The Gospel According to Saint Angelina

My new piece at The Federalist:

Angelina Jolie wants us to talk about rape, but not in the Western-centric, man-blaming, feminist-professor way of the chattering classes.

She would like us to move beyond insular #YesAllWomen Twitter outrage to a global perspective with a broader, wiser understanding of the evils of human nature and the ability to overcome that evil with good.

Jolie stepped into this conversation way back in 2009 when she agreed to lend her considerable star power to a movie that explored rape in the context of a children’s story.

That movie became “Maleficent,” the blockbuster fairytale backstory dominating the domestic and global box office.

Jolie confirmed June 10 to the BBC that, as some had theorized, the wing-stealing scene does indeed refer to sexual violation.

“We were very conscious, the writer and I, that [the scene in question] was a metaphor for rape,” Jolie said.

The crucial scene depicts the fairy Maleficent meeting her human sweetheart. Motivated by ambition, he drugs her and cuts off her wings.

Hayley Krischer at the Huffington Post was shaken by this storyline: “This is the horrific side of rape culture. We’re so enmeshed in it that it’s impossible to ignore that a metaphorical rape occurs in a Disney movie.”

She shouldn’t be shocked.

Click here to read the rest at The Federalist.