Angelina Jolie: Exposing the ugly
underbelly of uninformed opinion.
Angelina Jolie's 'Breasts of Social Contention'
(News, Switzerland)
After The New York Times published
Angelina Jolie's statement on the mastectomy of both of her breasts, it took
about 5 nanoseconds for a veritable storm to roar through online media, the blogosphere
and social media. The actress' breasts were literally on everyone's lips and
mind.
Angelina Jolie is one
of those people who apparently everyone believes they know. I know her precisely
as little as 99.9 percent of those who use her as a screen for projecting their
own neuroses and fantasies.
Jolie had the dubious
fortune of being endowed with an incredibly attractive physique and be
practically born into Hollywood through her parents. A career in the dream
factory was inevitable, and once combined with a dysfunctional family history (parents'
divorce, years of feuding with father Jon Voight)
and various love affairs with both sexes (with certainly far more imputed to
her than she actually had), Jolie became the object of gossip par excellence.
She was therefore
everything to everyone: the wet dream of Lara Croft fans, object of hatred for
abandoned wives, a more-or-less suitable role model for young women, and, if
she had a good role, an excellent actress.
However, since she
pinched Hollywood Adonis Brad Pitt from her colleague Jennifer Aniston, subsequently
marrying him, Mrs. Jolie has given the yellow press almost nothing to feed on. She
has distinguished herself primarily by her humanitarian work, visits to war
zones for U.N. agencies, and a quite boring family life as seen from the
outside. Rumors of a separation, regularly dispensed by the tabloid press,
seemed capable of doing little more damage to her marriage than her husband's
much parodied Chanel advertisement. [watch below].
And now this: she has had
her breasts removed! For fear of cancer. And she made it PUBLIC! Scandal!
Incredible! What goes through the mind of this woman? After all, everyone knows
that only crystal balls, faith healing, and pilgrimages to Lourdes work against
cancer! Now all women will put themselves under the knife ... unimaginable.
While media often somewhat
objectively deal with the decision of the actress, the excitement on social
media was huge, with some with harsh judgments even admitting to only having
read the headlines (but they retort: "that was enough").
So Jolie was accused of
taking rash action out of fear and setting a bad example; publicity lust; and
perhaps even ill will. Women vehemently defended their own bosoms (apparently
Jolie wants to take them away); and men and women pitied the poor Brad Pitt,
who now no longer has a real woman, but just a plastic doll ...
The reproach of Jolie that
her statement was the wrong step to take is pretty naive. Sooner or later, any rumors that turned out genuine would have gone viral, and then it would have been nearly impossible to
bring them under control. Jolie's decision
to turn to the public is therefore logical, comprehensible, and as proactive as
her decision to have surgery.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
Anyone who has actually
read her statement realizes that this is woman who had a difficult decision to
make - a decision influenced by her mother's ten-year battle and eventual early
death from cancer; the questions and fears of her children; as well as a
genetic test that gave her an 87 percent chance of developing breast cancer,
and 50 percent of ovarian cancer.
She writes about the
fact that the decision was difficult, that she made after consulting her
partner and doctors, and how important the role of a supportive partner can be
when facing such a choice.
She also writes of how
important it is for women with fewer financial resources and family histories of
cancer to have a way of gaining access to such tests, how many die from breast
cancer each year, and that only a very small proportion of breast cancer
victims have her particular genetic mutation.
She expresses herself
with the words of a woman who weighed very carefully what is best for her and
her loved ones. But many social media commentaries were just off the cuff opinions,
convictions and aloof expressions of superiority from those privileged NOT to
be confronted with such a situation.
Jolie wanted to trigger
a discussion and spread awareness of the problem. In this, she has succeeded. However,
as almost is always the case in these times of social media, the indeed lively discussion
is mainly driven by opinion rather than analysis of the facts. Simply put, this
culture of opinion, characterized by reflexive commentary, has been made
extremely visible in this specific case, but also determines the political and
social discourse on issues beyond the tabloids.
It's safe to say that these
breasts of contention won't change our cultural discourse, but they can serve
as a wonderful example of how not to discuss other people - whether prominent
or not, whether rich or poor. Because, to quote the words of Peter Glaser, we wouldn't
so freely express our opinions if we had more ways of better informing ourselves
before hitting the send key.
