October 27, 2006
Brangelina to Adopt IndiaHumor
I so called this story (thanks, Jai!) a few weeks ago and not one of you Mutineers took me up on the friendly wager...
!
Angelina Jolie is adopting an Indian baby to add to her growing international brood, according to US reports.Sources say the big-hearted actress and partner Brad Pitt have already applied to adopt a tot from an Indian orphanage. An insider said: "They hope to be able to bring the child home by Christmas.[...] She has said: "I want to create a rainbow family. That's children of different religions and cultures from different countries." [link]
And the disturbing cherry on top...
The source told US magazine Globe: "Whichever they end up with, they'd like to name the child India to honour its homeland." The pair are rumoured to have visited the Priva Darshini orphanage in the last month. [link]
Seriously?!?! It's not like they went around and named the other kids 'Cambodia' and 'Ethiopia.' How come they get cool names like Maddox, Shiloh and Zahara, and you want to name the desi kid 'India?' Like she isn't going to be teased enough...
I once had this girl in my class, a Latino woman, whose name was Asia. I found it confusing. Now that I think about it, I may have met an India or two in my lifetime and I was always left feeling a little ... put off. Being named after a country just never seemed, um, meaningful. But INDIA, really? Brangelina, don't you think you could name the desi kid something else, while still honoring his birth land? Those poor children will be raised with such identity issues...
taz on October 27, 2006 10:13 PM in Arts and Entertainment, Humor · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
Will the nationalist nuts go crazy the way they did when the first family named their cat India?
how can this story have any credibility
isnt daily mail considered a tabloid in england?
These people are on a roll. It's getting a little too much if you ask me. Shouldn't they start paying attention to their kids and stop adopting everyone around the world.
India Allen: Former Playmate of the Year.
Although I'm not saying it's not a TACK choice for a name... India is seen by some people as one of those countries/places that can be a name, like Paris *to allude to a very interesting thread*...
At least Brangelina hasn't followed the Gwyneth baby-naming route...I'm guessing that being part of a fruit salad name-combo is worse than being called India.
At at least since the kid'll grow up around non-Indians, no one will call it Yindia :)
India seems to have been a popular name in the 1880's (Remember India Wilkes, in "Gone With the Wind") and fell from favour at the beginning of the 20th. Resurfacing in the 70's and rising in popularity ever since, ranking 298 in the 1000 most popular baby names for 2001 according to the SSA website: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi
well that was a cat vivek, and this is a kid, so maybe it will fly a little easier for brangelina.
i'm with you taz on the naming your child after an "exotic" country. though i woulda preferred if they named their child SouthAsia, to better reflect geopolitics, and the shared history/culture of the region etc etc etc. ;)
but still, i sorta like brangelina's model un. (could this be my inner desire to be saved by beautiful white people?) they don't come across as madonna-esque third-world baby-snatchers. and they seem to be keeping their kids happy, content, and in the most beautiful designer wear available. kya style hai!
from the onion:
Angelina Jolie Coming For Your Baby
MALIBU, CAAngelina Jolie has filed for adoption of your newborn baby, sources close to the actress reported Tuesday. "Angelina loves your baby, and you should be honored that she has chosen it," said publicist Jacqueline Silver, citing the growing collection of babies Jolie has culled from families worldwide. "Color, creed, whether your child is wantednone of it matters. Angelina has fallen in love, and through legal means or force, your baby will soon be hers." Immediately after acquiring your child, Jolie will dress it in Betsey Johnson infant wear, give it a faux-hawk, name it after a random passage from the The Tibetan Book Of The Dead, then resume her relentless search for babies.
It's Friday night. i'm too lazy to link to multiple sources. But a google news search will show 115 links to maybe more credible sources.
Well, it depends if it'll be India Pitt or Jolie. BTW, Maddox looks great with his carefully studied brooding pose, along with a scowl and receding hairline...just like Brando in Last Tango in Paris.
did she breast feed the tyke??? wutz up with the glum expression.
i didnt mean to say that your posting is not credible - just was wondering about daily mail
the thing is though, even the other places which have written about this, most have simply cited daily mail
maybe they'll name the kid Bhaarat... it's still a tribute to the homeland and it's a cool name...
Well, at least they can have mock United Nations sessions in their home when they're all grown up.
Lord Mountbatten's grand-daughter is named India. She seems to have turned out ok...
On the other hand, "France" is a common French first name.
Sure she's not brown, she wasn't adopted from India, nor does she have multi-colored siblings, who lucked out on not getting named their nation of origin. And, wasn't raised by a rich white acting parents who got together after a torid affair.
I totally see now why the brangelina brat pack will be ok in the identity area.
Initially I thought maybe celebrities are getting too-harsh treatment - Ange, Madonna et al, for adopting a rainbow family and trying to save the world...
Then I think of Soon Yi Previn and Woody Allen and...
Taz has got a point.
christ, at least they'll have full stomachs and a butt load of money to buy them opportunity in life. identity issues are over-rated. not everyone is inherently psychologically frail. perhaps maddox & india will be the hunters and not the hunted.
India Allen: Former Playmate of the Year.
Yes.
I think India name for her daughter is just fine. She is not to get teased........She will be the daughter of Angelina Behan and Brad Bhaiya. She might become a super-rich brat, that is another story. She might not. Same holds for son too.
Wait, weren't you named after Tazmania? I mean, I know it's a region not a country but ...
In India people are named Ganga and Cauvery. Are rivers acceptable?
maddox & india will be the hunters and not the hunted.
Exactly
I like the example quoted in Freakonomics with the kids who were named "Winner" and "Loser", and overall the whole black-white name thing and if one's name had impact on their future behavior. Interesting piece.
If India or Maddox's original parents were smart, they've already got something going for them. Brangelina? Well, they seem to like kids (want them), so the kids should be ok, vs those same kids languishing in poverty, in an orphanage, or with parents that never wanted them to begin with.
I have an American friend called India, and she turned out just fine. Her name is always a wonderful ice-breaker. I believe the India in "Gone with the Wind" had something to do with her naming. I loved the reaction we got when she was introduced to the folks back home in India at a wedding! Not quite sure how the name would go down for an Indian kid though?
On a more serious note, how come the adoption process works so quickly for her, while it is mind-numbingly slow for the rest of us? If you are an Indian citizen or US citizen, it is slow, but if you are a green card holder in the US, it is almost impossible. I have a naturalized US-ciitzen friend (Indian born, married to an American), who adopted two kids from orphanages in India in the space of 5 years. It took him ages to clear the paperwork, fight court battles etc (and this dude is a Ph.D who worked for McKinsey, so no issues about support etc).
My mind's made up. The heirs to the Kobayashi fortune shall be named Swaziland and Switzerland.
quizman, take a look at angelina's lips. tell me you'd say no to those kissers.
Look at the bright side. At least one official at CARA now has a personal photo-op with Pitt and Jolie gracing his/her 'drawing room' wall.
Sarah McLachlan's daughter is an India too.
Father is an Indian percussionist in her band.
...brown.
Father is an Indian percussionist in her band.
once you go brown, you never turn it down!
It must be tough to have a milf as a mom though.
btw, I was thinking about going as Madonna's baby for Halloween, but now...
damned if you do damned if you dont
india is a much better sounding name than 'cambodia'....that should be the end of the story
once legally adapted its her/theirs child hence their freedom to choose whatever name they want....end of the story
i fail to understand this obsession to create news out of non-news and cry foul for non-issues,
prey,even if,and not to re-iterate the if,the child turns out to have identity issues becsue of the name india,how is it relevant to the millions of indians(ethnic or national) none of which actually will ever carry the name
i am sorry taz i know you are trying to rake up consciousness but to rake up just leaves when so much of dung abounds seems just....uhm...not so smart.....!
The Onion version is dead-on! What is it with these people that makes them want to go around "saving" the babies of the world? Perhaps it's an extension of the "adopt this pretty baby with the huge tragic eyes in Africa" charity pitch. But sheesh, there are more effective (though less glamorous or pseudo-heroic) ways of achieving this.
About adoption - as of a couple of years ago, if you wanted to adopt in India, the rule was that foreigners (and even NRIs) get a shot at a child only after two Indian families have been offered it. The process was always slow and bureaucratic and so agencies sprang up that would handle your paperwork and speed it up for a fee, or orphanages would give you fast-track access if you "donated" money to them. This created screwy financial incentives that led to a scandal in South India a couple of years ago (around tsunami time I think? when tsunami-affected babies were the adoption stars du jour) where adoption touts were essentially paying poor rural families for teeny, healthy babies. Then some NGOs got mobilized about it and sued to actually put a stop to foreign adoptions altogether for several months. Not sure what the situation is now, I was following it back then as seriously considering adopting. Anyone know?
india arie.
heck in india mr ennis, naming after finger digits: pinky
muscle movements: dimple
and adjectives: shiny
are acceptable..
india is (in my opinion) is a much better name.
what i don't get ms. jolie-pitt whatever your name is at this time period in your life..(where the heck is your blood vial of mr. billy bob? oh did you donate that to the red cross blood bank? wow.. you are a humanitarian), is why don't you adopt an AMERICAN baby.. yes yes, this UN thing gets you press since you are an ambassador for them...but this is getting to be so blase... i think your next stop should be compton,... yeah, your hometown of socal...
hm.. if madonna and malawi don't work.. her next stop might be india...
father is named ashwin sood (hottie)
or as my tshirt says... once you go wheat, you never go white ;)...
oh tash.. you hit it spot on ;)... that was tragic.. where the heck is mia farrow these days?
Oh, please.
It was listed under humor and blogged in half an hour. It was hardly the 4 hour "rake up concsiousness" expose and investigative post that I write other times. To clarify, THIS post was a blog-crack celebrity gossip fluff - my rule, one part fluff for every two non-fluff. Why blog blog crack? Cuz on a Friday night after 8pm, 35 of you guys commented already. Crazy blogging freaks- y'all like the blog crack celebrity gossip fluff too!
crack is whack
I believe the people named Ganga and Cauveri, etc are named after the goddesses and mythologies the rivers represent, rather than a body of flowing water.
Not really. It's sort of midway between the "red top" tabloids (eg. The Sun) and the "broadsheets" (The Times etc).
Generally regarded as the "voice of Middle England". Quite right-wing too. The term "Daily Mail reader" has certain negative connotations in Britain.
Exactly. Whatever gives them an advantage in life. As long as their parents bring them up correctly and the kids handle all their advantages responsibly (and don't turn into obnoxious jerks), it's all good.
Eh... having your grand father and cousin blown up by the IRA terrorists and living in fear of being their next target beats odd names and tabloid sex gossip on the trauma scale. But maybe that's just me.
Maybe India is named after the "Goddess" Mother India, much beloved by the Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal.
My question is simple - what was this girl's name before adoption? Why not maintain continuity?
Sarah McLachlan's husband/drummer is named Ash (for Ashwin) Sood.
And I don't think little India's going to be hurting at all because of her name. She's going to be rich for cryin'out loud and is going to grow up with really good looking parents.
i read they plan to adopt a green baby, a red baby, a couple of monkeys, and if life is found on mars..they have first pick.
Do they have to find a kid named India in India that is up for adoptions, or they just going adopt a kid and change the name to India?
What if they adopted a kid from: Democratic Republic of the Congo, what would the kids name be?
I wouldn't mind being adopted by Ms. Jolie. No sir, I wouldn't mind.
I am sure Bharat or Bharti will do fine. If not their parents can hire some pals for them. I am sure the UN can hustle up some delegates and their kids for Ms Jolie and her brood to play with....
kinshasa pitt
I'm with Taz. It's not that India's a bad name, but it's weird if you are, like, actually Indian. I knew a Cuban woman named America when I was a kid. I remember thinking it was so weird, but now I find it hilarious.
Kinshasa... I like that.
I don't know about you, but if she adopts an Indian kid, that means she becomes an Indian Mum, and is therefore just one step away from being an Aunty, and so her wild-feral sexuality is destroyed, which is the real tragedy of this situation. I can't believe you havent mentioned this catastrophe so far.
I'm with CinnamonRani - what if the kid is named Bharat or Bharati - what then? It means the same thing, and it is a legit desi name - would that still weird you out?
How about Iran and Iraq?
going all exotic? What about, say, Ohio and Kansas Kobayashi? ;)
Fantastic. Sounds like a first draft pick. Or that football player "Tylenol Jones" from Updike's recent novel.
Too open to mispronunciaton. Don't want my kid being called Eye-Ran.
I'm immoral, not crazy.
No, that's not weird. I know it means the same thing, but Bharat and Bharati feel more patriotic to me (maybe because they're not in English?), whereas India feels like just the name of the country. It's subtle, but makes all the difference to me.
Was I the only one who giggled when hearing the late Steve Irwin's daughter's name - Bindi? As cute as she is, I couldn't help but imagine her as a walking piece of Okra.
i thought she was a dot on the forehead not bhindi---the okra..
although there are walking pieces of okra around like this ;)....delta delta delta..may i help ya help ya help ya?
i'm getting really sick of their "let's adopt babies from all over the world" act. why don't they adopt some poor white kids from the appalachian region or inner cities?
my point exactly from above (#35--which also talks about sarah's brown and hot hubby)
where the hell is compton in all of this?
If Brangelina is really serious about connecting their adopted child to his/her motherland of India should they use the name Hindustan/Hindustani?
It's one thing to use the name India or Asia on kids not from those countries, but it would seem really weird to name an Indian kid India. Then again you have the actress America Ferrera, shew as born in the US and I don't know if America is a common name in Latino culture.
#57 and #58
This preference for exotic locales is almost always access and relative ease. There are many more children available for adoption. It is almost always a closed adoption. The birth parents are rarely involved in the baby's life by the time the adoptive ones show up (Madonna seems to have picked the one child with "entanglements").
Not to say that adoptions from India are easier. Unless they cut a few corners (as most rich folk are wont to do), they will not have a baby with them by Dec. If everything is according to the book it should take about 9 months to claim a year baby girl. If one of the parents are of Indian origin the children are younger. Otherwise they will 1 year and older. Those were the rules when I was involved.
A white celebrity couple adopting from Compton? Do you realize the complications?
Don't these complications also stand when it is a white celebrity couple adopting from the third world outside our borders?
Obviously not.
maddox is sucha cool name. cool Indian name for a girl would be Dhanno, for a boy Gabbar.
Ever heard about AILF?
guys... there's enough need out there for everyone here to chip in, and still not make a dent. and it's not need as in mortgage or fashion but basic human expectations like - clothes, food, shelter, education... and love. my parents volunteer at an orphanage and they tell me the kids just crave affection and it cant get more fundamental than that. they tell me they arent sure who's adopted whom. when i visited - i had more random hugs than i could count and they brought out their prized cycle for me to spin around the park.
net net... the celebrities are doing a good thing and i hope it gets more people to explore these options and take the perceived stigma of inter-racial adoptions away (remember the blog about the dark indian baby). i am down this path myself regardless of a partner - canada is pretty liberal that way. dont know what the perception is in the US.
Got to put in my 2p here..
Take on the name - guess the name raises some controversy due to the fact that India is a name coming from the outside rather than the inside like Bharat, Hindustan. So if they want to honor the homeland shouldn't they use a name which originated in the homeland? Just my take, maybe I should email my thoughts to Angelina :)
Take on adoption - why not? my dad used to always tell me, if you can't make things better at least try to leave things in status quo. I think they making things better for the kids and not exactly trying to harm anyone or anything in the process of trying to show their affection for kids. Now even if it is just a show these kids will get a lot more than they would at an orphanage and I am sure the media will hold them up to high standards just in case the celebrities loose interest and slack off.
BTW, anybody got a take on the history of adoption? I am thinking there might be something interesting there.
Too funny. But didn't Angelina at one point have a growing collection of knives at one point? And a collection of vials of blood? Ah stability.
If we were all judged by what we did in our youth...
true. I was just being tongue in cheek. I actually think that it's comendable that she goes out of her way to use her wealth to benefit others. It seems a little wacky to name your desi kid "India" but she could be doing much worse things with her time/money (ahem...lindsay lohan, paris hilton and a long string of weird celebs) She may not be perfect, but she seems interested in learning about her children's cultures and makes more of an effort to educate herself than many other actors. Mad props to taz for totally predicting this one ;)
Ya, I guess. Though I must admit to a slight weakness for Ms. Jolie. Reminds me of some ancient wisdom my grandmom loves to share: "khoobsurat logo ko sau khoon maaf hote hai." (roughly:beautiful people are forgiven a hundred sins).
Shades of Josephine Baker...
Haha, that's awesome ;)
What?! This coming from the AILF lover?
Poor Brangelina. They've probably used up all their creative talent on the other kids that they just aren't willing/able to think of another name.
PS. There must be some law against adopting so many children that one is not able to provide each one the love and affection he/she requires. no?
Hairy,
That wasn't an editorial comment from me. That was an observation of what would happen if a high profile rich white couple were to go in to Compton and start talking about the beautiful black babies there that could use a loving home. This is not unique to the adoption experience here. There are enough people in India that are not fans of adoption by non-indians, that they seem to have changed the priority listing for prospective parents. NRIs used to be equivalent to residents. Non-indian folk usually go to the bottom of the list. I think the descending order is mom: mom's family: extended family: resident indian : NRI then non-indian. I am not sure about the extended family preference. And I think it is 2 or 4 weeks at each stage. The agency we worked with didn't even take applications from non-indians for indian adoptions.
I admit the "rainbow family" concept is a bit much, but who cares if she names her daughter India? People have way worse names. At least they are not giving her an Indian name and mispronouncing it. I don't think the name is going to be the source of identitiy issues for the child. And anyway there is a story in the Jataka tales about how what your name means has no impact on your life, involving a character named "lowly" who was a monk unhappy with his name.
Every day the kid grows up it would be 'What's the matter with Kansas?'
This story is bullshi#! You honestly think this couple can visit a orphanage in India without the whole world knowing about it?
And if they do call the kid India, then so what? Would you people feel a more authentic name like Ramakrishingineheramputha would be better? Could I end any more sentence's with question marks?
And if they do adopt, do you think that they should get a light skinned one or a more authentic looking Indian?
Maddox has an awesome hairstyle. I totally dig the bad ass punk look. I wanted to get the same, but was afraid it wont go well with the boss. If India gets a cool haircut like that, she will have no identity crisis because cool kids dont have issues :)
It's all got to be better than naming your kid Ashanti. I mean, why would you name your child "unrest"?
Looks like LaJolie's been reading Babyji...
Hey folks, Bharati is the name for Saraswati Ma.
and also the statement "they'd like to name the child India to honour its homeland"-sounds bizzare-did they mean that they's like to name the child India out of respect, because if they didn't then it really sounds strange. aha, so we would be honoured if the great Brangelina named their child after India.
i worked at an orphanage for abused children in costa rica-- the rule in costa rica at the time (2002) was that no foreign couples could adopt costa rican children. the government actively searched for good costa rican families in which to place the children. i was lucky enough to be there when the oldest girl, 11yrs, was adopted by a family-- a moment i will never forget.
brangelina should name the kid "confused 4th child" because that is what she will be.
Well, I have a pretty clear sense of identity, so maybe I don't understand what identity issues are all about, but is it really that bad? I mean the girl now has a shot at opportunities that could never have been possible had she had to stay on in the orphanage in India. A few identity issues seem to be a reasonable price for that.
hi all
re:#34
my partner and i are in the process of adopting a child from india, and hopefully from w. bengal. we've just started, but the whole process should take about 1.5 years (this is canada i'm in BTW). we go through a home study (our social worker conducting it is desi, she used to work at the indian adoption agency CARA) which takes about 4 months. i am applying for my "overseas citizenship of india" which i can now do since i think 2005. the adoption agency head says that orphanages in india have to offer the child for adoption to indian families first, and 3x. then NRIs (both parents) then one desi families. if both parents are not desi they don't even bother anymore. there is also a program that would allow me to adopt the child myself as a hindu---there is a religious ceremony and everything. but we are not taking that option b/c a)this child is supposed to be both of ours, and b)i'm a musician and i don't make any money.
just fyi for everyone.
d
Godspeed luv!!!
if and when you get the chance please do put up a blog on your experiences - good and bad.
Happy Birthday to Brad & Angelina's baby Shiloh yesterday! She had her birthday cake in Cannes. Here's something fun about Shiloh...an astrology reading on video that predicts who her future husband will be and when she'll get married. www.flownetworkproductions.com/shilohjoliepitt.htm
I predict that the bad boyfriend at 18 will be Michael Joseph Consuelos (Kelly Ripa's son), and that the good husband at age 28 will be Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (Michael Jackson's son). I figure by that time Mike Jr. will have had enough therapy that he will make a good husband. Both of these guys are ten years older than Shiloh. (When you watch the video, this will make more sense.) What does everyone else think?
I CAN NOT BELIEVE HOW JUDGEMENTAL SO MANY OF YOU SPOILED AMERICAN ARE!!!!!! I AM AMERICAN MYSELF BUT HAVE BEEN TO COUNTRIES WHERE THE PARENTLESS CHILDREN SLEEP ON THE STREETS WITH THERE BONES RUBBING AGAINST THE GROUND(not to mention their all to often empty stomachs). I THINK THAT WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BUT HONORABLE AND COMPASSIONATE. SHE IS INSPIRING PEOPLE TO ADOPT AND THAT IS AMAZING. TO INSPIRE PEOPLE TO DO SOMETHING OF WORTH RATHER THAN THE INSATIABLE SEARCH FOR MEANINGLESS OBJECTS,SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ON THE "WONDERS OF THE WORLD". I ALSO THINK THAT IS A REALLY COOL NAME. I SHOULD LET ALL YOU JUDGERS GET BACK TO YOUR MEANINGLESS LIVES AND VIDEO GAMES! P.S. I AM TRYING TO ADOPT FROM INDIA. I WAS TALKING WITH A WOMAN LAST NIGHT WHO HAS ADOPTED THREE CHILDREN FROM INDIA AND SHE SAID THAT THEY ARE SO GRATEFUL. FOR INSTANCE CHARLIE BROWN WAS ON LAST NIGHT AND HER YOUNGEST DAUGHTER JUST KEPT THANKING HER BECAUSE SHE WAS SO HAPPY. I HOPE YOUR SOME WHAT ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES BUT PROBABLY NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey brangelina,
That's an awful thing to do naming your new chid India.
What if people started calling you Angelina USA and you Brad USA.
The same way you should think about your own child and name it something that for goodness sake won't make you're child be made fun of.
The onion post (quote #8) is funny.
I wonder if Brangelina are still going to adopt from India.