THE ANGELINA JOLIE-BRAD PITT DIVORCE: LESSONS FOR THE SINGLE AND MARRIED.

This week, the news about the divorce filed by Angelina Jolie against Brad Pitt broke on the Internet, with a lot of people expressing shock, hurt, surprise and disappointment. For the sake of readers who may not be familiar with one or both actors, here’s a brief description of what made them both famous.

BRAD PITT

Brad Pitt [full name: William Bradley Pitt], was born on December 18, 1963. His most famous films in the international market are Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, Ocean’s Thirteen, Troy, and Mr and Mrs Smith [in which he co-starred with Angelina Jolie].

 At the time of filming Mr and Mrs Smith, Brad Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston, but soon after meeting Angelina Jolie, he filed for divorce from Jennifer Aniston. Pitt and Aniston had been married for five years prior to the divorce. 

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston

ANGELINA JOLIE

Angelina Jolie was born on June 4, 1975. She rose to fame internationally with the film and video game Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. As a teenager, Jolie struggled with self- esteem issues and twice attempted suicide, albeit unsuccessfully. She was not on good terms with her actor father, Jon Voight, for a number of years until fairly recently, and this led to her dropping the name Voight in favour of her middle name, Jolie.  Angelina Jolie is also notorious for some bizarre acts like French-kissing her blood brother, James Haven, at the Oscar Awards in the year 2000 and wearing her then husband’s blood [Billy-Bob Thornton] on a vial around her neck.

Angelina kissing blood brother James Haven. After the public outcry they both denied that it was an incestuous kiss, saying that it was just an innocent one. 

Jolie and Thornton with blood vials around their necks

In 2005, the media was abuzz with stories of how she broke the marriage of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.  However, after getting married to Brad Pitt and having children [both biological and adopted], she became less known for bizarre actions and more widely known for humanitarian actions like helping refugees and advocating for children. She was named a UNHCR goodwill ambassador in 2001 for her work with refugees and was appointed a Special Envoy of UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres in 2012. Angelina Jolie has received numerous awards for her humanitarian work with children and refugees.

Brad and Angie

Both Brad Pitt and Angelina have been named ‘sexiest man/woman in the world’ at one time or another in their lives and have continued to remain on the list of the World’s Most Beautiful People. Despite this seeming ‘plus’, Angelina recently filed for divorce from Brad stating irreconcilable differences. She also wants full physical custody of their 6 children, stating that Brad Pitt is too strict with the children [she has a laissez-faire approach to parenting]. She is also said to have hired a private investigator to determine if Brad Pitt cheated on her with his co-star in the 2016 film Allied, Marion Cotillard.

Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard

LESSONS WE CAN LEARN FROM THE COUPLE:

1.    NOT ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD; MIND YOUR OWN MARRIAGE. Before now, some people held up the Pitt-Jolie marriage as a pedestal for their own marriage, not realising that all that glitters is not necessarily gold. Up until now most media houses have been publishing pictures about the couple gushing over each other, and I bet some people were probably thinking: ‘How I wish my husband was as hot as that man’ or ‘if my wife was as beautiful as that lady I would never cheat on her’. Such people never knew that things were falling apart at home. To this end, I would like to encourage everyone to appreciate their spouse or spouse-to-be regardless of how they look or who they are. Beauty or fame is never a guarantee for a lasting marriage, and to think otherwise is to delude oneself. Avoid comparing your marriage to other people’s marriage, remember: the grass is not always greener on the other side.

2.    ADMIRE BUT DON’T OBSESS:  While a few celebrities are worthy of emulation, many, unfortunately are poor role models, and to pattern one’s life after such poor models is like building one’s house on sand-it must surely crumble one day. This is not to say that Pitt-Jolie are good or poor role models but rather to make  the following point- it is not bad to admire a celebrity, but it is certainly suicidal to blindly pattern one’s life after a celebrity or another human being for that matter. It makes one susceptible to the same mistakes and failures of the admired personality. So, admire that celeb but do not pattern your life after him/her-you don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes of their lives, and your favourite celeb today just may be going to jail or getting divorced tomorrow.

3.    BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU DO, BECAUSE WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND: It’s a bit strange that Angelina should feel bad about the fact that Brad may have cheated on her with another actress. Hello Angie: Brad cheated on his then-wife, Jennifer Aniston, with you; remember? Just a warning to all out there; be careful the kind of seed you sow. You reap what you sow, and what goes around comes around.

4.    WATCH WHO YOU TAKE ADVICE FROM: Care should be taken when deciding who to meet for advice concerning marriage, and exactly what advice should be carried out. That a couple is engaging in PDA [Public Display of Affection] does not necessarily mean that their marriage/relationship is going fine. Some couples who are presently smiling outwardly are inwardly signing divorce papers, so be careful not to be carried away by such. Imagine asking Jolie for marriage advice a month ago, only to hear a month later that she just signed divorce papers. What a joke! Some people give couples advice out of goodwill but some others, unfortunately, give terrible advice either out of ignorance, immaturity, or bad will. It is generally advised, where possible, to ask advice from a person or couple whose marriage you personally admire. Advice should also be asked from mature people who care about you and who have nothing to gain if you fail. It is also important to note that not all advice given to you needs to be taken by you. Some can be put into practice as told or tweaked a bit to fit your situation while others are best discarded. It’s left to you to make the final decision.

      I am Lauretta Ani, and I’m just keeping it real.