TANG CHHIN SOTHY VIA GETTY IMAGES. Angelina Jolie speaks to the media about her upcoming film on the Khmer Rouge era and Cambodian genocide during a press conference at a hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on Feb. 18, 2017.

Shoot, Aim, Ready

Angelina Jolie has responded to Vanity Fair contributor Evgenia Peretz's inference that Jolie & Company exploited children in casting for her Netflix film about Cambodia 'First They Killed My Father'. Jolie is the cover story for Vanity's Fair's September issue. We note that at noon Sunday, Vanity Fair has not published news of Jolie's pushback on the suggestion that she exploited Cambodian children in the process of casting the young actors.

The controversy concerns a "pretend game" reportedly based on Jolie's close friend Loung Ung's real-life experience of being caught stealing by the Khmer Rouge. Ung, now a Cambodian-America profiled on AOC, survived the Khmer Rouge killings that claimed the lives of her parents, two siblings and nearly 2 million Cambodians in the late 1970s.

Before diving into the latest controversy around Angelina Jolie, the first thought that came to mind when reading about the 'Angelina exploits Cambodian kids' controversy was how incredibly judgmental Americans are.

My perception of this fundamental 'flaw' in the American mind was cemented when I responded to the difference between American responses and European ones to Franca Sozanni's 'Oil & Water' fashion editorial for Vogue Italia.

That fervor is on full display this week with demands to close down the Dana Schutz show at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art -- because Schutz, a world-renowned artist -- had the audacity to paint an image of Emmett Till. And we find it in the insistence by Muslim activist and Women's March leader Linda Sarsour that Jewish women in America are not feminists in they don't condemn Israel for the terrible situation in Palestine.

Religious Fervor Runs Deep In America's Psyche

The only explanation I can come up with is that the religious tradition is so strong in the American psyche that the oft-cited far-right has lots of company with the far-left in the fervor of its condemnations. There is no debate, no nuanced thought, no understanding of the complexity of life and -- most concerning of all -- no search for facts surrounding any situation. Both the left and the right operate with an almost unhinged fanaticism.

Within this world where people don't reach out to Angelina Jolie for clarification on their concerns but damn her casting strategy as abusive and cruel, Jolie on Saturday issued a long statement around the controversy. Writing for Huff Po, Carla Herreria shares Jolie's statement:

Jolie said in a statement Saturday that the audition scene had been taken out of context. According to the actress, there were parents, guardians and non-governmental organization partners, as well as medical doctors, present throughout the entire filmmaking process, including auditions. She emphasized that no one was hurt by participating in the recreation of the film’s scenes.

“Every measure was taken to ensure the safety, comfort and well-being of the children on the film starting from the auditions through production to the present,” she told HuffPost in a statement.

Jolie, who directed the film, said the audition “game” described in the profile was an improvisation exercise based off a scene in the film. She also said real money was not taken from children during the auditions.

“I am upset that a pretend exercise in an improvisation, from an actual scene in the film, has been written about as if it was a real scenario,” said Jolie, a United Nations special envoy for refugees. “The suggestion that real money was taken from a child during an audition is false and upsetting. I would be outraged myself if this had happened.”

A source familiar with the film’s casting process told HuffPost the children who auditioned were aware they were improvising a scene from the film, adding that no real money was involved. Casting directors reiterated to the kids auditioning that it was a “pretend game” in order to ensure the actors did not feel any pressure, the source said.

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