Manson says, "I never said to be like me, I say to be like you and make a difference." He adds, "We boned."
After the scandal, she acted in some films, got nominated for some Oscars, won some Oscars - but more importantly, she joined AMPAS. Guy Fawkes, Marilyn Manson, Malawi? The world may never know Street's true beliefs, but it seems apparent that this expert "actor" has a taste for terror.
Meryl now lives in Pennsylvania's Amish Country where she runs Vogue, a popular and subversive American fashion magazine. Her second assistant, noted actress Anne Hathaway grits her teeth and says, "Working for Meryl is . great! Not terrorist at all!" She mouths, "Help me."
Perhaps Street herself is the one in need of help. She is notoriously tight-lipped (perhaps defensive?) about her actions and involvement. She answers all questions from the media with quotes from her movies.
Has she kept up ties with the armed Malawi revolutionaries since she left in 1405?
"You probably think it very bourgeois to cook for someone on the first date." (Heartburn)
But MTV is not convinced of her innocence.
"These issues are very real and very harmful," McCarthy says. "One minute I see Street with an Australian accent, the next a German one. And also, AMPAS is responsible for horrible activities such as the sinking of the Titantic and the Pacific Air flight 121 tragedy, on which hundreds of snakes were released on the plane midflight. AMPAS members just stood by and let the cameras roll, without making any attempt to save the victims."
McCarthy is a former member of the CIA. She left after her proposed PATRIOT Act III, which would have given the CIA and FBI access to movie ticket stubs, failed to pass in Congress. She is not alone in her views. Penn performer Maosk N. Wig resigned from his position as the chair of TAC (Theater Arts Council) and co-chair of PAC (Performing Arts Council) to form M-GAC, which stands for "Meryl and Gutmann are C***s"
"I told SAC that I would no longer remain on PAC," he said. "I found that they've turned their back to the fact at hand: Meryl can act, but she has too much of a knack for it. The stack raised against us is too high. How can we act with this monkey on our back? Our goal at M-GAC is to crack this alliance between Penn and Street."
When confronted directly about her alliance with Gutmann, Streep merely quotes her character in the Manchurian Candidate: "Make no mistake. The American people are terrified. They know something's coming. They can feel it. And we can either shovel them the same old shit and call it sugar or we can arm them. Give them a war hero with heart, forged by enemy fire in the desert in the dark when American lives hung on the balance!"
Incendiary indeed.
On Nov. 3, two days after the incident, the famed photo of Gutmann and Meryl Street ran in The Daily Pennsylvanian, sparking an international media frenzy. The story of an Ivy League president posing with the controversial figure swept the world with headlines like "Ivy League Arms Dealer," "Penn Prez Trick-or-Treats with Acting Terrorist" and "Maybe the Dingo Ate Penn's Conscience."
The explosion of media attention to the story, however, might have merely been avoided. Sources like MTV's blog and The Daily Pennsylvanian initially got hold of the photos through Meryl Street's Facebook profile. Street, though no longer a student affiliated with any school or university, was able to post the photo due to Facebook's new rules allowing for anyone with an email address to create a profile.
"At the DP we've always been an admirer of Street," said Jeffrey Greenwald, The Daily Pennsylvanian's Executive Editor, in an open letter to Penn's student body which ran in the Nov. 3 issue, the same day the photos ran. "When we saw the photo of her standing next to Gutmann, we decided to run it as a testament to Penn's honor of such a legendary and venerable public figure. Personally, The Bridges of Madison County is my favorite movie of all time. The Hours is my second favorite. And The Devil Wears Prada is my third favorite movie of all time."
This letter also received a barrage of criticism from blogs and foreign media, claiming that The Daily Pennsylvanian's reverence for Street is demonstrative of the student publication's own ties with terrorism and racism
"The fact that The Daily Pennsylvanian would revere Gutmann for posing with [Street] exposes its own bias," IvyGate wrote on a blog post dated Nov. 4. "I would go even so far as to say that the letter was a contribution to the organizations that Street belongs to."
Student leader Faad Faadi suggests that Gutmann's photo with Street is part of a larger conspiracy that dates back to the early 1990s.
"Being the controversial figure that she is, Gutmann was full aware what taking a photo with her would mean," Faadi said. "Somehow, I believe that tensions between Penn's presidency and the media have always involved Street. This is just one of many examples."
Faadi also believes that last year's high rise sex photo directly involved Street.
"Street is in fact the woman in the high rise sex photo. An extensive comparison between Street, based on her film The River Wild and the photo proves this."
When Meryl Street Magazine managed to get Street on record, she was all business.
Where was she on September 11?
"And in that moment, everything I knew to be true about myself up until then was gone. I was acting like another woman, yet I was more myself than ever before." (The Bridges of Madison County).
And what of the Gutmann photo scandal?
"Well, what is it? A viral love? Kind of a 24-hour thing?" (Postcards from the Edge). What did she say to Gutmann before the photo was taken?
"Are you listening to me? Do you even care? You stand there with your 22-year-old skin and your tits like rocks and laugh" (Death Becomes Her).
Is it true that you are neither straight nor narrow?
"This interview is over."
Love, eh? There's one rock left unturned by the scandal: that of the relationship between Gutmann and Street. Ever since Street appeared on Gutmann's syndicated talkshow Amy to promote "Amy's Book Club" there has been a small, if steady, current of lesbian accusations. As an anonymous source tells us, "They were close . really close. But after Street had an affair with Lindsay Lohan on the set of Prairie Home Companion, Amy flipped out. She kicked Meryl to the curb, spiraling her out of control."
Was the Halloween incident an act of revenge? Was Street looking to tarnish Gutmann's virginal public image with a blow-up scandal? Or was she just trying to send a message that love is war? Terrorist ties, lesbian love and the birth of a revolution: the world may never know the truth behind the Halloween Photo Scandal of 2006.
Love may just be the biggest terrorist of all.
