Angelina Jolie is a remarkable woman. For someone among the world’s most-glamorous celebrities, her candour about her double mastectomy was an eye-opener. A very close friend who had been through something similar felt reassured after reading what Jolie had to say. “It will at least teach Indian men to be more sensitive to a subject like breast cancer,” she said.
Jolie pays rich tributes to her partner, Brad Pitt, who was a tremendous pillar of support right through the surgery and after. Here is the world’s most-famous couple, constantly hounded by the paparazzi, reminding us how love and compassion can weather an extraordinary crisis.
And Jolie is not just a pretty face but a serious crusader for humanitarian causes and rights across the world. For over a decade now, she has been Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, visiting war-ravaged countries and working for their people’s rehabilitation.
Worthy of emulation
When Jolie discussed her mastectomy, it was in line with her efforts in spreading awareness about issues that could have a bearing on our own lives. And when a top celebrity says something, people are bound to sit up and pay extra attention. It is perhaps something that our own film stars could take the cue from, especially when we are celebrating Indian cinema’s centenary. On the contrary, the only stories we hear about them are brawls in parties and hotels.
Compare that to Hollywood where some of its best-known faces have pushed the envelope to support a host of causes. Richard Gere, an all-too familiar face in India thanks to Pretty Woman and An Officer and a Gentleman , is passionate about human rights in Tibet and spreading AIDS awareness. The late Christopher Reeve, still remembered for his role as Superman, became a quadriplegic after a horse fall but kept up his pursuitin seeking support for spinal cord research. George Clooney’s good looks are the focal point of any conversation but he, again, is deeply involved in a lot of humanitarian work. And the list goes on.
There is no question that America’s open system is a lot more conducive to encouraging healthy debate than India’s relatively repressed societies, which spawn more hostility. My friend recalls the time he was a teaching assistant in one of the universities and patiently had to answer some banal queries posed by his students. He did not have a choice. “It was a bit of a shock after India where we were terrified of telling our teachers that we did not understand a single thing,” he recalls with a laugh.
Well, Indian schools today are perhaps not as tyrannical as they were some years ago. Yet, as the current generation grapples with a host of new challenges, it is important for our celebrities to take a leaf out of Jolie’s book and reach out more proactively to their loyal followers across cinema halls and cricket grounds. Just imagine what a compassionate message on hearing aids, for instance, would do to the morale of a youngster who is aurally challenged. A pep talk from his favourite star on TV will make him feel better about himself without fearing ridicule from his classmates in school. Small steps go a long way in boosting the self-esteem of a nation.