Angelina Jolie has really been kicking ass during the Maleficent promotional tour, hasn’t she? And we haven’t even had an American premiere yet – just think about how good it’s going to be in the next few weeks. Anyway, nothing can really compare to Angelina telling Gwyneth Paltrow-esque privileged moms to STFU, but her interview with Good Morning America does have its moments. First, some media-business stuff: I think it’s interesting that Angelina went to GMA with her first morning show interview. She used to give her first interviews to The Today Show and Ann Curry. But Today jettisoned Curry, so now they don’t get her exclusives. It’s interesting, isn’t it?
As for the interview… George Stephanopoulos asks Angelina is she’d ever consider running for public office. What’s interesting is that you can tell that she’s actually considered it at some point, but she says: “You know, if I thought I’d be effective, I would. But I’m not sure if I would ever be taken seriously in that way, and be able to be effective.” Here’s the video:
She also talks about finding Maleficent’s voice and her double mastectomy, saying that she was surprised by the outpouring of support she received:
“I really didn’t know how people would react. I wasn’t worried about it, but I didn’t expect there to be so much support. And I was very moved by it…It’s connected me so much to other families, other women… And you know, and now when I meet people, we don’t talk as much about films, but we talk about their children, or women’s choices, or their wives. It’s been a really beautiful journey.”
As for the Running In Heels thing… I hate to say it, but she’s right. Her popularity has increased so much over the past year, because her double mastectomy made her a powerful APOLITICAL advocate for women’s health. If she came out and had to align with a political party and answer questions not just about her past, but about all of the issues facing this country and the world, well… yeah, it would get bad for her. So I think what’s she’s doing now is the best path for her: continuing to expand her advocacy and humanitarian work in an apolitical way.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
So I think what’s she’s doing now is the best path for her: continuing to expand her advocacy and humanitarian work in an apolitical way.
Beautifully said Kaiser
i remember during an interview for ITLOBAH (maybe?) she said that for the moment, the her current position is the best fit for her because she can help influence both sides equally as a non-partisan. she doesn’t take the sides of any party, she takes the side of those in need. and to best serve them, at the moment, is to be non-partisan.
(or something like that, i apologize for my english).
perhaps one day she will come across an issue that requires her to run for President, or something. that’ll be interesting won’t it.
also interesting, she has donated to the Balkan Floods and help remind the international community to help, especially regarding the landmines floating around. i hope everyone in the Balkan region finds safety and warmth.
Yes, managing to stay apolitical is a pretty amazing feat. Kudos to her for that. Politics gets in the way of so much potential progress, some days I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
Agree with you guys. Still, how exciting would it be to see her in a powerful political position?
come to think of it, perhaps the closest to a “political” office is some Ambassadorship? like Shirley Temple or Caroline Kennedy? or maybe one of her children will.
sometimes, childen wants to grow up to be their parents, maybe that’s why a lot of actors children grow up to be actors also because they only know actoring as a job (parents as full time actors). perhaps with AJ’s and BP’s multifaceted jobs, their children have more scope in choosing which part of mommy and daddy’s jobs (actoring? volunteering? directing? designing? making wines? businessing?) they will take up full time.
If all politicians thought the way AJ did…well, it’d be difficult to fill the seats, wouldn’t it?
Would it tho?
They did a study about effective politicians intentionally shying away from Capital Hill because the crooked deals.
If interest groups had no clout AND the number of advertisements were limited along with PAC donations, change would come.
That’s my point, The majority of the politicians in the Capital know that they aren’t truly changing anything and are fine with that. Those that actually want to make a difference know that they can’t and thus don’t bother trying…at least not at the federal level. You couldn’t fill federal seats with effective politicians because you’d first have to convince all of them that their efforts would matter…something I don’t see happening in my lifetime.
i wonder if the decision to go to GMA is because it’s on ABC which is owned by Disney?
so they get first dibs?
Kinda like that Tom Brokaw special for Unbroken, because NBC is owned by Universal?
That’s what I thought also.
I would definitely rather have her keep doing what she does, and not be a slave to the business of politics. I also can’t see her being interested in running a campaign, etc.
So true I can’t picture her running a campaign
I think that she would be a really good campaign runner though–maybe not for herself, but for someone else. She knows how to work the press into a tizzy BY HERSELF. No need for a publicist or anything.
AJ is a living saint
Lol !!
Ha ha…you’re asking for trouble, little miss 😉
Ha ha ha! Angelina for president!
Great idea, why not? She would make the whitehouse a better place
You realize she is promoting a movie, right?
I can totally see her doing that
Infact she is a goddess of all goddesses
NONE of the politicians are effective, except in promoting agendas that enrich themselves, their friends or our global wealthy oligarch overlords who buy legislation and policy.
Sad but true.
agreed
I think she absolutely could be effective because she’s a persuasive speaker but I COMPLETELY understand if she doesn’t want to run because your ENTIRE previous life comes under scrutiny.
I mean, she’s laid all (most?) of her baggage/skeletons out there, and already faces so much scrutiny, but it would still be bad.
She’s incredibly polished and usually quite articulate, charismatic as well.
But yeah-the political machine would ruin her like it ruins everyone and everything.
I don’t think it would be a good idea for her to run for office, but I’d still take her over Affleck or Clooney any day.
^^^^^^This.
Agreed!
I think she is perfect right where she is right now.
Politicians change on the way up to power.. their priorities change and sometimes they fight the wrong battles. Plus i think the president of every country can only do so much.. they all have to listen to their people, be super diplomatic and sometimes do things for ‘the greater good’ and often they’re just the face for somebody else’s words.
In this way Angelina can go where she is needed without having to shoose sides and still have a private life and time off with her family.
i see a lot of presidents on tv over the years, they grow old real fast.
Run for office?!?!? Ah, NO!!
Seriously. She posed for some pictures in high-need locations wearing local garb for the UN, wrote a few editorials about it, directed a movie fictionalizing similar plights that never got a wide enough release to *actually* bring awareness to the issue, has no real formal education, lives in a fantasyland where a family of eight can live unfettered by, well, anything, and she thinks she could in any way represent those living and struggling in the US?
Forget effectiveness, she has zero understanding of what real people experience on a day-to-day basis.
The ego is strong with this one…
i see BALLS of blueeee… red ROSES tooooo…
see orlando bloom, for me and youuuu…..
ahem. sorry, ladies. where’s the karaoke parlor in this place?
Nevermind the three schools she has had built in Africa & Afghanistan for example.
Education does not always amount to much. She did go to NYU though.
And her movie she directed has led to the conference being held next month to focus on S*exual violence in conflict areas.
She has done a lot more than you.
“she has zero understanding of what real people experience on a day-to-day basis.”
on the contrary. I’d say she probably knows more than the average person, due to all of the humanitarian missions she’s done and all of the poverty she’s seen first hand.
Yes…mmmmmhmmmm…balls.
And even if all you said was true—what makes her ANY different from the rest of the politicians? Except maybe she didn’t go to Yale or Harvard. And she didn’t come from family money. She already has *some* experience in dealing with politicians and bureaucracy.
You completely twisted her words to fit all your reasons why you think she shouldn’t run for an official office, but you missed the entire point. LOL
John, I totally agree with you. And you know, in politics you have to get down and dirty. It’s terrible that we don’t pay, to our actual elected reps, 10 per cent of the attention we pay to stars like Angelina Jolie and George Clooney (ironically posted on a celebrity gossip site). Somehow they’re much saintlier. If she enters politics, she’s going to have to get down and dirty to make a difference and I’m sure her image, which she really cares about, will suffer a beating. It’s terrible that people idiolise her while paying zero attention to actual elected reps. I’m sure AJ has a good heart and not all of it is about image enhancement (unconsciously I think some of it is about that; you can’t be an actor without a big ego) but seriously, this idolising of celebrities as saviours is to our detriment. She’s a part of the problem but she doesn’t know it. I like how Ian Somerhaulder and Leo Dicaprio go about their charity work; they’re modest and know the issue is more important than they are.
Balls!
@Aye
Wait, wait–you’re going to use Leo as an example of someone who is BETTER than Angelina, in terms of his charity work? Didn’t he JUST buy a piece of multi-million property (either a couple of condos or apartments), that probably cost two-three times more than it would’ve if it didn’t have ‘vitamin c infused water’ in his showers, ‘posture-supportive heat reflexology flooring’ (heated floors), and a bunch of other environmentally ‘friendly’ stuff in the house……yeah, okay.
They all have money, but she’s not going around saying we need to save the environment, while buying crap like that….
Well, she is good at manipulating the media. I give her that, but otherwise, just No. That would be just as embarrassing as Kartrashian on the cover of Vogue.
As far as their non-profit work is concerned, I think Leo does it better, without being annoying. Maybe I just don’t like the whole idea of celebrities getting very political; environmental activism seems a far less political than entering political office. I still think he’s better than all those celebs who do absolutely nothing and build 50 car garages and have a fleet of private jets. Maybe he’s justified his excesses to himself by buying a piece of rainforest in Brazil or something. Who knows.
I wish all politicians really considered their efficacy. If Arnold Schwarzenegger can be governor I’m sure she could handle some sort of office.
and California’s in great shape. 🙁
I think if she did run for office and was successful, she’d eventually – like all who do become politicians – would have to compromise on almost everything, because that is how dirty the arena of politics is – the lobbying, the back scratching, etc. She is better off doing what she is doing now.
+1 exactly.
Agree.
Remember when she said she and Brad had different views on the death penalty. Maybe she’s more conservative than we think. Our Brad is…..
Yeah but to be fair, capital punishment is one of the more complex issues in the political sphere.
I’m liberal but I waffled back and forth on it for many years.
Although uncommon, it’s possible to be liberal and agree with the death penalty.
I just don’t envision her as being conservative, but I suppose I could buy her as centrist.
I love true centrists…I find them so refreshing–and very rare.
My mom doesn’t agree with the death penalty at all. She thinks that if you agree with it, then you should be okay pushing the plunger, the button, or whatever it is, that’s going to kill that person. She said we should have a lottery, where your name is randomly picked (out of the whole state) to go and do that.
And I agree with her. Taking someone’s life is a serious thing, and not to be taken lightly. And I know that I wouldn’t be able to do something like that.
Conservative and liberal as terms can have many gray areas. I know many conservatives who are very socially liberal. Add to that that neoliberalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism is a term used everywhere else, but in the US, which actually has the opposite connotation of traditional liberal philosophy/values in this country.
If a person killed someone I loved dearly I would GLADLY pull the lever, push the button, whatever. I can honestly say that I would take pleasure in it and I’m fine with people judging me for that.
I go back and forth on the death penalty as well, and I am pretty liberal (though I probably would have been called a centrist 15 or 20 years ago…the center as moved a lot since then!)
I consider myself mostly liberal, and I think the death penalty should be reformed, but we shouldn’t do away with it altogether.
I’ve heard her say people think she’s much more liberal than she really is, and that Brad is the liberal one in the family. That doesn’t make her a militant Republican like her father by any means, but she seemed to not want to be labeled liberal either.
@TheOriginalKitten, I have some ambivalence about the death penalty, but would prefer it ended. I’m from Illinois where so many innocent people on death row made the governor place a moratorium on the death penalty. I’m not gonna lie though, I did jump up and down cheering when Scott Peterson got the death penalty on my birthday.
“I’m from Illinois where so many innocent people on death row made the governor place a moratorium on the death penalty”
I’ve said it so many times around here so pardon me for sounding like a broken record, but THIS is why I changed my mind and I’m now opposed to capital punishment. Seeing the film After Innocence was a huge eye opener for me. The idea that an innocent person could be put to death by the state is probably the greatest injustice I could imagine.
As far as the death penalty being “inhumane” and “barbaric” that was never enough to sway me.
If someone killed someone I loved I would want them dead-simple as that.
Brad has stated he is against the death penalty.Angie has stated she is a Registered Independent while Brad is a Democrat.
Link? Source? I’ve been a fan of Angelina’s forever and never heard her say she’s a “registered,” anything. I can believe she may have used the word independent but not as a noun. I recall her saying she doesn’t advertise political affiliations because she needs to work both side of the aisle to get bills (like KIND, legal aid for immigrant children fleeing persecution) passed, and issues funded.
Oh and you can be liberal and be pro death penalty. I am. But I recognize it’s a failed system ans support a moratorium. Still in theory, if there was a way to positively attribute guilt the same way we do a DNA test (maybe using a DNA test) I am all for it. Also it doesn’t even need to be murder. For instance that man that kidnapped the little girl (jaycee) from her school bus stop and kept her like a dog raping and breeding her in his back yard for 15 years?? Oh yeah. Put him DOWN.
She said it on Larry King it was the episode where she saw Clint in the green room.So it was pre the filming of Changeling.She said people think I am a Democrat but I am an Independent(noun)
She’s also made comments about world issues to further her apolitical stance — there are a lot of articles on conservative and liberal sites speculating about her personal politics. That’s smart on her part. She escapes a lot of the traps actors usually find themselves in.
Remember when Roseanne Arnold was going off on HER for her dad’s views (because he’s conservative)–and she just completely shut it down. I’m the dummy that would be trying to say that I don’t agree with whatever my dad said, while she’s the smart one who shut it down by saying that it’s her opinion of her, and that Roseanne didn’t know her or anything about her beliefs…..
Roseanne was clearly off her meds. Seriously. I think she even admitted to that. Didn’t she apologize later?
I really think that would take up too much of her time and she wouldn’t do that. She can make her own schedule right now, including having her kids join her for lunch on set! She has her life set up exactly how she wants it. Why should she change it?
If only she could be the first female president, all my dreams would come true! NOT! Please no more actors in politics.
I generally dislike actors going into politics, but I would make an exception for Angelina Jolie.
I wouldn’t vote for her regardless of her views.
Is it me, or does it seem like her tattoos are fading? Not like she’s lasering them off, but like they’re fading over time. Does that happen? Or am I seeing things?
Why would she even consider such a thing and what makes her think her past history would not come into play. She’s an ex drug user, has been married three times, is an adulterer, had a woman lover for many years and god knows what else. Just because she is a UN ambassador does not eliminate her past. From what I understand she arranges to have the paps around when she is doing something good or doing something with her children. How much time do you think she spends daily with her children. I believe I read on one of the sites she has a nanny for each child. Her children have no discipline and the family has been asked to leave several hotels because of her children’s actions and destruction to their rooms.
But wouldn’t it sound exactly like a Hollywood, loser-to-winner-transformation script/movie?