Angelina's balancing act

I feel a certain ambivalence towards this woman-phenom, Angelina Jolie. I don't call her phenom because I feel the same admiration for her as I do for amazing people like Mohammad Yunus or Nelson Mendela, or maybe even Oprah. She's phenomenal because inspite of her past and her lack of academic qualifications, she's somehow transformed into one of the few legitimate celebrity turned humanitarian/activists of our time. She's almost in the same level as Bono-- who is up there on his own. I am personally not as convinced as her fans from the media or even in the U.N. about how good, sincere or smart she is, but she's arguably become an influential voice in humanitarian causes.

There are a lot about her personal views that I find questionable, or dubious. Her adoption practice seems like an express bus towards downtown--running awfully fast with no bus stops in between. She projects herself through her recent interview (Vogue's January 2007 issue) as a cynic inspite of her altruistic and mother-earth qualities, so it seems ironic that she actually believes that having so many children in a short span of time is healthy for a family or for her growing brood. A cynic would pause, contemplate, and asses the reality of the situation. Yeah, you're filthy rich and can hire an army of help to bring up the kids, but do you really want to do that? And if you don't, do you actually believe you can personally provide these kids (and counting) with enough care and guidance so as not to screw up their developmental years?

I am a professed cynic, and I cannot for the life of me answer the questions I've posted with a confident YES. My family is not big, considering I come from a Catholic country where tradition condemns artificial birth control resulting to 5.1 children in most families, and yet I still think 3 kids with merely 1.5 years in between is too much, too overwhelming, and not smart family planning. Financially, we were fortunate, but I believe that emotionally and psychologically, if a couple is not as prepared, then they should postpone having children. If Angelina and Brad actually believe that having 2 new kids/year is viable because they are emotionally and psychologically able to handle it, then either they have super powers we don't know about (aside from genes and money), or they'll seriously screw their kids' heads in the future. The road to perdition is certainly paved with good intentions.

Angelina's express-adoption just rubs me the wrong way-- a very abrasive and disturbing way. Her wanting to "balance her mixed race" family is also strangely faulty. Would it make a significant difference to Asian Maddox or African Zahara if they have another person of the same race in their home as long as they were brought up with love, support, and confidence by their parents? Who cares if there isn't another kid from some former communist South-east Asian country in the house for Maddox to "relate." If they're brought up aware and emphatic to people regardless of race, then I think Maddox and Zahara will do perfectly ok. This "balancing a mixed race family" is pure crap to me. Love should be color blind anyway. If she's committed to Mad and Zahara having "race balance" so to speak, then they're looking at 2 more kids, one Asian and one African, and then another biological child they plan on having. Nice, we've go 6 kid's ya'all. I love Brad to bits, but he's no longer spring chicken, how's he gonna handle all those rugrats?

That being said, I wish damn hard that I find the kind of romance she has with the most beautiful white man who has worked this earth. Motorcycling across the desert and flying your own plane back home--that's hot. Of course, I need to have the millions to afford my own Cessna plane.

Don't get too comfortable

When you've lived all your life in a third world country, no matter how well-traveled and well-read you may be, so many first world "normalcies" will always hit you as quite alien.
Excess.

The exposure to excess is an out-of-body experience that I always find myself conscious about, no matter how logically I tell myself that I am no longer in the third world where excess is exclusive only to 5% of the population or 100% of the government.

I went to church last Sunday and when the time came for the Holy Communion, the priest announced that "for parishoners who are allergic of wheat products or oats, there is another line for hosts without the wheat ingredients."

My mouth was left gapping even before I had to take the Body of Christ.

I still marvel, and probably always will, about how rich and how the wealth is distributed in First World countries, more so in the United States. Americans are a spoiled lot. They take a lot of things forgrannted because they grew up expecting them, knowing they are entitled to so many things because they are Americans. Is it a wonder why Asian immigrants who came from war-torn, impoverished, or communist countries show their appreciation of becoming Americans by not taking anything forgrannted? They do not feel an entitlement that they have not worked hard for, and it shows in what has become the myth of the "model immigrants," or the Asian brainiacs in America.

My cousin, who is born of FIlipino parents but was conceived and brought up in America, is a perfect example of the American sense of entitlement. He disses the Philippines even though he's only been in the country once-- because "it's third world," (a.k.a. NOT AMERICA). If the country doesn't have smiling service 24/7, doesn't understand how important a thread count is, doesn't have toilet paper in every public restroom, don't serve both diet Coke and diet Pepsi in their menu, doesn't serve food from a pristine kitchen, don't have American giant sized burgers--which is the only real hamburger for these football loving Americans-- then they're getting a crappy deal.

God Bless America, because if HE/SHE doesn't, according to George W. Bush, America will be blasted off by terrorists from the face of the earth--or maybe by some embittered third world guy who can't get an American visa.

a room with a view

outside the apartment window







-2C for days already