By: Mikey Cabrera
You’ve probably heard of Angelina Jolie. Whether it is from her roles in blockbuster films like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, or the more recent Maleficent, Angelina Jolie has consistently garnered attention from the public over the past decade. You probably know about her troubled past, growing up without a father, dealing with depression, and amassing a knife collection. At the very least, you’re probably aware of her relationship with another famous, Hollywood actor, Brad Pitt, which has been made omnipresent in tabloids by the paparazzi. The odds are, however, that you aren’t aware of her vast amount of charity work as well as her role as a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador.
With all the hype generated last week by Kim Kardashian’s provocative “Break the Internet” photo shoot, the world has really begun buzzing, asking: are celebrities truly capable of bringing positive change to the world with their fame and fortune? There are other celebrities, like Angelina Jolie, who do consistent work to make the world a better place. In 2001, as Angelina Jolie began filming the action movie, Tomb Raider, she travelled to Cambodia for work. Important portions of the film were filmed on location amongst the ruins of the world famous Angkor Wat, Cambodia. It was during this trip to Cambodia that Jolie first became aware of the suffering of the people in the war-ravaged country, later stating that her “eyes started to open.” It was this eye-opening experience that caused the Hollywood star to understand the worldwide humanitarian crisis. It also influenced her decision to contact the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Following an inquiry into what she could do to alleviate the problem, she adopted her first son, Maddox, from the country.
From then onwards, Jolie visited over thirty different countries on behalf of the UNHCR. The countries include war zones like Darfur in Sudan during the Darfur genocide, Chad during its own civil war, and even Libya during the 2011 Libyan revolution. In these countries, she has worked on behalf of the homeless and the dispossessed. Moreover, Jolie has continued to travel around the world in order to bear witness and provide support to disaster relief, vulnerable children, environmental conservation, as well as international law and global justice efforts.
So, although she might not be a poverty stricken girl from rural Pakistan striving towards equal rights to education worldwide, or a young, inspirational Harry Potter movie star making globally recognized speeches at the UN, Jolie’s rise from Hollywood actress to a globally acknowledged humanitarian deserves recognition. And at least, the most important piece of information we can gather from Jolie’s work is that, yes in answer to the previous question raised, celebrities do have the power to make a change. Thus, either from being a humanitarian or simultaneously using her Hollywood fame to implement change in the world, Jolie certainly deserves the attention that she receives.