Celebrity Madness

While it was hardly a surprise to read this account of Pitt and Jolie's stay in Namibia a couple years ago, the minutiae are still a bit mind boggling. Truly ironic that one of the UN's 'goodwill ambassadors' had no hesitation about controlling who received visas to enter the country during her stay and who did not. Wealthy whites have long manipulated African countries to arrange themselves according to what is most accommodating for those bringing in massive amounts of foreign currency and a media circus, to boot. Ministers trip over each other praising the visitors for even knowing that their country exists; it's hard not to see this as analogous to selling one's soul to the devil. It might have been worthwhile if the touted couple had later promoted Namibia in a respectful, positive way, yet underlying Jolie's comments in a post-natal interview is an attitude of such gross paternalism that, if nothing else, one can't but wonder why she wanted to go there in the first place.

“The borders were drawn in Africa not that long ago,” Angelina explained. “These people are tribal people. We colonised them . . . They have just recently learnt to govern themselves . . . And we need to be there to really support them at that time, to help them to understand how better to govern.”

i can only hope that her next mission doesn't take her to Eastern Europe.