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Angelina Jolie has a pretty big interview in The Independent UK today. Jolie talks about lots of stuff where… if someone else said it, I’m sure it would be a non-story. Because it’s Angelina, though, I’m sure this is going to be a really long day. I kind of thought that possibly made-up interview in The Telegraph was uncontroversial too, but then people started talking about how Brad Pitt is abusive and such. I just don’t get it. Anyway, you can read Jolie’s interview in two parts, here and here. Here are some hightlights:

Jolie on how the American education system doesn’t work for her kids: “”I wish there was a book every parent could read that tells you how to navigate through the school system, and how to tailor the education system for your children and their interests. I’m personally getting a lot more involved with their different tutors and teachers…. I do think we live in a different age and the education system hasn’t caught up with our children and our way of life. But we travel and I’m the first person to say, ‘get the schoolwork done as quickly as possible because let’s go out and explore’. I’d rather them go to a museum and learn to play guitar and read and pick a book they love. I feel that there’s got to be a new way to tailor things more directly to our children. Considering the amount of information we have today, the internet and online books… we as parents need to think about how we can shake it up and make it better.”

On Kung Fu Panda 2‘s adoption story line: “It’s about a search for self. I think that who we are and who we decide to be in life is not defined by our parents, our past, the way we look or where we’re from. We make the choice.”

She‘s low-maintenance: “In my life, I hardly brush my hair very often. I try to be as low-maintenance as possible because of my kids, so I can just get up and get ready and do things and not take too much time.”

Has she found peace? “I don’t know if I have found it. But, especially when you have children, you wake up every morning and, if they are happy and they are healthy, then you have peace. You know that that’s all that you should be worried about. Then from there you work on all these other things that bother you and you try to fix injustices and the bigger issues in the world. But you kind of start from one simple thing to be grateful for.”

On adopting again: “We’re always open if it feels right, but we have a full house and, at the moment, nothing has become clear to us. It’s the same, I suppose, as when somebody decides to get pregnant, there’s just a moment where something becomes clear to you and, at the moment, that’s not what we’re discussing.”

She can sell the crap out of KFP 2: “I brought my kids, aged from two to nine, and after I had to call Jeffrey [Katzenberg] and say: ‘We’re good. This gauge range is two to nine. It’s working!’ My children loved it. I was very curious about how they’d react to the family themes and how my character was raised in an orphanage and then was adopted by Shifu, and in this one Po discovers that he’s adopted. It’s one of the more complex stories and films I’ve ever been involved in, with characters and themes that I stand by and believe in.”

On Tigress: “She is certainly a character that shows a lot of emotional restraint. She’s not relaxed. She’s the opposite of Po. She is somebody that is very good physically but emotionally is very uncomfortable. Part of her voice and part of her personality is closed in that way. You could imagine she doesn’t let herself cry. She doesn’t let herself be hurt. She doesn’t talk about how she feels. She’s quite hardcore. That’s part of her personality. It was an interesting voice to play with but it wasn’t intended to sound a certain way, it just came out, I think, that way because she is repressed.”

On traveling: “I do enjoy traveling, especially to any place we haven’t been where we can stay for a very long time. We love safari adventures and living in tents, we love to go to Asia. Really any place new, something beautiful that’s also physical. We have so many kids that it’s nice to have an adventure.”

She doesn’t take photos: China and South America are next on the list. “I never take pictures, though, and that drives Brad a bit crazy because he’s not on any family photos as he always takes them. I often see all these people taking pictures to capture the moment and I think you miss the moment because you are trying too hard to capture it. I want to live it.”

On what kind of hero is needed today: “That’s a complicated one. Unfortunately, I don’t know if there is one hero. Maybe it’s quite the opposite – we need to find a collective. We need to come together more and find central things between our countries, and between our religions: to try to individually, one person at a time, start working together better.”

[From The Independent UK – two articles]

I guess the stuff about the education system is going to be controversial…? I can never tell with the loonies on either side. My thoughts on Angelina’s education comments: while I appreciate that she was trying to be diplomatic about it, and that she blamed the structure and the machine rather than individual schools and teachers who are struggling, I still don’t think Angelina is in the best position to complain. Yes, I’ve read Jonathan Kozol and I keep meaning to watch that documentary about the DC schools. I get that there are huge problems in the American public school system. But have any of the Jolie-Pitt kids ever tried public school? No! She’s always done the tutor thing or sent them to the Lycee schools (which are private). I feel like she’s blaming the education system for her own vagabond parenting style.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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