I had to choke back chunks of vomit when I read Angelina Jolie had adopted her third child.
Sorry to be so graphic here but I just don't get it. It's Jolie's right to adopt whoever she chooses but this trend of adopting overseas is annoying at best. Madonna, Mia Farrow, and even Josephine Baker come to mind when I think of the cheesy, "We are the world", rainbow and cookie-cutter families.
Maybe these people have good intentions but it seems as if Jolie is working hard to become the poster child for the serial adopters. She's making me sick.
I understand that this is what some people do to help others. They believe that by adopting these indigent and otherwise hopeless children they will be giving the adopted a better life and in turn the adopter will be given a clear conscience by doing their part to make the world a better place.
These serial adopters are doing some good by taking in children from across the world to give them better lives. But what about all of the poverty-stricken, ill educated and abused children in the nation? Don't they deserve a chance too?
I interviewed a woman in Nashville who had given birth to five children. Her husband and family were wealthy and they lived a life of white privilege and luxury. I guess she got bored one day and decided to get some more kids, ones that hadn't been given the same opportunities she had been given.
She adopted a black boy, a Hispanic girl, and two Chinese children: one boy and one girl. The adopted children were a bit younger than the ones she birthed and in order to keep up with all of the families activities she kept a three-inch, three-ring binder that served as a gargantuan to-do list. Her intentions were to treat those children just as she treated her children but that didn't happen. Since they were different, she had to treat them differently. The Nashville woman did what she could to shield her brood from life's harsh realities but once they leave the nest I don't know if this will do them more harm than good.
But for some reason the Nashville woman's intentions seem more noble (just a little bit more)than those of Jolie's.
I wonder if its coincidental that the public almost never sees Shiloh, the offspring of Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt. But Maddox and Zahara (and now Pax) are always in front of cameras. Zahara is always on Jolie's hip with Maddox not too far behind. Where's Shiloh? Is she purposely shielded from public view and are her older siblings just props to show the world that Angelina Jolie isn't crazy and that she does have heart to save the world?
Maybe.
Or maybe I'm just sick of hearing about her.
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12 comments:
You don't personally know the woman, so who are you to blatantly judge her? I do not understand why someone who is trying to help others and raise awareness of the plight of children in the Third World would insight such hatred.
I agree that there are children in the US that need good homes too. But a child is a child. We are all people, no matter what country we live in.
If you are tired of hearing about her, change the channel or whatever. I hardly ever hear anything about her.
You are right. A child is a child. I don't hate, Angelina. I just get sick of hearing, reading, and seeing her exploits when it comes to adopting these children.
Wow, what an ignorant attitude in this blog entry. Try some compassion. It's great!
Kevan, you have the right to feel however you choose. But please don't say my attitude is ignorant. You just don't agree and that's fine.
Am I the ONLY person in the world that believes the adopt-overseas deal is a fad (much like the whole small dog in purse trend)?
Surely I'm not.
Ashley, people here have been adopting children from overseas for decades. One notable example is when Americans adopted Vietnamese children by the thousands after the war. One of the main Doonesbury characters, Kim Rosenthal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Rosenthal ), is one of them. Her first English words were "Big Mac!" It's not a fad.
Kevan, all that's good and well, but come on now. We're talking about Angelina Jolie. Everywhere you look, she's flaunting those kids like a 1990s United Colors of Benetton ad. Enough with the photo ops.
OK, so your real beef is Angelina.I don't really know enough about her to say if she is a fit parent or not, but presumably an adoption board somewhere thinks she is. And is she really seeking out photo ops? Or is she having them to promote adoption, which is a good thing? Or, is it just the usual paparazzi chasing down a star and her kids?
I don't know Angelina either, but I take issue in the way she's flaunting those kids around like the latest fashion trend or something. I mean, as Ashley mentioned, you rarely see her own birth child as much as you see all those those adopted kids.
You wanna promote adoption? How about doing a commercial or sponsoring an ad campaign to promote international adoption. I just think her method of promotion, if that's what it is, appears disingenuous or comes off fake. I could be wrong, but it annoys me all the same.
But is she really "flaunting" or just the constant attention of photographers for whatever she's doing in public? I'd hate to be as famous as her and get stalked by photographers.
Well, hey isn't that part of the package she signed up for when she decided to enter the world of the celebrity?
And you either dodge it or work it, plain and simple. She's been in the limelight for quite enough time to know how to play the game and play it well. That leads me to believe that she is flaunting this situation.
Hi, it's me anonymous again.
I was wondering about something else in your article. You describe the Nashville woman as living a life of "white privilege and luxury". Not to pick bones here, but why is it white? I thought that in a capitalist society privilege and luxury was available for anyone who works for it. Or I suppose anyone who is lucky enough to inherit it.
Anyway, I think a Hispanic or African American or whoever's luxery and privilege is the same as a white person's (American). Looks that way on MTV Cribs anyway.
oh, I understand your point anonymous (I wish we knew who you were). I didn't mean it that way, I was just trying to say that this was a white woman adopting several kids outside her race.
And, yeah anyone who works for it can have it...or inherit it.
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