On Angelina...

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt gave birth recently to a little girl named Shiloh. Yeah, I think a couple of small papers picked up this story.

I have a special place in my heart for Angelina Jolie. No, it’s not because she’s hot and I like women… although, that helped at first. Rather, she’s always been crazy and honest and never uninteresting, which you can’t say for many other celebrities. To boot, she’s a good actress. Sure she makes some bad decisions about which roles to play, but she’s a kick-ass actress.

I’ve been a fan of her since ’99, and she’s never disappointed me. People can say anything they want to about her: “Ew! She wore blood in a vial!” or “Ew! She made out with her brother!” or “Ew! She married Billy Bob Thornton!” or “Ew! She broke up Brad and Jen’s marriage!” Of course, people overreact to these things. So, she wore blood in a vial? Who cares? People walk around wearing their own NAME on RICE in a vial around their neck and no one says anything! And folks, she did not “make out” with her brother. Making out means there is tongue, physical groping, and sexy love. There was none of that. Get over it. And Billy Bob? Who cares! They loved each other. He turned out to be a dick anyway. And Brad and Jen? Don’t even get me started. Jen Aniston’s doing fine on her own. She can take a bath in her money if she’s upset (I’m a huge fan of Jennifer and prefer not to victimize her at all – I love her). Divorce SUCKS for everyone, but it’s a popular fact of life.

Anyway, now that Angelina is on every magazine cover imaginable, I feel like I should write something about her. Let’s face it, kids. This woman is an incredible woman. She adopted two children from different countries, which is more than a lot of upper class American folks are willing to do. She has given birth to her own baby now, who has Angie’s lips and Brad’s eyes (cutie!). She’s the goodwill ambassador for the UN. She cares about people less fortunate than herself and shows the world that, not by going to some charity event in Los Angeles, but by actually getting in the trenches with these people and trying to help.

As my friend Christian says, saying you like Angelina Jolie is like saying you like money. This statement was born out of frustration with the lesbian world’s obsession with her. But what better actress for young women to obsess over?

Regarding the hullabaloo about the birth of lil’ Shiloh, my friend Kim said, “It’s like no one has ever had a baby before!” It’s true, people are going ballistic over this kid. But I have to say, the fact is that we see Brad Pitt and Angelina all over the newspapers, magazines, websites, etc. And when my friends give birth to babies, I am all about it. I bring my camera every time I visit and take tons of pictures. I show off the pictures like they’re the most important kid pictures in the land. To my friends that are moms, the birth of their children is more important than any other birth, and the people in their family make them feel that way (ideally). Because Brad and Angie are so visible, people want to see pictures of their baby, because babies are a big deal! It’s just magnified because instead of 30 relatives wanting a peek of a baby, Brad and Angelina have a whole world wanting a peek of theirs. And to my friends that are moms, don’t you think your own beautiful children deserve to be seen by the whole world, even if they never get the chance?

More on Kim… I was there for the birth of her first (and only, to date) child, and let me tell you, on that day, it WAS like no one had ever given birth before. Nothing else mattered but the fact that I just witnessed my friend bring forth a life. I talked about it as though tens of thousands of other mothers didn’t go through the same thing that very day. I’ve told Kim before and I’ll say it again, that day was the most exhilarating, amazing day of my life, and I imagine the only thing that will top it will be the birth of my own child.

I say, way to go, Angie and Brad, for bringing eight more pounds of cute goodness into the world! Because your baby is the most anticipated birth since Jesus, several charities in Africa will split an untold sum that has been rumored to be as much as seven million dollars. Killer! Sure, Angelina hasn’t saved the world, but I’m glad she’s making an effort.

Now, if we could only get as many people to pay this much attention to the Bush administration’s endless mistakes…