Brad & Angelina’s Pictures in Cambodia

Thanks for the warm welcome Phie!

My two cents:

I think people who dislike Angelina so much (aka “haters” but I’ll go with the word “critics” for now) are people that are thrown off by the different facets of her personality and life. Angelina is not perfect and both fans and critics alike agree that she has had a “tumultous” past. People who today call her ugly names such as sl*t. wh*re, hypocrite, etc. tend to be those people who are incapable of taking who she is now and reconciling it with her past or other facets of her life. You will see this in the way they refer to her past actions/other parts of her life (like the vials of blood, not speaking to her father) and such to discredit all the good that she is doing or all the admirable traits she has. For example, to the critics, its unfathomable how a person who makes a living out of the glamorous Hollywood can be so at home in some of the most seemingly desolate places in the world pursuing charity work. They would rather believe that Angelina has ulterior motives rather than believe that a person is capable of straddling both worlds comfortably. They are confused that a woman who has the steel to withstand the cruel world of Hollywood can have such a soft heart for the down trodden. Similarly, to critics, it is impossible that the once rebel wild child can turn into a loving mother and generous and kind-hearted human being. They would rather people stay rooted in reckless and destructive behavior rather than have them learn from their mistakes, grow and become better people. The critics’ problem with Angelina is that she breaks stereotypes and has a way of making things neither black nor white but something in between. Therefore, to these critics, Angelina’s very existence threatens their world order or something. It makes it harder for them to pigeonhole people. In a way, the critics are very limited in the way they want to view the world. Critics are baffled when they look at how Angelina values family and then are confused by her not talking to her father. To them, this seeming inconsistency is hypocrisy on her part but they don’t stop to consider the possibility that there may be a common thread there that may reconcile the two aspects of her, such as, perhaps what Angelina values about family units (nurture, support, unconditional love) is something that her father destroys when he’s in her life (by being judgmental, belittling her publicly, being inconsistent etc.) The critics are disillusioned that the seemingly fairy tale ending with Brad didn’t happen for Aniston–people’s favorite girl-next-door–but did for Angelina. They would rather believe that a match based on “prom king and queen” criteria is a better foundation for a relationship than a match based on shared values, outlook, goals etc. We can cite many other things but really it seems to boil down that the critics are uncomfortable with things that do not neatly fit into a particular box, especially at first glance. They can’t handle that Angelina, one of the people doing the most good out there in the world, is not a homely, timid plain jane virgin who lives life sensibly/cautiously and conforms to everyone’s expectations but is instead a drop-dead gorgeous woman that has spunk, lives life to the fullest and generally shrugs off other people’s opinions on what she ought to do, say or think. Angelina is complex and I think that’s what makes the critics hate her. Critics want to simplify her and reduce her to a one or two word adjective–sl*t, attention wh*re, homewrecker, father-hater, dirty, etc. but she is not susceptible to being summed up like that. So to the critics, I suggest you stop trying and simply let her be. Angelina will not conform to the Victorian view that the only two types of women are virgins and wh*res. That attitude drove so many women insane with repressed emotions and desires back then and people that want to cling to that world view will suffer the same fate. The modern world is complex and it follows that the successful modern woman should be similarly complex to adapt to it. Hence why Angelina is where she is today.

I’m tired of pontificating now…

^^No Problem Truth Says….I remember hearing Jackie Collins talk about them on the View when she was promoting one of her books and also on ET I think and her saying that she thought Brad & Angie had true love. When she said it on the View I remember Meridith V saying thet JA thought she had true love too.JC brought up the “he’s a love in my life quote by JA and ViVica Foxx was guest host and she brought up Brad crying on tv about wanting a family….saying sometime you have to listen to a man…..

Vivica Foxx has been a Brad & Angie supporter from the beginning….she cited them as having the best chemistry in Mr & Mrs Smith…..she’s also starting a new magazine called “Jolie”..AKA “pretty”…..not that she named it after Angie

Now why couldn’t I have caught that View , Just to have seen Meredith’s and Elizabeth’s faces.:lol:

Lola Says:

December 21st, 2006 at 8:18 pm
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I love to read your post.

I am out. Everything looked like Jared changed the format of his post and was all dark with black bold letters on every quote. I think I need to lurk or something?

Estelle - thanks for the extra info. - nice to see some like-minded people here! :-)

And before the trolls show up and start posting the links to the articles that imply that AJ “bought” Mad or Z, which I read a LONG time ago and am well aware of, I have this to say:

It is very easy to sit here in our warm homes with food in our bellies and not comprehend why a woman would “sell” her baby for money, or why another person would even consider “adopting/buying” a child that has living relatives still in their life.

When you have travelled to a country and witnessed abject poverty first hand it is a life-altering experience. What you see on tv and in movies doesn’t begin to match it. The first time that you see families living in tin shacks with dirt floors along a dirt road, with no clean water or electricity it is like being punched in the gut. Children dying in the dirt from malaria, AIDS and malnutrition is the most horibble thing one can see. You can’t breathe and your eyes automatically well up with tears. And all you can think is “How can we be letting this happen when back home we have SO MUCH?” It is like nothing you have ever seen in your life and it haunts you forever. You want to tell every person you meet the atrocity you have seen and implore them to do what they can to help.

If you were that child’s relative, and knew they would likely not make it through the next year of their life if you hold on to them, and someone came along and offered to take them away to a life you cannot even comprehend - one where they would be well-fed, well housed, treated immediately for any medical problem they have, educated at the best schools, and loved beyond belief - what would you do? Fortunately it is a decision none of us will ever have to make.

Adoption overseas is complicated and it’s not a perfect system. I belive that AJ and Madonna have done their utmost to ensure that their adoptions are on the “up and up”. Beause of who they are every human rights organization in swinging distance wants to be involved in the process. As AJ so rightly stated in her interview last week on CNN - you are checked out to the nth degree when adopting a child - yet anyone can bring a child into this world without any of the same requirements needing to be met.

Both AJ and Madonna have not just swept in and adopted children in another part of the world without a though towards improving conditions in the countries that their children are from. They are involved on a ground level with trying to improve conditions in Cambodia and all of Africa so that in the future there won’t be so many orphans, and the orphans that do exist will live beyond the age of 5, and in conditions that aren’t so deplorable.

You can criticize all you want, but I think that if people put half that same energy into being part of the solution as they do into criticizing others for their efforts we wouldn’t have these problems to the extent that we do. And I say WE because we are all on this planet together, and if we don’t smarten up and start working together we are in line for problems we can’t even begin to imagine.

coalharbourqt Says:

December 21st, 2006 at 8:51 pm
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Totally ITA with you, I’m loving your post! Thank you very much. Absolutely brilliant.

I dare you to look at this picture, and tell me that Brad does not worship her!!!
http://www.ajolie.org/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=6839&fullsize=1

oh wait nevermind, my bad Ruth lol I should have the post above, sorry :)

coalharbourqt Says: December 21st, 2006 at 8:51 pm - Great Post

r u guys watcking LK? this is
the funniest shite ive ever seen!
he’s calling in from his plane
and hes totally goin off oh her!
this is making me laugh so hard! :)

Such an amazingly beautiful family- inside & out- there is absolutely nothing uppity or snobbish about them- they truly come across as very humble individuals- with the good sense to realize that they are most fortunate and therefore feel a need to give back and do what they can to help those that are less fortunate… such a breath of fresh air and so rare when most of hollywood/stars are so selfish, arrogant and only care about their own self-image and the amount of $$$ they can acquire… if only others would follow their lead…