October 25, 2022

"In many ways, they each offered the other a different kind of legitimacy and power. For him, it was the legitimacy of high-minded activism..."

"... the idea that he was deeper than his screen image, who chomped on food with gusto and had a light, almost breezy touch. For her... [t]he relationship reaffirmed that Jolie’s stardom was born of a private life made public. Pitt was a magnet for the ravenous press, and she gained a level of visibility she hadn’t quite inhabited before. But it also bolstered her as an artist, a reciprocal dynamic that would persist throughout their relationship.... The beginning of the end of Jolie and Pitt’s intertwined star personae became evident with a single pale leg jutting dramatically out of a black velvet Versace gown at the 2012 Academy Awards.... An endless ream of memes lambasting the actress for seeming forced in her sexiness followed, placing her leg on a variety of figures or doubling it on the other side to make her look like a couture crab. It was the first time she seemed like a punch line...."

From "What Was Brangelina? They were known for their image-making savvy. As their divorce reenters the press cycle, we’re reminded of who’s better at it" by Angelica Jade BastiĆ©n (The Vulture).

An endless ream of memes lambasting.... What think you of the torrid, florid writing?

Do these intertwined star personae deserve this prodigious, ridiculous writing?

***

Overheard at Meadhouse:

I need a rhyme for "prodigious"?

Ridiculous.

44 comments:

Jake said...

Narcissus?

Jeff Gee said...

"I need a rhyme for "prodigious"?"
How 'bout "litigious"?

wendybar said...

Homewrecking Blood thirsty fame whores.

Lurker21 said...

Prestigious? Prestidigitous?

The article is pure speculation. It explains their behavior based on their public personas. What drew them closer together may have been precisely the the things they kept private and didn't show to the public.

My mom was very affected by the Liz Taylor-Debbie Reynolds-Eddie Fisher saga. Angelina-Jen-Brad is our generation's version of it, and People magazine will never let it go.

Quaestor said...

Litigious

Dolly's bosom was quite prodigious.
And her lawyer was quite litigious.

Quaestor said...

Darn you, Jeff.

Spiros said...

Brad Pitt's "Make It Right" foundation built dozens of ridiculous, pastel colored houses in New Orleans. Cheaply built with design flaws (like flat roofs!), almost all of the houses will be torn down.

Flat roofs seriously suck. They're gross too look at it. You can paint them white and they'll look nice for a few months before they get filthy. And you can never get rid of pooling water.

Also mansard roofs suck as well...

Quaestor said...

An endless ream of memes lambasting.... What think you of the torrid, florid writing?

Wearth thin, methinks.

Anthony said...

Have to say, I've really liked Pitt in virtually everything I've seen him in. (Which isn't all that much, actually) A River Runs Through It. Fury. Ad Astra. Ocean's Eleven. Allied. (not that many I've seen actually)

Weird because I feel like I should hate him.

Joe Smith said...

Brobdingnagious...

At least he came by his fame honestly.

She had a famous dad...

Joe Smith said...

'Also mansard roofs suck as well...'

Unless they're on a haunted mansion, then yes.

Curious George said...

You need a rhyme? Give Eminem a call. He can rhyme with orange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPcR5RVXHMg

Kate said...

Beau Bridges. If you say it with a casual air.

Howard said...

At least Brad didn't Marry his adopted step daughter once removed.

Original Mike said...

Suspicious.

Michael K said...

This is significant why ?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I need a rhyme for "prodigious"?

Religious.

Can't believe I'm the first to say it.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Brangeligious.

Ice Nine said...

I don't know, it's Hollywood. Perhaps her being a crappy actress married to a truly excellent actor had something to do with it. Or, just maybe, her carp-lipped, above average looks - overhyped as great beauty - in contrast to his actual extraordinary handsomeness. Just wonderin'...

tim maguire said...

As is so often the case, I had to look it up. It's a funny picture. Could her leg have been sticking out naturally, incidentally? It's hard to see why she would do that on purpose, but it's also hard to see how it could've happened absent purpose.

But then again, it's also hard to see how that wouldn't have disappeared from memory after a few days. How could that...whatever it was...have consequences? Staying power?

Ann Althouse said...

Googling for the rhyme while I was asking Meade, I too got “litigious,” but it’s not a rhyme, just a repetition of “-gious.”

It’s like rhyming ”bluebird” with “new bird.”

The difficult mental exercise is to isolate “-gious” and find a rhyme for that then get another word to go with it, preferably one that rhymes with “dih.”

Or use “us” as the last word and precede it with something that rhymes with “didge.”

Ann Althouse said...

I’d prefer something like “no big fuss.”

Narr said...

Delicious?

Aggie said...

Angelina has always seemed to me the type of damaged personality that comes from child abuse. She flits; she wrecks relationships as the outside woman, almost casually; she has a pretty toxic / vitriolic relationship with her father, John Voight, who has his own prodigious mountain of substance abuse and emotional toxicity. And she has her selfless moments, too. It all speaks to unresolved issues, of the flavor I mentioned - but that's just my opinion.

Pitt - he's a regular unpretentious Joe, and he's become a better actor with time. But you could see him driving a truck, if he'd taken a few different turns. In that relationship, at that time, I saw Jolie as the Black Widow man-eater, and I don't see it any differently now, although I have a lot of sympathy for her. She took what she wanted.

Rollo said...

Gone away is "prodigious."
Here to stay is "litigious."
Walking in a wordy wonderland.

Achilles said...

I need a rhyme for "prodigious"?

Ridiculous.


Officious is the word that popped up for me.

Prestigious depends on the intonation and accent.

Achilles said...

Just brainstorming not judging:

Indigenous

proficious

capricious

malicious

efficacious

mendacious

tendentious

meritorious

tendentious

meritorious

Original Mike said...

Bodacious. As in… well, never mind.

Jeff Gee said...

I think it’s more important to rhyme accented syllable than the terminal syllable (provided the terminal syllable is an identity, as it is here). ‘Bluebird’ and ‘new bird’ work fine in “Winter Wonderland.” You could argue it’s pretty uninspired, but it glides past your ear without disrupting the song. On the other hand, in ‘Betty Davis Eyes,’ the “Precocious” and “pro blush” 'rhyme' doesn’t glide past your ear. She DOES rhyme the accented syllable (good) but the terminal syllable is neither a rhyme nor an identity and it takes twenty listens to figure out what the hell she said (bad). And then when you do figure it out, you still can’t figure it out. If she said ‘She’s a bluebird / And she knows just what it takes to make a new bird,’ that would be stupid but it wouldn’t be MORE stupid than what we ended up with. Sometimes you just need roughage.

Fred Drinkwater said...

There's a very brief memorable scene near the beginning of "Fury". War Daddy (Pitt) is getting briefed and orders from his Captain(?). They both look ragged, worn.
The Captain (officer) tells Sgt. Pitt (noncom), "I know you know what you are doing".

mccullough said...

Tough to rhyme three syllable words, especially triadic ones (stress on middle syllable).

Narr said...

This whole thread could make me antidigious.

Owen said...

Religious. Not the first to say that.

But to your Q about florid prose: ugh. I guess what happens with this popcorn paparazzi industry is, the stars are just people, their problems aren’t all that novel or inspirational or even terribly interesting, so the game for the reporters and “experts” becomes how best to dress up a few sad facts with pop psychologizing and look-at-me overwritten fluff. So this is not surprising or excessive writing —within the genre. I am guessing here because frankly I don’t follow these people.

Kassaar said...

I would say "litigious" does rhyme with "prodigious", because the last stressed syllables are different, as in "clattering - shattering". (By that criterion "prestigious" does not rhyme with "litigious".)

Static Ping said...

If you are going to write about the trivial, you might as well try to make it sound exciting and/or important.

Michael K said...

"Actor" and "Activist" are a lethal combination.

Known Unknown said...

Rhymezone is your friend.

As for the rest, much ado about nothing.

Pitt is good opposite DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. If you like seeing Manson family hippies get absolutely obliterated, it's a winner.

Freeman Hunt said...

I reject all of this analysis of what each gained from their relationship professionally. Neither required the other professionally in any way. Both were/are extremely beautiful and talented A-list stars.

Quaestor said...

Our terror is prodigious.
The cannibals will fridge us,
Saving us for Christmas dinner pies.

Lurker21 said...

Four memes lambasting,
Three couture crabs,
Two intertwined personas,
One pale leg jutting,
Partridge, pear tree, etc.

Josephbleau said...

"I need a rhyme for "prodigious"?"

Powder Milk Biscuits, in the bright blue box,

They're Prodigious,

and so expeditious.

Josephbleau said...

"I need a rhyme for "prodigious"?"

Powder Milk Biscuits, in the bright blue box,

They're Prodigious,

and so expeditious.

Baceseras said...

I just noticed that ravenous doesn't rhyme with intravenous.

Pitt was a magnet for the ravenous press: a raven magnet.

Does seeing magnet and press in the same clause make you think of a press magnate?

Up to a point, Lord Copper.

Usually a press magnate would outrank a Pitt boss, but celebrity upends old rules, and appends new rules.

Imagine inhabiting such a level of visibility, as if that were in the realm of possibility.

Bed springs cushion falls -- as an artist I'd be bolstered, but I couldn't be bothered.

Without dynamic reciprocity, reciprocal dynamic is just promises promises. After all that . . .

After all that, I welcomed the sight of a single pale leg jutting dramatically out of a black velvet Versace gown. But then when wouldn't I welcome the sight of a single pale leg jutting dramatically out of a black velvet Versace gown?



And so it goes, from prodigious to prodigiouser.

Betcha didn't see
that coming, didja sir?

mikee said...

Angelina Jolie had the single pale leg jutting out of a black velvet Versace gown.
Bjork had a swan dress.
Lady Gaga wore a meat dress.
Janet Jackson had a wardrobe malfunction.
In the early days of the internet, "Terri Hatcher" was for a while one of the most searched names, because hers were indeed real, and spectacular.
Jennifer Lopez had her breasts almost, but not quite, falling out of an incredibly low plunging V-necked green Versace gown in a 2000 appearance that jump started her career and millions of teen boys. I suspect double sided tape was involved for prevention of on-air nip slips.

And all that is without mentioning the Met Gala, long a source for beyond-outrageous female fashion that makes "The Hunger Games" costumes look drab.

One can google "Lopez green dress" and google knows it is the 2000 Grammies one is seeking. Google "Jolie leg" and we get the subject of this post.

What won't female celebs do for attention?