plush
Sloane Ranger
Posts: 2,018
Feb 11, 2006 16:34:33 GMT -4
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Post by plush on Sept 2, 2014 11:36:23 GMT -4
To this day, I am kind of baffled why that particular divorce and the subsequent relationship of Brad & Angelina, took the epic proportions that it did. The thousands of articles written on it and everyone having an opinion on what happened and how it should have gone down, made it look so much more important than it was. I think it was just as big as the Clinton/Lewinski mess, except that Brad was not running for office and America should have been used to Hollywood affairs by then. The only explanation I can find is the PR games that all three of them played to protect their own images/careers and a lot of projection from the public who saw something of themselves in each of the people of this triangle and of the situation itself which fueled interest and the endless magazine covers. In the end I can't feel too bad about Jen Aniston and if she looked at her career & status in Hollywood now compared to her Friend peers, she shouldn't feel too bad about the whole ordeal. Her status was first elevated by being married to Pitt and even more so when he divorced her. The money and attention that she received in the form of all the movie parts because of press she could generate, of all the magazine covers because she was the ex wife of BP, should provide comfort to her a little bit. I don't care that Rachel is an iconic character with a cute haircut. Rachel wasn't more loved than other Friend cast members to have made her career that much better than theirs. In fact, I remember quite a few people who liked Joey, or Phoebe, or Chandler before they mentioned Rachel. She enjoys the status that she has in Hollywood precisely because of who she married and divorced. I don't think she expected the narrative of her post divorce to turn out as it did, but she willingly played a part in it, and not just with the VF interview, but many many years after. Who can forget this People cover? Come on. Don't tell me that wasn't approved by her PR team. With that said, I hope she is in a good place in her life right now. She certainly seems happier these days.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 26, 2024 3:04:07 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2014 11:44:44 GMT -4
I always figured it got SO MUCH attention because Angelina was an absolute lightning rod for publicity at that moment in time. She was THE sexiest bitch alive, plus super-weird, plus into blood, plus previously into chicks, plus "made out with" her brother publicly, plus had been open about her bouts with depression/cutting/etc, plus is an Oscar winner, plus had a very public feud with her Oscar-winner father... I could go on and on. I bet if Brad had taken up with Catherine Keener or Kate Hudson or Kate Winslet or essentially ANY of Angelina's peers, there would have been NOWHERE near the same hullabaloo.
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Post by americanchai on Sept 2, 2014 11:50:54 GMT -4
I agree she seems happier. The BP marriage was not good. He seemed more focused on architecture and they were both more focused on their careers than on each other. She does seem like she'd be your good buddy. I can't imagine she didn't want to have kids at some point - but she was still on "Friends" and that seemed to go on forever and he was working on a lot of films. The timing was shitty.
At the same time, I remember when news of BP and AJ dating came out, my initial reaction was "Whoo, go Brad!" only because I imagined being Brad Pitt and having the choice, I would have gone for dark and exciting and interesting over bland/vanilla/rest of life water and hair color ads. My gut instinct based on what I know of Jennifer. Red blooded woman with varied interests versus adult sorority girl who happens to have an acting career. I think because it was such a 180-degree-turn and he was looking good during that "Mr and Mrs Smith" time, it was definitely hot copy. And AJ was still dealing with her man-eating reputation, etc. Jen can't compete with that no matter how much raunch she tries for the rest of her career. She'll always be Rachel to most people. Kind of an old school problem since so many movie stars have turned from movies to quality TV shows. There was a time when so many actors hated doing TV because it was a step down and you could get pigeon-holed so easily. She is one of the last people I can think of who is truly saddled with this.
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Post by Binky on Sept 2, 2014 12:41:14 GMT -4
At the same time, I remember when news of BP and AJ dating came out, my initial reaction was "Whoo, go Brad!" only because I imagined being Brad Pitt and having the choice, I would have gone for dark and exciting and interesting over bland/vanilla/rest of life water and hair color ads. My gut instinct based on what I know of Jennifer. Red blooded woman with varied interests versus adult sorority girl who happens to have an acting career. I think because it was such a 180-degree-turn and he was looking good during that "Mr and Mrs Smith" time, it was definitely hot copy. And AJ was still dealing with her man-eating reputation, etc. Jen can't compete with that no matter how much raunch she tries for the rest of her career. She'll always be Rachel to most people. Kind of an old school problem since so many movie stars have turned from movies to quality TV shows. There was a time when so many actors hated doing TV because it was a step down and you could get pigeon-holed so easily. She is one of the last people I can think of who is truly saddled with this. Yeah, she will always be Rachel, the tv star. The power differential between AJ, the movie star, will always be there.
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tortuga
Landed Gentry
Posts: 971
May 4, 2006 20:18:39 GMT -4
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Post by tortuga on Sept 2, 2014 13:26:53 GMT -4
It was a perfect storm in so many ways. Betty v. Veronica in real life (except in this case Archie is the Sexiest Man Alive).
Another thing which I had forgotten until I saw a timeline yesterday is how fast it all moved. January 2005 Brad/Jen separation announced. June/July 2005 Angelina adopts Zahara and Brad is there. (Flashback to 2005 me: "Well, that's nice that they're good friends and he came along."..oy.) November 2005 Brad is adopting Maddox and Zahara. January 2006 announce pregnant with Shiloh. (2006 me: Oh. I guess the rumors are really true then..)
So within a space of a year, went from Brad/Jen super golden couple to Brangelina multi-culti family.
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Post by FotoStoreSheila on Sept 2, 2014 13:33:41 GMT -4
Heh, all of your '2005 flashback' reactions are mine to a T.
I remember I was vacationing with my parents in Barbados during Christmas 2004. I saw an US magazine cover at a grocery store with the Brad/Jenn separation. I immediately ran to an internet cafe (yikes!) so I could join in the discussion on fametracker.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 26, 2024 3:04:07 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2014 13:35:09 GMT -4
It was a perfect storm in so many ways. Betty v. Veronica in real life (except in this case Archie is the Sexiest Man Alive). Ha! SO true!
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Post by Mugsy on Sept 2, 2014 20:34:28 GMT -4
The Jen vs Angie is a classic question. Betty or Veronica? Elizabeth or Debbie? Ginger or Mary Ann? It's always sexy vamp or girl next door. I'm sure there are more. Interesting that Mary Ann is the only brunette girl next door.
As for Brad's fame being greater than it should have been back in the '90s, considering his questionable box office, I think part of it was his penchant for dating actresses. Seriously, has he ever dated outside of Hollywood? Being with Juliette Lewis, then Gwyneth, then Jen - all during high points in their careers - really boosted Brad's fame. People often accuse actresses of benefitting from that, but Brad is the poster boy for dual fame piggybacking.
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diablique
Landed Gentry
Posts: 569
Oct 30, 2005 20:07:46 GMT -4
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Post by diablique on Sept 2, 2014 20:45:58 GMT -4
Brad was the bigger movie star when he started dating Paltrow. He was a movie star, she wasn't. Hardly anyone knew who she was. He was a movie star getting paid 17M/movie when he started dating Jennifer Aniston.
He's now making 20 plus million per movie. Paltrow is she making that? NO. Has she ever made that much per film? No. Is Jennifer making that much/film? No. Has she ever made that much per film? No. Angelina is now. She wasn't when they got together. Brad was.
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danadel
Blueblood
Posts: 1,661
Jun 27, 2006 1:36:55 GMT -4
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Post by danadel on Sept 2, 2014 22:22:17 GMT -4
Yeah, he was the star and both Jen and Angie started doing better projects once they were with him. Angelina's CV wasn't that great prior to getting together with him. Now her personal and professional clout have intermingled and boosted both sides
And Jennifer has been riding the wave of being mrs brad Pitt then the ex mrs Pitt ever since they got together. Despite any tabloid attention, I doubt she'd trade it for anything.
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