By Barry Grossman



Whatsupic -- Unknown to me, this past weekend my daughter brought home and twice watched the DVD of Angelina Jolie's latest semi-animated picture "Maleficent" (which means "almost malevolent or diabolical; adj harmful or evil in intent or effect.") It was supposedly made for the amusement of children. When I found out she had watched it twice, I decided to watch it too. Despite its high production values, it is an utterly narcissistic piece of poison being injected into young minds.





The toy/video game hybrid title, Disney Infinity, will introduce Jolie’s Maleficent into their world this November by adding her as a playable character in the game’s 2.0 edition. It is still unconfirmed if Jolie will voice the character in Infinity, but it has been confirmed that the actress had a great amount of input on the design of the character and the toy figure that is required to play as Maleficent in the game.

This sordid Disney production is based on the 1959 tale of sleeping beauty but it seems to have become transparently autobiographical fantasy in which Jolie - who is often spun as a hero to the oppressed and disposed - plays a "horned" witch type character (no doubt seen by her as her own mother) presented as a sort of female Janus man but in whom goodness supposedly outweighs the far more obvious manifestations of evil within her, with the later not so subtly portrayed as a mother's necessary response to protect her daughter (a thinly veiled reference to herself) from her evil father (the detestable John Voight). The picture is full of mythological iconography. Apart from being a narcissistic exercise in publicly laundering of her neurotic baggage in Post-Oprah style, it is a scarcely veiled celebration of the pagan cult of motherhood, while like so much of the cultural porn coming out of Hollywood, it also does its utmost to vilify fatherhood.



No wonder young teenagers are even more inclined than they have always been, to harbour resentment and disrespect to their fathers, while tacitly embracing the fantasy world of nature worship and the dark "esoteric arts." In my view, this propaganda should be rated "R" and where possible, parents should do their utmost to keep their kids away from it.



The picture just goes to show that like so many post-pop Hollywood icons, Angelina Jolie needs treatment not adulation. Remember, without wanting to put too fine a point on it, this is the tragic woman who had her breasts removed, supposedly to avoid the genetic risk of cancer faced by her.



This has been an unpaid public service announcement.

