In an interview with BBC Radio's Woman's Hour on Tuesday, Angelina Jolie spoke about the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict she co-chaired and a violent scene in her new film, Maleficent, which she reveals is a metaphor for rape. When asked about the moment when Jolie's character has her wings torn away by a childhood friend, the actress says it was a scene she and the writer, Linda Woolverton, thought a lot about:
"The question was asked: 'What could make a woman become so dark and lose all sense of her maternity, her womanhood, and her softness?' Something would have to be so violent and aggressive and so of course for us, we were very conscious, the writer [Woolverton] and I, that it was a metaphor for rape. And that this would be the thing that would make her lose sight of that," Jolie explains in the interview. "And then at a certain point, the question of the story is 'what could bring her back?' And again it is an extreme Disney, fun version of it, but at the core it is abuse, and how the abused then have a choice of abusing others or overcoming and remaining loving, open people."
Earlier this week at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, Jolie spoke about the importance of giving victims of sexual assault support in an effort to end the violence: "We must send a message around the world that there is no disgrace in being a survivor of sexual violence, that the shame is on the aggressor. We must work together in new and unprecedented ways across borders and religions, bringing governments and people together and tackling the problem from every possible angle. And by doing this, we can end the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war once and for all. We really can do it."
Photo credit: Getty Images
Via ELLE
