“The Lib Dem leader Tim Farron”, announced the amiable Radio Five Live presenter, “will not be leading tomorrow’s newspapers with his conference speech today. Not when you hear this breaking news: Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt.” And so it will be. With refugees drowning on the high seas, The Syrians/Russians bombing a UN aid convoy killing Red Crescent (Cross) volunteers in the process and all we will be hearing about for the next few days is the imminent divorce of some film stars. Not just any old film stars either: they are Brangelina, THE celebrity couple. Nothing else matters, now.
I know little about Brad or Angelina in professional terms, although I have used the former’s name in a kind of rhyming slang capacity when referring to bathroom visits. That I could not name a single movie either of them have appeared in is more a reflection of my poor cinema-going habits. If it’s not a comedy or James Bond, I’m happy to give most films a miss. I think I would recognise Ms Jolie if she wandered into my local but less so Mr Pitt. I suspect the female population of my village just might.
Although I am writing about their impending divorce, I do so only to say that I am not terribly interested in what the irreconcilable differences were, nor who gets to keep the children. I genuinely have no view at all about that. I am far more interested in Jolie’s astonishing humanitarian work over some 15 years, due to which she was deservedly awarded an honorary damehood by the Queen. Unlike some celebrities we could name, Jolie has not just dabbled at humanitarian work she has been there on the front line and she has used her celebrity in a positive and powerful way, even if she did have to appear on numerous occasions with William Hague. I don’t suppose you can have everything.
Many people will be interested in finding out more about the divorce, the reasons and especially the financial arrangements. We know this because that is the reasons tabloid newspapers exist. You do not buy the Sun, Mail, Mirror or Express specifically not to read celebrity tat: you buy it specifically to read celebrity tat. You could argue there is a public interest in details of the divorce but this member of the public has no interest at all.
Poor old Tim Farron. It must be bad enough that hardly anyone knows who he is and on his big day two famous people have announced they are no longer a couple. All those Lib Dem policies, those calls to arms, those instructions to his MPs to go back to their constituencies and prepare for unemployment (I think that’s what he said. I was dozing at the time) – all disappeared into the ether. Still, he’s always got next year. Unless Jolie and Pitt announce their new partners on the same day. That would be unlucky.
