What I found in the news
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| The official divorce filing |
According to the
BBC News article
"Angelina Jolie to divorce Brad Pitt," this famous Hollywood couple have decided to end their marriage and relationship "for the health of the family," although the official reason given on the divorce papers is irreconcilable differences (2016). The BBC reports that both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Pitt, known as Brangelina since their relationship began in 2004 before marriage in 2014, are successful actors who are also well-known for producing films and for their charity work, with Jolie also having made the news for her medical decisions to have both breasts and her sex organs removed to reduce her high risk of cancer.
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My response
I don't usually read the entertainment section of the
BBC News with my morning coffee, but this story also featured on the front page. In fact,
"Angelina Jolie to Divorce Brad Pitt, Ending ‘Brangelina’" was also at the top of the more substantial, and more academically written,
New York Times' trending stories list.
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| Sexy street scenes - Bangkok last week |
I think both Pitt and Jolie have made some great films. My favourite film starring Brad Pitt is definitely
Fight Club, which is a reasonably close film adaptation of the novel. Pitt's acting the role of the one of the persons that are Tyler Durden is brilliant, and it's a great story. I read a couple of days ago that this film has apparently inspired a
fight club group in Bangkok. Unfortunately, and most unjustly, although I'm sure according to the rule of law, the freely consenting adult Bangkok fight clubbers were promptly interrupted by the interfering police. The
Bangkok Post also published an editorial piece on it last month,
"Fight Club Skirts Law," showing their usual weak critical thinking skills as they argued that it should be under more official control by the law (2016), which contradicts a basic premise of Fight Club.
I also thought that Pitt's performance in the very dark Seven was brilliant, although the real stars were Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey. I don't think Jolie is such a good actor, although she has starred in some fun films. I enjoyed the Lara Croft movies, silly as they are, and she did very well in the comedy
Mr and Mrs Smith, where she stars in the film during which the couple met and became Brangelina. Like Fight Club, I've been happily entertained a few times by Mr and Mrs Smith, although
Fight Club and
Seven are both much better pieces of art, so more rewarding to watch again and again.
After a hard day's work, the anarchic
Fight Club sounds good for dissolving stress tonight.
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Angelina Jolie to divorce Brad Pitt. (2016, September 20).
BBC News. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37422843
Fight Club skirts law. (2016, August 27).
Bangkok Post. Retrieved from
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1072048/fight-club-skirts-law
When I first saw this story, I was going to write about marriage and changing attitudes, and my parents' own pretty awful 50+ years marriage. But as I started my response, I got onto other topics, as you can see.
ReplyDeleteThis is not academic writing, so that's not a problem.
I think I know why you brought Brad Pitt up in the class. Although I don't think that I know Brad Pitt very well and I have no ideas in which movies he is an actor.
ReplyDeleteMarriage are more and more fragile nowadays. Marriage is now like a joint venture to get a synergy of average possession rather than a spiritual contract that each can rest assured. The marriage concept was also distorted into a variety of concept. Some might deem marriage as a spiritual agreement, some as a legal process, some as a way to prosper, some as a reproductive requirement, etc.
Here when you take other factors into account. It's also possible that their divorce to be fake. After all marriage is no more just a symbol of love, but also affect legal rights, reputation and so forth. We cannot simply think that they are in love so they will be married or vice versa.