The personal revelations that Angelina Jolie made during her interview with Vanity Fair got a lot of attention. But more than anything else, it was a small detail about the filming of “First They Killed My Father” that created a furor in the media. And, it is Jolie’s film making ethics that is being questioned now. Jolie responded saying that it was a case of misinterpretation and her lawyers asked Vanity Fair to make changes to the interview transcript but the magazine has refused the request and has backed its editor Evgenia Peretz, who took the interview.
Angelia Jolie and crew relied on an inhuman casting process
The Vanity Fair interview had Angelina Jolie detailing the process that they used for casting children in Cambodia for “First They Killed My Father.” In words of Jolie, they visited slum schools and orphanages to pick the actor who would play Loung Ung, the lead in the film. The casting team used a game wherein some money was kept on a table and children were asked to think of something for which they needed it and then take it away. During the game, the director would act as if he had caught them and then the child had to come up with an excuse.
The game ended up selecting Srey Moch to play Loung Ung but she had quite an emotional reason to take the money.
She said that she needed money for her grand father’s funeral. Jolie said that it was heartening. This detail led many to accuse Jolie of inhumanity and she issued a statement clarifying the process and denied that money was taken away from children.
Jolie’s lawyers asked Vanity Fair to issue a new statement and remove details
The lawyers of Angelina also contacted Vanity Fair and asked it to issue a statement that said that the children were not tricked and they were aware that they were a part of an audition exercise. Also, the children were taken care of by their relatives and NGOs during the casting process of the movie.
They also demanded the removal of the original paragraph from the story that had been published online and a rectification in the October issue and on the site under the title “Angelina Jolie Correction.”
Upon receiving the requests, Vanity Fair reviewed the entire transcript as well as the audio tape of the interview that Evgenia Peretz had conducted. However, neither did the magazine make any changes nor did it remove anything from the online version. It stands by its editor and the story that it has published.
