Angelina Jolie, the sin of being perfect
Successful actress and mother of a large family, she dedicates much of her time to charitable causes
If last week more than 100 countries have sat down to discuss how to end rape in conflicts, it has been because of her
It all started in Cambodia 14 years ago. The internal earthquake that transformed the then provocative and eccentric actress Angelina Jolie into the committed activist - and devoted mother of six children - who this week presided over the first international summit against sexual violence in armed conflict in London came after a trip that life changed. She thought she had flown to Phnom Penh to film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. But the reality slap that she received in one of the poorest countries in the world opened her eyes to such an extent that when she returned to Los Angeles she questioned her entire existence and decided to turn it 180 degrees.
It is not usual for a celebrity so young - then she was only 26 years old - to take the world as seriously as Angelina Jolie has since Cambodia forced her to understand that beyond the champagne and the red carpets that unfolded at her feet there is a whole universe of pain, misery and injustice in which the majority of the world's population is drowning. Celebrities like her and the trifles of hers every day occupy disproportionate spaces in the press compared to what is given to the real problems of the planet. But while other celebrities financially exploit this type of media attention, Jolie chose to use it as a loudspeaker to force people to listen to what they often do not want to hear.
The first thing she did after returning from Cambodia was to appear at the United Nations and ask for information on the situation of war refugees. For several months, she accompanied UNHCR specialists to Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Cambodia, paying all the expenses out of her pocket and living in the same conditions as the organization's workers. In 2001, in view of her interest, UNHCR appointed her a Goodwill Ambassador for Refugees. Two years ago, Jolie was promoted to Special Envoy for High Commissioner Antonio Guterres, a position that makes her a de facto UNHCR diplomatic representative with decision-making capacity in crisis situations. Never had a celebrity strayed so far from the red carpet, that place that she defined as "unreal" during an interview with this reporter three years ago and in which she confessed that walking on it was not what made her feel proud as being human. Today her humanitarian work and her children are the engine of her life. The cinema, it seems, is simply a vehicle for drawing attention to the issues that concern her as an activist.
The pull of an actress who in 2001 was simply one of the most beautiful (and controversial) in Hollywood and whose talent had the guarantee of an Oscar achieved at age 24 for the film Innocence Interrupted, also interested the UN. If to his fame at that time we add the media hit that meant that he became Brad Pitt's partner in 2005 (the rivers of ink that the Brangelina union generated and continues to generate have few rivals in the newspaper archives) there is no doubt that he will sign a Jolie was probably one of the best deals the organization has ever done. Seeking celebrity endorsement is a strategy that the UN has successfully exploited for decades, but to date no celebrity appears to have been as effective as Jolie, both in the attention her moves and statements generate and in the actions she takes. Cape, and the London Summit is the best proof of that.
If this week more than 100 countries and hundreds of experts have sat down in the British capital to discuss how to end rape in armed conflicts, how to penalize them and how to help the victims, the credit goes largely to she, who has not limited herself to lending her pretty face for a good cause but has worked hard to make the summit come true. William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, has been her key ally, perhaps the only one who has seen the real potential of an actress that some are reluctant to take seriously. However, she has been working hard for years to be respected as an activist, writing opinion pieces in major American newspapers, serving on the Council of Foreign Relations, lecturing around the world and also leading by example: her first As a director's film, In the Land of Blood and Honey, it was practically an educational pamphlet about how the Blcanes war took its toll on women, the main victims of a conflict that she portrayed in all its harshness and with much less stupidity than usual. be a regular in Hollywood.
Her decision to undergo a preventive double mastectomy and go public has also had a significant impact on both the perception of genetic testing - its exorbitant prices have been called into question - and the way women are now being informed. of your breast cancer options. The least in her life seems to be her work as an actress, although the few roles that she accepts, such as Maleficent, her last film, always seem to be successful.
At 39, Angelina Jolie has become an exemplary model of human being, a conscientious woman, a loving mother, a devoted wife, a splendid actress and a respected director. She couldn't be more perfect. And that is probably her biggest sin.
