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Brother, Can You Spare A Camera Crew? "Jen-gelina" Inspires International Mission
recently was flipping through a stack of People mags at my dentist's office, the only pleasure I derive from that annual appointment other than the secret hope for nitrous oxide.
I picked up the issue with Jennifer Hudson’s heartbreaking family tragedy on the cover. In the upper right-hand corner there is a smiling Mother Theresa surrounded by Afghani refugee children. Hmm, that’s funny, I remember Mother Theresa looking a lot older and leathered.
I look closer.
Ooh, silly me, that’s not Mother Theresa --- it’s Angelina Jolie!
“EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS!” shouts the headline.
“Angelina: Her Secret War Zone Visit.”
Everyone’s most beloved and photographed Goodwill Ambassador is back!
It’s a good thing that someone had the good sense to bring cameras along on this secret mission; otherwise no one would see exclusive photos of St. Angelina that People a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/business/media/21angelina.html?_r=2&ref=arts&pagewanted=all">miraculously managed to obtain. (Brad, are you selling snaps again?)
I admit: I am impressed. There’s an extremely flattering photo of Angelina smiling with three radiantly needy refugee children. The caption reads: “Admiring the ‘courage’ and ‘resilience’ of the returnees.”
Might I add that I admire Angelina’s choice of minimal make-up for the shoot? A very nice, subtle, smoke-around-the-eyes look that doesn’t seem obviously made-up, which helps to stress the seriousness of the situation.
The next two photos are of a burdened “Angel”-ina gently touching the arm of a boy suffering from malaria; the boy is covered in flies.
The next is of the willowy Angelina walking alongside a squatter U.N. worker in a refugee camp populated with makeshift tents.
I feel real sadness that a gossip rag like People got hold of these photos. Can you imagine what Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar would have done?
Perhaps they would have given Angelina a tasteful cashmere scarf to adorn her head; or a pair of brown Hermès slacks to complement her in the desert-like Kabul terrain.
Still, I found the article inspiring. Angelina makes selflessness and lack of pretension seem so sexy and appealing.
Equally inspiring are Jennifer Aniston’s, "Thanks and Giving" commercials for Saint Jude Research Hospital.
The ad begins with a sun-kissed Jennifer looking golden and lovely in a tasteful white silk tank top. The ad is soft-focused, well lit, and I can see now why Jennifer’s hair has been the envy of of legions for two decades. It’s fantastic and flowing. I mean, really, this is the best she’s looked in the last year.
She tells the story of “Bryce” who was diagnosed with an aggressive kidney tumor. Thankfully, Bryce was sent to Saint Jude Research Hospital where “we” (Jennifer and the crew of brilliant doctors) have pioneered treatments that are used to cure children like Bryce worldwide. There is a tender moment in which Jennifer kisses Bryce on the nose and the ad ends with Marlo Thomas (Rachel’s mother on ‘Friends,’ and who incidentally turns 71 today!) encouraging us to donate money to this cause.
With Thanksgiving on the horizon, I’m moved to action by the generosity and humanity of these two stars. So much so that I have purchased a plane ticket to the Republic of Georgia on a secret humanitarian mission to help the people of this war-stricken country. If you have a video camera, or could provide a crew and want to tag along, please contact me.
Since 1986, Natalie Melendez has been a work-in-progress. She currently resides in an undisclosed mountainous California location, where she spends most of her time studying, writing and roasting chestnuts by the fire. You can reach her at natalieismyname@gmail.com
Posted November 21, 2008
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