Angelina Jolie. The mere mention of her name makes most people think of a few words : beautiful, worldly, and above all admired. Yes, admired. Angelina seems to have completely reversed her reputation as a sultry goth chick with a penchant for knives, self inflicted pain, bisexuality and a questionable sex life, vials of blood and a preoccupation with thoughts of death. Now, Angelina is adored by millions, perhaps regarded with some skepticism and scrutiny by others, and by and large VERY followed.

This is the life of Angelina Jolie. It doesn't make sense to some of us, and yet we just can't seem to get enough media coverage on this mysterious and yet completely open book of a human being. Is it her uncanny and ethereal beauty that we all can't get enough of, or her insistence on surprising us all with how she expresses herself, and the extent to which she lives her life, and I mean, really "lives" life.

True, some women may think of Angelina as a husband snatcher when she and Brad Pitt hooked up after months of denial and statements to the effect that they were "just friends' with a deep admiration for eachother. Still other people may question her sudden turn to a cleaner, more settled life of children (Maddox, Zahara and Shiloh to be exact) and charity. But can't these people accept that even the wildest and most rebellious of individuals find peace and finally settle on what their true calling in life is. Or do they have a good point?

I may be one of those conflicted people actually. On one hand, I see the Angelina who is undeniably beautiful and fascinating, whom I can't help but gaze in awe at when I see her face plastered on the gossip mags in line at the grocery store. On the other hand, I do have to question the fact that she seems to have no "girlfriends", and that she always seems to be reeling the men in one by one, perhaps not by any true fault of her own but alternatively because "men just can't help themselves".

I mean, will every woman who's husband or significant other appears in a film with Angelina have to worry about their other half helplessly being drawn into Angelina's man trap? That part of me as a woman regards her with great reluctance and suspicion, but yet I still can possibly find a way to rationalize this. All is fair in love and war. Right?....right?

And then I wonder, why am I concerning myself so much with this person that I don't even know? Has celebrity obsession become this overwhelming that we are all drawn into the irrestistable tracter beam that is celebrity overkill? Why are we all worried about what Angelina, or Paris, or Jennifer or Vince are doing with their lives?

Are we all victims of a greater conspiracy to sell junky tabloids and TV specials, or is this just another form of extreme escapism in the greatest of American traditions (I say this with great sarcasm and dismay mind you). Either way, I'm still on the fence about Angelina. Saint or backstabber? I don't know, can you decide for me?