Speaking of Angelina Jolie

The concept of extreme beauty and its power


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Speaking of Angelina Jolie
by bahmani
09-Nov-2007
 

One of the things we as Iranians have in common with the West (surprised?) is the appreciation and an almost religious worship of extreme beauty. So strong is this in Iranians, that many of us can feel outright physical pain when we are confronted with "heavy duty beauty". To Iranians, the attainment of beauty is looked at as a birthright that even God (or Allah) cannot take away. Historically the pursuit of beauty has been well documented. In books and literature, art and architecture, and even as we have seen recently, Tehran has become the plastic surgery capital of the world, as big nosed beauties, do anything to mend the seemingly singular defining (obvious at least) flaw between their flawless doe eyes.

In the West, beauty is equally worshipped in many ways, but mostly in a baser association with wealth, health, goodness and purity, and of course sex. Even the comparatively sexually repressed Americans (compared to Europeans), who still seem somehow connected to those first Puritans who founded America, can't deny that very extreme beauty has very real power. Stronger even than their many convictions.

Which brings us to Angelina Jolie. One of the few times you will get a man and a woman to agree on anything, is the proposition that Angelina Jolie is possibly the most beautiful woman of all time. I say possibly, because there have been many other beautiful women, and depending on your standards of taste, preference, and particular point in time, you could have a very valid opinion as to who you think is or was even more beautiful than Angelina Jolie.

I realized this concept of extreme beauty and its power, when I saw "Alexander" the Oliver Stone film a few years ago about the (great) Greek conqueror. As an Iranian, I feel it is my duty to see any film that portrays the Persian Empire, first week, during prime time, in the theater, in full 35-mm THX (72-mm or IMAX if available) glory. (Yes, even "The 300"!) In the film Alexander, Angelina Jolie played the role of Olympias the mother of Alexander. One of the problems with the big silver screen is it's sheer size. In this film, Angelina's close-ups were literally 30 feet tall! Which amounts to a high dose of close contact beauty reflected into your brain all at once. An overdose actually. I remember coming out of the movie visually shaken, partially because of the price I had paid for a relatively awful film, but there was something more. I had literally been overcome with the maximum amount of beauty I felt I could take. My beauty quotient was reached. I realized that having seen so much beauty in one face, dramatically and at such a large size, I was literally full and couldn't take anymore. Beauty overload! A bit nauseous too.

Since then, Angelina Jolie has never looked as good. Age lines that would add courage, wisdom and character to anyone else, appear as huge flaws. Pretty much I haven't seen another Angelina Jolie film since. What would be the point? Anything that one sees at it's zenith is from then on scrutinized at such a level of high excellence, that being simply average or mediocre is considered a failure. I think this may have also impacted Angelina Jolie's career somewhat, Brad Pitt issues, adopting orphans, playing the wife of the slain Wall Street Journal journalist, Daniel Pearl in "A Mighty Heart".

Which brings me to my point. I think there reaches a point at which, having seen so much beauty, of such extreme intensity, that one becomes a bit insane, ill, and possibly even numb to it. Nothing can compare to the best. Having seen the most beautiful, accepting the merely OK, seems disappointing, even depressing, occasionally unacceptable. Just knowing and being able to distinguish beauty, inherently appears to be a curse of sorts. The very high standard of beauty we as Iranians have, is possibly our biggest flaw. Because we know the alternative, we cannot seem to accept anything less than the perfect, the flawless, the singularly undeniably most beautiful in everything we see, want, dream, and on very very rare occasions, do.

Which may very well be part of the explanation as to why we "do" relatively little. After all, how could what we "do" ever compare?


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more from bahmani
 
Rosie T.

NOSE

by Rosie T. on

Angelina is beautiful.  Sofia was beautiful.  Nico was beautiful.  Many have been extremely beautiful.  But I KNOW Sofia's lips were real, there were no collagen implants in those days.

There is a line in an Erich Roehmer film, called, excuse me please I'm going back years here....Pauline at the Beach where pubescent Pauline can't understand why the sophisticated Don Juan guy who everybody wants doesn't want to f- her cousin, who is Arielle Dombassie, but prefers this working class I think ice cream seller chick or something like that.  And he explains to Pauline, I don't remember the line, but it basically means that perfection is boring.

And Sylvia Plath said it another way, Perfection is terrible. It cannot have any children. Of course Angelina could and does but the point is philosophical.

 And again, what is on the silver screen is not real.  E.g., almost all Hollywood stars in real life have exceptionally large heads and small bodies, they are chosen that way just to get screen tested because it makes it easier to film them. And I could go on here but...

my real point is.....

WHAT IS WRONG WITH HAVING A BIG NOSE AND WHY IS IT ACCEPTED THAT CHOPPING IT OFF ENHANCES BEAUTY?  i THINK MARIA CALLAS WAS GORGEOUS. WHY DO PEOPLE SUPPORT PERSIAN WOMEN IN THE ALMOST UNIVERSAL VOLUNTARY MUTILATION OF THE FACE IN SUPPORT OF A EUROPEAN IDEAL OF WHAT A NOSE SHOULD BE?  NOT EVEN EUROPEAN, SPECIFICALLY NORTHERN EUROPEAN.......

I could go on about beauty all day. It's one of the reasons I gave my heart to Farah Diba when I was eleven years old and read about the Persepholis celebrations in Life magazine.  My mother was glamorous, as I've mentioned before, she patterned herself on Hedy Lamar. And Empress Farah was it for me, I thought she was so elegant....

BUT I WOULD'VE THOUGHT SO MAYBE EVEN MORE IF SHE'D HAD A NOSE WITH CHARACTER!

Maybe if Anglelina had a schnoz you wouldn't have felt over-surfeited as you did from seeing her 30 feet tall. No one ever said anything like that about Sofia....and Sofia had...a nose...

 Me too. I have...a nose. And I LOVE my nose. And I was GORGEOUS before I started to become...a crone...but as a crone I get to shoot my mouth off more, so it all evens out in the end... 

0:D (Smiley w/halo)

Robin


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I'll take Salma over Angelina anyday....

by hayek (not verified) on

....


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1 is taken?

by 1 (not verified) on

Not trying to impersonate any other 1, get a clue idiots, I just used it randomly to post a comment since anonymous was taken. It let me do it, so I had no idea there was another anonymous poster using 1. You and your conspiracy theories really need to get a room. Negah kon tora khoda! Now the anonymous posters think they have property! Now that is laziness!


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Contemplations on Beauty

by Bohloul (not verified) on

Beauty is the perfection of form, the proportion and harmony found in the constituent elements of a totality. The perfect positioning of the elements in an object together with the proper measurement of distances for each and every parcel, in addition to the suitable colors and the palpable material textures covering the elements -such as the softness of skin in case of a female human- conclude and shape the notion of beauty in the mind of the observer. The observer is thus enamoured by the harmonious structure found in the observant and calls it beautiful.
The above definition pertains to ‘physical beauty’ whereas physical stands for material meaning an state of existence whereby being manifests with limits. In its material state, existence becomes limited to the dimensions in x,y and z directions so to speak, manifesting in objects with certain length, width and height and becoming subject to motion or the inherent movement of corporeal entities whereby the entity perpetually exits an state of potentiality entering a mode of actuality thus changing shape in a context of existential displacement called time.
Beauty in its pure non-material state , however, is beyond our comprehension. All we can guess are surmises reflected in our worldly state of mind by existence itself. Our histrionic state of mind pertaining to this stage of existence does not allow us to grasp the real concept of beauty and it is thus beyond our discussion.
However, we do know that the harmony and majestic awe of existence was shattered in the pre-material phase of existence where the original souls of rational beings were created and in that non-material state the real unprecedented tragedy of existence occurred from which the whole software of existence was -temporarily- damaged and the viruses thus projected by the ungrateful souls changed the destiny of existence in both its non-material and physical state. Until the anti-virus program of Being works back and unknots the tentacles and disturbances projected by the unprecedented evil intentions of some rational souls originating in the pre-material phase of existence, we must endure the anomalies and tragedies inflicted upon human history and life.
It is thus in this context that the concept of ‘beauty’ should be contemplated. Beauty manifest in its physical state is the same beauty projected by existence if the original program of creation had not been shattered albeit in a lower scale. Thus Jolie’s mesmerizing beauty would have been the same or better if the pre-material tragedy had not occurred, with a few differences. First the degree of harmony and the percentage of proportion and all elements resulting in the perfection of her totality would have been more pronounced resulting in more beauty in a shape resembling the present Jolie. Second her Beauty would not fade by the passing of ages –as it has already done so- since in the original program of creation the concept of ‘body change’ and perpetual renewal or recreation of human bodies would have prevented the disappearance of beauty and thus making it everlasting.
Last and foremost, in the present state of existence the physical beauty does not necessarily pertain to a positive rational being. As we know in the pre-material phase of existence some or many rational souls unprecedently self-procured arrogance and thus generated the hitherto unknown reality and concept of evil. We do not know how many or what percentage of the rational souls in the pre-material phase were polluted by this devastating virus of evil and thus being perpetually metamorphosized to negative entities.
But we do know that according to the New Program of Creation the main objective of existence is the purgation of the virus-like, non-material ‘waves’ of evil from the existence itself. Thus human life and history is subject to countless anomalies and afflictions. In this phase of existence often negative souls are endowed with material and even spiritual privileges and positive souls afflicted with miseries. However, the case is not always like that.
Anyway, perfect beauty will be attained once the purgation is completed and the positive souls are corporealized in mesmerizing beautiful bodies in an elevated state of mind together with all the privileges of the material life but in a non-chaotical and existentially rational state of order and law.


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somebody is impersonating "1"

by 1 (not verified) on

All of the posts in this thread that were made by "1" are by me, except this one:

.by 1 (not verified) on Sat Nov 10, 2007 05:43 PM PST
.
.

Hmmmm.....I know who he is... very immature!

. I think I'm done here.


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u just dont get it guys do

by sam (not verified) on

u just dont get it guys do u?
"think"!


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Iranian Dude Needs to put the crack pipe down

by 1 (not verified) on

AND LOOK IN THE MIRROR! Stop looking around at other cultures, and actually read bahmani's piece. He is rather poignantly suggesting that at a time when the US and Iran are on the verge of war, maybe we as the people who are going to suffer if this war happens, ought to DO something about it and focus on what we have in common rather than what we have that is different. The article isn't actually about Angelina AHMAGH!!! He suggests we may be too apathetic or too lazy to act. I get it. Why can't you? How could you bring up the nuances of Lebanese food after reading this? Sounds like you wanted to write an article. Judging by the length of your rambling comment, you should have. The next time you read articles on Iranian.com, and get all inspired to rant and rave, take a few days formulate it into a piece with a point like this, get yourself an account and post it like a real man. Otherwise you are the retarded one, you apparently have Turrets too.


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Angie t and plastic surgery... no way...

by far (not verified) on

Hey all you horney Iranian guys out there. Not really meaning to rain on your parade but you dear Angie has done plastic surgery too, like the other 90% of the Iranian woman ... check it out here:

//cityrag.blogs.com/main/2006/07/angelina_nos...
...I know "Haji agha" is really disapointed now....

Also she pops diet pills to stay thin. She had a lesbian relationship with Japanese model "Jenny Shimizu" for about 10 years on the side while being married twice. Asid from being a heroin addict and into 1001 wired stuff like carrying her husband's blood in a bottle on a necklace(Her husband at the time was Billy Bob Thornton)... well yes she is really beautiful not doubt about it.


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question for bahmani....

by 1 (not verified) on

Of these living creatures, which one also goes after a beautiful mate?

a. birds
b. bees
c. monkeys
d. elk
e. duhhh, I don't know!
f. all of them
g. some of them


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Iranian dude....relax baba!

by 1 (not verified) on

Your argument about Lebanses cuisine and culture being more popular than Iranian culture, is not on a level playing field. Lebanese people had emigrated out of Lebanon en masse about a century sooner than Iranians. As a result they've had more time to expose their culture and their way of life. Since you were at it, you forgot to mention that they have very prominent politicians in the west, and cities named after Lebanon also. We're gradually seeing the Iranian culture penetrating the west as well, such as in the movies, music, food, and recently some small steps in politics. You need to give it time, for the culture to be interwoven, and the Iranians are just in the early stages.


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RE: ARE you ON Drugs???

by Irani Lover (not verified) on

Man, you just gotta relax. Maybe your type of thinking is our problem - taking every fvckin little thing seriously. Be positive. For once, it'd be great to just have fellow Iranians among one another and joke around and easily talk about these stupid topics.


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ARE you ON Drugs???

by Iranian_dude (not verified) on

Dude,
I am so sick and freaking tired of people like you that I feel nauseated and feel like vomiting. People like you are so out of it that you imagine that Iran has this very special bond with the West. And from time to time, there appears an Iranian TOOL who spits out phrases like "One of the things we as Iranians have in common with the West (surprised?)"
I hope someone else doesnt come about and says that Iranians lie the West like joking, cursing or eating. Hey, MR & MRs Tools these are normal human actions. It has nothing to do with East or the West.
Beauty is appreciated in all parts of the world. But you are so "fucking" retarded Mr Bahmani, you have not lived in any place other than the West and Iran and hence you come to believe that these two regions have something in common.
GET on with your freaking lifes. Stop acting stupid. Go take a lesson in psychology or sociology for goodness sake.
All this Bull Shit talk about how Iran and the West are so related. Dude, the Greeks fought the Persians. Get it. The Greeks back then were founder of what is called Western Democracy. Who the heck do you think the were fighting? another Democracy? Na Idiot, Iran then and nOw has been a dictatorship- a one man show. Period.
Our achievements or should I say the achievements of Iranians/Persians to the West as we know it has been far and far less than those Arabs that we look so down upon and who by the way share so little with the West (according to your Bahmani mind thinking authors).
The entire West has been dazzled by the beauty of Salma Hayek a Lebanese Mexican
The entire West has been hyptonized by the voice of Shakira, a Lebanese Colombian
the richest man in the world is Selim Hoss the Lebanese Mexican boss of Mexico's Telecomunications
All of Europe especially France knows of artists like Sheb Khalid the singer of "didi " and "Aisha"
Singers amongst them Sting have incorporated the voice of Sufi Pakistani singer like Nusrat Fath Ali Khan.
Any Westerner would prefer Lebanese cuisine over Perisna food any time of the day!
So wake the fuck up and understand that a handful of Lebanese have had far more profound impact on Western lifestye and thinking than us Persians.
Lets not forget that most Arab people know atleast two languages whereas the IRanians in Iran can only speak Persian and an embarrasing profusely broken accent of another. Compare them to the English spoken by Pakistanis, the French by Lebanese, Morracans, Algerians and Tunisians.
So please enough of these articles. Wake up and realize that Iran is still in the Middle East ssurrounded byneighbors who had tremendously influenced the ways and culture of Iranians. Remember this before you and the like of you start another sentence with " Why do Iranians and Westerners act so much alike?"


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Sophia Loren!!!!

by Irani Lover (not verified) on

Perfect beauty (when she was younger of course)! And at different angles Soraya actually resembled Sophia. But again, Sophia is the best.

Speaking of Soraya ... don't you think that Shah, a muslim Iranian, looked a lot like a Jew? That fish-eyed look made him pretty comparable to a Jewish look.


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Angelina Jolie is the mother

by Anonymous34344 (not verified) on

Angelina Jolie is the mother of one biological child and 3 adopted children. I am sure she has lots of help. But let's remember that she is a mom and that mean a lot of work. She also lost her mother to cancer. She has a broken relationship with her father. So? In the past year, she has aged, lost and gained weight, probably been depressed (post partum followed by mother's death). She isn't what she used to be. Still, she is very beautiful. Next time, check out her nails, the green of her eyes and the natural way she keeps her hair.


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she is beautifull , with no question

by hajiagha on

//hajiagha.tripod.com

این زن های ایرانی با دماغ گنده و کون پهن و قد کوتاه ....کحا و خو شگله کحا....


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My view

by Bored Iranian dude (not verified) on

It looks like someone pushed her face against a wall for a year, and she fought back by pushing back with her lips, she also has a heart and the name "billy bob" tattoed on her arm, sexy no? Persian girls should seriously stop being affected by this whole beauty consept, they are even far worse than western girls. Make up and angelina jolie copycatism does'nt make an iranian girl hot, its her mind that does that.


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Thats totally Persian

by Alborzi (not verified) on

Thinking Alain Delon was compensating by seducing
those women is old fashioned. They may have seduced him.
It reminds me when I first arrived here and I was asking
my girl friend how was it? She told me just like others, she
enjoys FFFFFg. So I gave her the big speech that no its the guys doing FFFFFg and the girls get FFFFed any way she thought that was funny.


Darius Kadivar

BB Talking of German Beauties take a look ;0)

by Darius Kadivar on

I have to admit to my shame I have a weakness for those Germanic so-called Aryan Viking Beauties that we feel guilty of admiring in the West ever since the end of WWII. You know the Volcano type under the IceBerg or the one you would like to see in an SS uniform and a Whip but with a sloggy underwear... ;0))

Dear Readers and Bruce Just kidding about my last fantasy of course. Don't take it too seriously. But there is some macho truth in it neverthless: I just take comfort in the fact that my attraction towards these Heavenly Creatures is compensated by my hatred for racists and advocates of pure blood (which is not your case). In anycase we are all originating from Lucy the African Homo Sapian are we not ? .

Our National French Star Alain Delon was lucky to seduce quite a few to compensate for the German Occupation of France. ;0))

Romy Schneider or Senta Berger to name a few.

See the following except from one of his films with the Volcanic Senta  Berger:

//fr.youtube.com/watch?v=hpudQVdHY0w

Sweet Dreams Everyone and VIVE LA FRANCE !

Darius from France

PS: VIVE L'ALLEMAGNE WITHIN EUROPE too ;0))

 


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her thickooo

by 1 (not verified) on

BTW, a lot of people are tunred off by her lips and think they're too thick...& ....


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get over your obsession with Angelina

by 1 (not verified) on

pffff...they're are beautiful, but stop obsessing over them. There are many ordinary (not famous) beautiful people that are not famous nor in your face.


bahmani

Soraya was definitely in this league

by bahmani on

Thanks for the memory of Soraya, she was possibly the most beautiful Iranian woman of all time.


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Soraya was good too

by Akborzi (not verified) on

Soraya especially after divorcing Shah and becoming less formal was very good too. These people who have been
given a gift by God should appear in Play Boy once in their life, it would be a waste other wise, for history on Soraya
check these //www.bakhtiarifamily.com/soraya.php


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