Forgive Me, Jennifer Aniston

I have been badmouthing Jennifer Aniston for the past 10 years, and I need to apologize.

First it was her hair. I have no idea (nor do I still) what was ever so special about that damn hair of hers. It was blonde, with streaks, and it was long, and it was sort of this 70s layer cut. Did something get past me - was there something about that hair we had never seen before, or was this just a public relations rep working his first job, looking for an angle, and this was the best he could come up with? The hair angle?

Then it was the whole Ross/Rachel thing. For goodness' sake, that show was funny in its first two seasons. Aniston as Rachel, a spoiled princess finding her way in the world after a botched wedding, working as a waitress, learning about paying rent, etc., that was kind of cute. She went from being a whiner to being a young woman learning to live with both her strengths and her weaknesses, and she did it well. Ross' friendly but sarcastic relationship with his lesbian former wife was done really, really well and very respectfully. But then they eased the lesbian out of the show, along with the lesbian's partner and their child, and every episode turned into this great big hetero Ross/Rachel fest. Rachel stopped being a woman finding her way in the world, and she went back to being a whiner. And it was really annoying.

THEN it became the whole Brad/Jennifer thing. For goodness' sake, the woman married Brad Pitt. In plain English, a woman married a man. It happens every day (and of course in Britney Spears' world it actually does happen every day). What was the big whoop? Two relatively good-looking heterosexuals hooked up with each other? Did I need to see this played out in public every where I turned? For goodness' sake, you couldn't swing a dead cat in this town without bumping into another story about Brad and Jennifer. Yuk. I hated Jennifer even more. (And, yes, I hated Brad, too.)

And through it all, I kept saying "Jennifer Aniston? What is the big whoop with Jennifer Aniston? I have a big problem with Jennifer Aniston." Etc.

But then... Brad left Jennifer for Angelina. And I started seeing Jennifer in a more human light, as someone who was thrust into the spotlight against her will, only because of who she had married, and because she allegedly had great, unique hair.

And then... it all started to turn, in Jennifer's favor. She announced that she was moving to Chicago, to get away from the ugliness of Hollywood. Good move, Jennifer, I'm impressed, although I'd have preferred for her to move to San Francisco so she and I could hang out at Cocoro Sushi on Geary Boulevard and eat spicy chirashi and drink cold sake together and laugh with each other over green tea ice cream about how good-looking men aren't always all they're cracked up to be. (Note to Cocoro Sushi, you are welcome for the plug. I love you guys.)

And then... I rented The Good Girl because I was jonesin for Jake Gyllenhaal in the worst way, and renting anything he has ever been in (including the worst movie ever made in the history of the world - City Slickers - although it's worth suffering through the first 15 minutes to see one scene with adorable Jake at age 11). And I realized something that I had never realized before, something that unfortunately never made it through the hair/Ross/Brad hype - that Jennifer Aniston is a seriously good actress.

In The Good Girl, Aniston plays Justine, a 30-year-old woman working at a dead-end job in a one-horse town in Texas, dealing with a dead-end marriage, afraid that no one is ever going to understand and appreciate her for who she is, or in her words, "get" her. She meets Holden (real name Tom), portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal, at work. They seem to "get" each other almost immediately, and they begin a short but, of course, ill-fated affair. The Good Girl is about as real and honest as an indie movie can be, and Aniston's acting is nothing short of brilliant (as, of course, is Gyllenhaal's). Not much more to tell, other than I saw Jennifer Aniston in a completely different light and I am glad that I did. About 20 minutes into The Good Girl, when she told her husband, Phil (portrayed by the always great John C. Reilly), "every time you smoke one of them doobies you're killin' off another one of our unborn children," she won me over 100% and I'm never looking back.

Jennifer Aniston is a wonderful actress who does wonderful work - she just happened to marry the wrong guy and she paid for it dearly in the tabloids, and she apparently happened to have a publicist who thought it was more important to focus on her hair instead of her acting talents in order to get her press coverage. Bad move, pr guy, concentrate on her acting.

Forgive me, Jennifer, I was wrong. Call me next time you're in SF and we'll go for sushi - my treat!

Thanks for listening, have a great day,

KA