Baby, Oh Baby - Madonna, Angelina and Maybe Britney?
Posted by: Denelle
As a few of you know I am getting ready to go to grad school. The application has been sent and I'm taking the GRE this weekend. Thankfully, David/Bradley/Kent are covering for me here as I have been eyeball deep in study materials this week. Saturday is the big day and since the GRE people went and got all snazzy with computerized tests I should have my results immediately. Nice of them to allow you to either realize your dreams or see them crushed infront of your face instantly. Any extra prayers you might think to toss my way would be greatly appreciated.
However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to comment on the lastest celebrity rumblings.
Step Right Up and Get Your Baby Here
Madonna has gone and gotten herself a baby from the country of Malawi. And in the process, like most things Madonna, has managed to cause a storm of controversy. Adoption groups are accusing her of using her star power and her deep pockets to speed up the adoption process in a country where adoption by non-nationals is extremely difficult. There are couples on the list for children from Malawi who have waited for years and yet Madonna walks in and manages to snatch one up in less than a week.
Personally I think the most mortifying fact of all in this farce is that the child is not an orphan. He has a father. A father that didn't even understand that his child was being put up for adoption until after Madonna had set her beady eyes on him. A father that then made a statement claiming that he was glad that his son was going to a "good Christian family" in "America". Ummm, did someone fail to point out to him that Madonna isn't a Christian, she's a member of an extreme sect of ancient mystical Judaism, who has most recently hung herself from a cross and during her concerts AND she lives in England not the U.S. I wonder if this man would still be so willing to give up his son if he realized the full extent of the situation?
Also incredibly interesting to this story is the way that the world seems to have come out swinging against Madonna but was so incredibly supportive of Angelina Jolie when she adopted Zahara from Ethiopia last year. Maybe it's because Angelina seems to genuinely care about Africa and the plight of children there. Had Madonna even set foot on the continent before swooping down this past week? Maybe it's because Zahara was actually an orphan. Or maybe it's just because the world loves to pick on Madonna for all of the insane things she's done in her life.
No matter what the cause I think the NY Post nailed it when they claimed "this season's new must-have accessory: African babies. They're this year's Birkin bag!" African children have become a status symbol, a way to prove you care about the world and in the bases terms, a trend. I must remember to pick one up so that I too can be hip. Do you think Bergdorf's is carrying them yet?
I'm all for bringing awareness about the plight of children in Africa to the forefront of people's minds. But what happens when we move on to next year's "trend"? You've impacted the life of the one child you adopted and that's wonderful. Maybe Madonna should have matched the $3 million donation she made to the orphanage where she picked out her new son, with one to other hospitals and schools that are desperately in need. Then she could be affecting the lives of hundreds of children and truly making a difference instead of simply picking up the newest "it" item for her collection.
Scariest of all is the speculation that Britney Spear's may be the next on the adopt-an-African bandwagon. When she can figure out how to use a high chair and properly strap her own children into car seats then she can start trying to take on the rest of the world.
As a few of you know I am getting ready to go to grad school. The application has been sent and I'm taking the GRE this weekend. Thankfully, David/Bradley/Kent are covering for me here as I have been eyeball deep in study materials this week. Saturday is the big day and since the GRE people went and got all snazzy with computerized tests I should have my results immediately. Nice of them to allow you to either realize your dreams or see them crushed infront of your face instantly. Any extra prayers you might think to toss my way would be greatly appreciated.
However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to comment on the lastest celebrity rumblings.
Step Right Up and Get Your Baby Here
Madonna has gone and gotten herself a baby from the country of Malawi. And in the process, like most things Madonna, has managed to cause a storm of controversy. Adoption groups are accusing her of using her star power and her deep pockets to speed up the adoption process in a country where adoption by non-nationals is extremely difficult. There are couples on the list for children from Malawi who have waited for years and yet Madonna walks in and manages to snatch one up in less than a week.
Personally I think the most mortifying fact of all in this farce is that the child is not an orphan. He has a father. A father that didn't even understand that his child was being put up for adoption until after Madonna had set her beady eyes on him. A father that then made a statement claiming that he was glad that his son was going to a "good Christian family" in "America". Ummm, did someone fail to point out to him that Madonna isn't a Christian, she's a member of an extreme sect of ancient mystical Judaism, who has most recently hung herself from a cross and during her concerts AND she lives in England not the U.S. I wonder if this man would still be so willing to give up his son if he realized the full extent of the situation?
Also incredibly interesting to this story is the way that the world seems to have come out swinging against Madonna but was so incredibly supportive of Angelina Jolie when she adopted Zahara from Ethiopia last year. Maybe it's because Angelina seems to genuinely care about Africa and the plight of children there. Had Madonna even set foot on the continent before swooping down this past week? Maybe it's because Zahara was actually an orphan. Or maybe it's just because the world loves to pick on Madonna for all of the insane things she's done in her life.
No matter what the cause I think the NY Post nailed it when they claimed "this season's new must-have accessory: African babies. They're this year's Birkin bag!" African children have become a status symbol, a way to prove you care about the world and in the bases terms, a trend. I must remember to pick one up so that I too can be hip. Do you think Bergdorf's is carrying them yet?
I'm all for bringing awareness about the plight of children in Africa to the forefront of people's minds. But what happens when we move on to next year's "trend"? You've impacted the life of the one child you adopted and that's wonderful. Maybe Madonna should have matched the $3 million donation she made to the orphanage where she picked out her new son, with one to other hospitals and schools that are desperately in need. Then she could be affecting the lives of hundreds of children and truly making a difference instead of simply picking up the newest "it" item for her collection.
Scariest of all is the speculation that Britney Spear's may be the next on the adopt-an-African bandwagon. When she can figure out how to use a high chair and properly strap her own children into car seats then she can start trying to take on the rest of the world.
