Smart Sensuality Angelina Jolie: Virtue Considered in Carversville's Country Air

The air in Carversville is so clear, the light so luminous, that church bells ring clearly from miles away. Clearer even than in Florence. Why is it that I think more clearly, immersed in the sensory delight of this lush landscape?

I drank my double espresso, reading Tom Junod’s thought-provoking article about Angelina Jolie in July Esquire. The topic is virtue … hers and ours … and the meaning of 9/11 in our celebrity-struck, American lives, over five years later.

Life at the Scene of the Crime

Jolie has worked tirelessly since 9/11 to make a difference. Have I?

My NYC home lies on the perimeter of the World Trade Center site. A collage of photos of the Twin Towers, the Statue of Liberty, and a Parisian bicycle with a heart-shaped front wheel are displayed in my bedroom. The votive candles are new, but I bought the black and white art photos in London, a few days before the massacre. No explicable reason why I chose these photos; I liked them; who knew.

Comfort Lane in Carversville CountrysideJunod raises an interesting question about virtue and democracy in today’s world. It’s easy to consider the merit of his query, with nothing more than at least 50 dancing, prancing butterflies to distract my thoughts.

New Day Democracy

Jolie intersects with Mariane Pearl in the new movie “A Mighty Heart”, the story of Pearl’s husband Danny’s death in Pakistan. Bound by Jolie’s portrayal of Mariane Pearl, the two women believe that “the real story of Daniel Pearl’s death lies in the coming together of good people to fight evil, rather than evil guys coming together to destroy good. The movie “A Mighty Heart” celebrates the fact that some people are just better.”

Junod wonders aloud if we are ambivalent about do-gooders like Jolie and Pearl because we fear that they actually are better and are “self-selecting themselves into a natural aristocracy.

” Democracy”, Junod argues, “looks worse and worse now that Islamists have harnessed the power of the mob. The salvation once inherent in the power of the people now depends on the power of people who live on screen or on the radio.”

Reflecting on Dagny Taggart

These words cause me to reflect on my own literary idol, Dagny Taggart. I’ve lived with this woman … heart, mind and soul … for decades. While I find Ayn Rand harsh and overly-simplistic at times, I love Dagny, one of Jolie’s next film projects. I’m a lot like Dagny.

The clear message of “Atlas Shrugged” embraces a natural aristocracy based on hard work, real productivity and genuine talent … although the first two qualify you for club membership. Inclusion isn’t based on privilege or politics. Nevertheless, it is a totally self-reliant ideology … a selfish one to many people.

The Bell Tolls for Virtue

Anne’s house in CarversvilleOh my goodness. I came to Carversville from Manhattan to commune with nature, to drift in rapturous beauty for a day or two … to play Mozart on my new piano … trim my rose bushes … the essence of a simple country weekend.

Instead a men’s magazine and church bells ringing in the distance call me, not to prayer, but to reflection on real virtue in a 9/11 world. George Washington crossed the Delaware a few miles down the road from these prancing butterflies. I wonder what he would think about this increasingly complex notion of democratic principles in our modern world.

All in all, I think it’s time to make gazpacho. The temp will be 90 degrees in the shade today. Who can eat anything hot?

Love,
Anne