Angelina Jolie made me cry last night.
I was watching here interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN (sans mullet lady) and Jolie was talking about her work as the UN Ambassador for the Commission on Refugees. While always prefacing her statements with the comment that she is not political and that there are many more people out there who have greater expertise in the subject than she does, her first hand accounts of her experiences with displaced populations always strikes me as moving and informing.
The current crisis area is Pakistan on the border of the area where the Taliban has a strong hold in Afghanistan. It is the largest migration of refugees since Rwanda and no one is doing anything about it except the US and Angie and Brad. The US has given some $300 million in aid, and the Jolie/Pitts just gave a mil of their own but Europe and the Mid East et al are disappointingly uninvolved in this cause making it hard for the aid to get to the refugees. When asked to go into detail with individual stories, she returns time and again to the resilience of the people who have lost everything, and are grateful for nothing more than to be alive. Juxtaposed to her own children, who have everything, and want for nothing, she wants to make sure they are exposed to these stories and that it instills a desire in them to advocate for those that are less fortunate.
A rather stark contrast to "He's Just Not That Into You" which I watched the other night starring Brad's ex, and you can almost think you understand him. Don't get me wrong, I am not judging as the world needs good rom coms. This is not one of them. It is a bad movie. Stay away! Wait for the new one coming out that is a re-teaming of Nia Vardalos and Aidan, AKA John Corbett, where they attempt to recapture some of their Big Fat Greek Wedding chemistry.
So my summer movies are so far two that are outstanding, as in Rachel Getting Married and Frost/Nixon, and two that are stinkers, as in the one above and Bride Wars. I have turned from chic flix to chic lit, where I am having better luck. Just finished Hedge Fund Wives, and an oldie but goodie from Madeline Wickham, aka Sophie Kinsella, Sleeping Arrangements.
A step above the chic lit genre into some good quality fiction I highly recommend American Wife but Curtis Sittenfeld. I am a fan of her two other books, Prep, and The Man of My Dreams. IMHO this is her best work yet. A very thinly veiled roman a clef of Laura Bush, the novel has its beginnings as an opinion piece Sittenfeld wrote in 2001 for slate.com claiming that while she deplored her husband and everything he represented to her, she had a crush on Laura Bush. Love 'em, hate 'em, or somewhere in between this book will suck you in to the rarefied world of a political dynasty and attempts to answer the question "what was she thinking?" in a way that will make you think you are reading an autobiography. It's out in paperback, and perfect for a summer read. A good piece of fiction writing that is meant to be savored.
Hope everyone had a great week!
Comments