A few days ago I wrote a list of seven random things about myself. One of the items was my preference for Angelina Jolie over Jennifer Aniston. Well, since writing that one item, I've seen the reaction to both my post and the post of my friend Kate from The Big Piece of Cake written today on this issue and it has made me a little crazy.
What I'm about to say, I say knowing that it may alienate most if not all of my handful of wonderful readers (I seriously love you even if you disagree with me). But I thought it would be better to get it off my chest than be a coward and stay silent.
Brad and Jennifer were married. Then Brad started working with a woman named Angelina. Brad and Angelina formed a bond during their work. Brad left his wife Jennifer and married Angelina. Brad and Angelina spent their life (and incredible amounts of their time and money) helping others (the examples are numerous and truly inspiring) and having and adopting beautiful children. Jennifer was crushed by the divorce and spent her time making good-to -very- mediocre movies and making bad choices in men. I mean really, John Mayer? Have you heard the things he says about women? He's a total player, immature, partier and THAT's who she chooses to date, break up with, then date again?
OK, based on this scenario I do not get why women rally behind Jennifer like she's some kind of saint and vilify Angie with such force.
I find it abhorrent that women are so quick to blame the other woman and don't say a damn thing about the guy. To me, it's very sexist. HELLO, it was Brad that decided to leave his wife and go with another woman. Also, what if it was Brad who went after Angelina? Is it her fault that Brad was attracted to her or that they felt a connection? Maybe Brad and Jennifer had issues with their marriage long before Brad met Angelina and he would have left her anyway?
I think it's such bull that Angelina's assumed to be the predator. But EVEN if she was the predator, he could have said no, just like millions of men that get hit on by women every day but say no because they love their wives (yes, these men exist).
Listen, Angelina Jolie may not be an angel - but she's not the devil either. And she can't be held completely responsible for someone else's hurt feelings. Brad Pitt was committed to that marriage - not his new girlfriend. And the press is the one that has dragged this on for years - not Angelina Jolie.
Anastasia wow.... go for it I will not say here that i agree with you but I do respect your position.. Yes I love Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteAll of this is so personal. They are all superstars and this is why we even talk about it at all. I agree with you that it's not Angelina's fault. I don't necessarily agree that Jen's nuts for dating John Mayer - I can say myself that after getting divorced, you make some bad decisions. A good friend told me you have 2 years to be crazy post-divorce and he was right. (And he's a guy!). So making bad choices in people you date is something that I think is okay.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you when you say that women are so quick to jump on other women and blame them. We girls need to stick together.
I just read Kate's post and I agree with her about the cover of Vogue...
ReplyDeleteBut- you bring up such good points that people forget about. Who knows what was up with their marriage? I like Jennifer A. but I've always thought (and who knows?) that they were probably going in different directions already -
I mean look at the choices that Brad has made and look at Jennifer's choices since their split. It's almost like Brad was kinda sick of making movies again and again and wanted to start doing things of more substance -
like having a family and donating and founding charities, etc.
No one in that triangle is without some fault and to end this long comment-
I agree with you that Angie has not prolonged discussion about this- and she shouldn't; AND Jennifer shouldn't talk about this (because Vogue puts one comment of hers ON the cover)... and that's not right either.
Angelina has a history of hooking up with men who are already in a relationship. I guess she's one of those women who think that makes it extra special.
ReplyDeleteEver since the whole brangelina thing occured I can't stand EITHER brad or angelina. ugh. I'm so sick of both of them --- and she has such a history of being a complete freak - I'll never like her. But I respect your opinion and each is entitled to their own. And maybe I'm contradicting myself here, but I also do think it's a bit funny how many people care and think they know about this....when really, the only two people who really know what's going on in a relationship are those said two people.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Cyndy on this one. Angelina is not angel like you said, but she seems to have a habit of falling for costars and men in relationships. Angelina is the winner in this race...for sure. I do know that Jennifer wanted to have children well before she and Brad split up. I can't imagine life with Angelina is easy though. But I have to back her a little as she's the ultimate Baby Buncher!
ReplyDeleteWhat I find MOST funny about all of this - is that I was really just writing about how Vogue was showing some unpleasant tabloid behavior and giving their cover girl such a ridiculous quote.
ReplyDeleteBut it is true that I feel a lot of empathy for Jennifer Aniston. I have never been in the same situation, but I *have* suffered the humiliation of having someone break up with me and then immediately start dating someone else. There are so many emotions tied up in that - but the strongest one for me in the end was hurt pride. And I found it much easier to "save face" by becoming friends with my ex again while it took me a lot longer to warm up to "the other woman." Very different situations (my ex didn't have feelings for the new girl until right after we broke up - and I know that since he tried to hook up with most of my friends before picking her. My problem with her was that I did actually know her and felt betrayed by a friend). BUT I do remember so well that I finally had to give up and start being friendly to the ex so people wouldn't think I was such a loser. Given my choice - I would never have spoken to him again - but at the time, I didn't really feel like I had a choice if I wanted to save face. But no one cared if I openly disapproved of the new girl. So I didn't let that one go for a while...
Epilogue: I finally cut the ex out of my life after I had been at college for a couple of months since he was such an a-hole, and I ended up becoming best friends with the other woman after college (see I don't hold a grudge). She was even in my wedding! We used to have a lot of fun turning heads among the old crowd those first few months that we started hanging out together. And the best part about the relationship/breakup/aftermath I described above? It took place from the February of my senior year of high school through the second month of my freshman year at college. Less than a year! Ha! (kind of like Hollywood...)
I have no idea what any of them are like in real life, but I suspect Jennifer is fun to hang out with on the weekends and serve up some BBQ after a great day on the beach, while Angelina is the one you want hosting your charity fundraising event. They're birds of a totally different feather, and it seems Brad wanted something a wee bit heavier on sophistication. I'm inclined to agree with you -- of the three of them, he should be the one who shoulders most of the blame for what happened, and he always seems to get off scot-free.
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