comment
Words can hurt... choose them wisely
Two celebrity couples. Two sets of children. Two break ups. Two very different ways of dealing with a sad situation...
bemusedly - as the Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt ensemble - aka Brangelina - has filled column inches of magazines and newspapers over the last decade or so. Jolie and Pitt first hooked up in 2004 and,
D
aſter initially adopting three children from war-torn countries, the couple went on to have three biological children of their own. Over the last decade, we've been treated to
image upon image of the drop-dead gorgeous Pitt, the stunning Jolie and their amalgamated kids. We've seen them on location, touring refugee camps, relaxing at their holiday home in France... in short we've seen their glamorous life played out on the world stage. And how ultra happy it all looked....
the mega powerful couple and their eclectic brood. Te ultimate happy family unit. Just over two years ago, you couldn't move
without being accosted by the couple's wedding pics; with Jolie proudly showing off her wedding dress, which featured hand-sewn pictures drawn by her children. I have to admit that, looking at the über
happy pics, I oſten found myself in one of those ‘huh, some people have it all’ moments that I don’t oſten allow myself to inhabit. Fast forward two years, however, and it’s an
80MODERNMUM Autumn 2016
ivorce and break-ups are, as we all know, very hard on kids. I'm sure that, just like me, many of you have watched - at times
entirely different set of pictures that are gracing the pages newspapers…. Aſter twelve years together, and two as a
married couple, Jolie has filed for divorce: a move which created shock waves in many circles. Worse was to come, however, because the
ink had scarcely dried on her divorce application when the ‘gloss’ that has surrounded the Jolie-Pitt clan didn't so much wear off as evaporate. Rather than citing the let’s-keep-this-
amicable ‘irreconcilable differences’, copies of the divorce application that were reproduced in newspapers and on social media showed that Jolie had cited the most unexpected – and distressing – grounds that could tarnish Pitt's reputation. She was, she said, filing for divorce ‘for the
health of my family’. Not ‘our’ family, note, but ‘my family’. In what was already a sad situation, Jolie’s
assertion doesn’t bode well for what lies ahead….and, as always, it will be the children who will suffer. In the few weeks since news of the pending
divorce first broke, social media in particular has revealed a never-ending stream of less- than-positive stories about the family's life both behind closed doors, on balconies and on aeroplanes. Whatever the truth about the family's life - and whose life, let's face it, is perfect? - by
using those four words - ‘health of my family’ - Jolie has effectively hinted to the world that Pitt had a detrimental effect on the kids. Te media - and social media in particular -
can be brilliant in spreading news, but one downside is that children like the Jolie-Pitt kids will not only have to go through the heartbreak of their parents' divorce, but will also suffer from the fact that their friends will be able to follow the break-up on a practically minute-by-minute 'live' basis. A better choice of words than 'health of my family' would have made the kids' experience less painful... which is what Gwyneth Paltrow and her ex-husband, Chris Martin have clearly tried to do. While the couple was lambasted publicly
for announcing a few years ago that they were ‘consciously uncoupling’, recent newspapers and social media were full of images of them all holidaying together. Paltrow and Martin have clearly turned a negative situation into a positive one through diplomatic language and respectful behaviour, allowing the kids to continue to enjoy being together as a family. Judging by the pictures, it was smiles all round. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt could so easily
have issued a joint communiqué stating that they were sadly separating, but that they would remain focussed on their kids. With a more considered choice of words, it's probably true to say that more heartbreak could have been avoided. What lies ahead for the Jolie/Pitt kids is
unclear, but one thing is certain. Te eyes of the world will be on them.„
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84