ANGELINA Jolie AP
FOR A long time now, Angelina Jolie has won the admiration of millions, not just due to her beauty and acting talent, but also for her humanitarian and charitable endeavors—beyond the call of stardom.
As special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for more than a decade, she’s flown all over the world to visit refugee camps and generate global attention and involvement in efforts to uphold the rights of disenfranchised victims of war and political subjugation.
Last May 16, the famous actress-advocate won even more plaudits when she delivered a speech at a BBC-sponsored forum on the worsening refugee problem, which has been spinning out of control this past year, with millions fleeing from Syria and other war-torn lands to desperately build new homes and lives in Europe and just about any other place in the world that’s willing to accept them.
Angelina Jolie-Pitt’s keynote speech thrust her at the forefront of the global refugee problem—and its solution.
The fact that she was singled out for the honor and responsibility has added significantly to the international cachet and influence in this exceedingly grave and delicate area—where even some diplomats fear to tread.
Her now-important role on the global stage makes her much more than “just” a famous actress.
Indeed, without the official title, her position now reminds us of another Hollywood star, Shirley Temple, who eventually became US Ambassador to the United Nations.
Her incisive and insightful speech, which won plaudits right after she spoke and agreed to answer questions, offered not just her observations, but solutions to the grave problem and dilemma that’s facing many European countries in relation to opening their doors to refugees from war and political oppression.
She knows whereof she speaks because, in the past 15 years as UN special envoy, she’s gone on over 50 missions to generate global attention and support to alleviate and mitigate the daunting humanitarian crisis.
Aside from Angelina, her husband, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney have also used their celebrity, not just to generate global attention for major humanitarian and environmental issues, but also to raise many millions of dollars, some of them coming from their own deep pockets, to build homes and save lives.
Other show biz luminaries in past decades have done the same, like Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda and Paul McCartney, but today’s “actor-advocates” have surpassed them in terms of intensity and consistency of their involvement.
We hope that our homegrown celebrities will similarly step up to the plate in this regard, not just when their busy schedules permit, but as a key part of their lives, as
Angelina has done.
In fact, her entertainment career and humanitarian involvements have been dovetailing of late, by way of her latest directorial effort, “First They Killed My Father,” an anti-Khmer Rouge docu-drama.
Filipino actor-filmmakers have so many opportunities and “provocations” to do the same in these parts—so, what’s stopping us?