Gem: Angelina
Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were forged as a couple under the intervening snout of the media and galleons of women worldwide cursing Jolie for stealing someone else’s man.
Please.
People, and in particular the must-have-made-a-deal-with-a-crossroads-demon-he’s-so-flawless Brad Pitt can’t be compared to mere objects (like a wallet or a rare tea cosy) which can simply be stolen. We, the public, will never know with any certainty what actually occurred between Pitt, Jolie and Aniston and we shouldn’t: it’s not our business. We do like however to speculate and base arguments on film performances and National Enquirer scoops. You know, all logical, like.
When Jolie burst onto the scene in the late 90s she emerged as a feisty iconoclast. Unlike Aniston, whose career has consisted of one committed role for twenty years; Rachel Green with a revolving door of interchangeable Rosses, Jolie’s casting choices span a wide range. In taking on considered roles such as lesbian heroin addict Gia Carangi in Gia and her Academy Award-winning turn in Girl, Interrupted her approach to the method accelerates Jolie into an entirely different orbit to Aniston. Each character heavy with verisimilitude, Jolie never has played it safe with her film choices. She’s downplayed, over the topped and surrendered to every moment – never staying still long enough to be cemented into a stereotype.
Of course there’s reticence in taking a girl home to meet Mum for the first time, only for her to bust out heart-warming sentiments such as “You’re young. You’re in bed. You’ve got knives. Shit happens.” Contrary to the sigh of relief exuded by women everywhere upon realising they were not alone in taking a chicken roast to bed for a midnight snack, Jolie was referring to naughty knife play.
But, why should we deride her choices or label her as a weirdo who’d rather tear the head off a bat than have a cup of tea with you? (That’s Nicolas Cage you’re thinking of by the way. Real bat too.) Her candour unites her with the rest of us because: yep, she’s a bit unorthodox but aren’t we all? Jolie deserves commendation for being unafraid of the macabre, the dark, the unpresentable and happily discussing it. She’s disclosed details of her bisexuality far before it was a declaration worn like an accessory. It was because it was the truth. If she’s that open then there’s bugger all room for secrets from Mr Jolie-Pitt is there?
Aniston is the safer bet for meeting the parents. She can regale them with tales of misty-eyed piss ups with Courteney Cox and her toddler.
So what of all this harping on and lauding of praise? As Pitt’s (soon-to-be) wife and mother of six, who wouldn’t want the woman in that role to be strong, creative, challenging, fearless and proof that being different doesn’t mean you can’t achieve in life?
Oh, and she’s a UN ambassador, adopted three children from third world nations, supports gay rights and has the sort of beauty that sends journalists into paroxysms of pointless adjectives.
Winner!
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