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Why we're so broken up about

the Jolie and Pitt breakup


Learn and Talk III – Lesson 74

Preview
Words Expressions

1. notorious /nəʊˈtɔː.ri.əs/ [adjective] sympathize with


famous for something bad
straight out of
2. outpouring /ˈaʊtˌpɔː.rɪŋ/ [noun]
an expression of strong feeling that is difficult to control
set them apart
3. turmoil /ˈtɜː.mɔɪl/ [noun]
a state of confusion, uncertainty, or disorder as far as

4. brood /bruːd/ [noun] high-mindedness


a person's young children

5. infidelity /ˌɪn.fɪˈdel.ə.ti/ [noun]


the quality of being unfaithful; having sex with someone who is not your
husband, wife, or regular sexual partner

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Learn and Talk III – Lesson 74

Article

Why we're so broken up about the Jolie and Pitt breakup

Nothing is sacred in Hollywood anymore, or so the


adage goes. Especially not in Hollywood relationships.
So why are we breaking out the Kleenex and vodka over
the breakup of two of the A-list of A-listers? Or
conversely, shallowly rejoicing with gifs and Friends
reruns?
Didn’t we expect this fate from a couple that started in
the most dramatic of fashions? A couple who have both
spent their lives in an industry that notoriously puts the
American divorce rate of 50 percent to shame?
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Learn and Talk III – Lesson 74

The short answer is no. Many fans believed these crazy kids would make
it to the end, if outpourings on Twitter are any indication of group
sentiment. And there are a few reasons why we’re more emotional over
BrexPitt than your average Taylor Swift parting of ways.

Of course there are the children -- any child of divorce or friend of a divorced
family can sympathize with the pain of split parents -- and we’ll respect their
wishes and leave them out of it. The real reason for our outsized interest has to
do with how the couple got together, and the fact that they positioned their
relationship as above the Hollywood fray.

If two people are crazy enough to go through so much turmoil to be together,


maybe it’s a love affair straight out of an old Hollywood film, right? Flash forward
through the next decade, and the couple’s focus on their growing brood of
children, work with the UN, support for each other’s careers and general
downplay of the dramatic fashion in which they got together helped cultivate a
kind of celebrity elite status that set them apart.

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Learn and Talk III – Lesson 74

They had seemingly pulled off the impossible: Getting out of a messy
Hollywood divorce with A-list status and careers intact and with none of
the philandering, home-wrecking connotations. They became a symbol
for true love. People on Twitter have gone as far as to equate them to the
Obamas for their solid relationship status. And they worked to cultivate
that image. Less than a year ago they gave a rare interview to Tom
Brokaw and the Today show, promoting the strength of their marriage
and leading the veteran journalist to say they'd re-written the celebrity
guidebook to fame.

It was one of the last they gave before today's news hit, news that feels
squarely out of the old celebrity guidebook. They've cited irreconcilable
differences, a wish to focus on the children. The internet has gone into
overdrive coming up with possible theories on their break-up: Infidelity,
bad parenting, jealousy, differences in lifestyles. In the end it's been a
classic celebrity divorce, despite the picture painted of pure love and high-
mindedness, one that's left us wondering what true love means in
Hollywood.

4 © 2016 Acadsoc Limited


Learn and Talk III – Lesson 74

Discussion

1. Have you ever seen any movies starring Jolie and Pitt? Can
you talk about one of them?
2. What is your opinion about the marriage of famous people?
3. Why do fans care so much about the life of their favorite
stars?

5 © 2016 Acadsoc Limited


Learn and Talk III – Lesson 74

Further Reading

Full Text:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2016/09/20/why-were-so-broken-up-brangelina-
breakup/90746138/
6 © 2016 Acadsoc Limited

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