Laughter (not) included.

I have loved Brad Pitt with a deep and unshakable love ever since he dragged Geena Davis across a bed by her hips in Thelma & Louise. Angelina Jolie is stunning. I get that, as nominees in the Best Actor/Best Actress categories, not to mention as two of the most gorgeous specimens of personhood on the face of the planet right now, front row seats at the Oscars are not only assured, but make good business sense. Here’s my problem: they are perhaps the most humorless pair of beautiful people I have ever seen together. I’ve seen them both laugh, so it’s not as if they are incapable. Somehow, though, whenever I see them at a major awards ceremony, they appear stiff, with a frozen rictus of a smile stretched across their faces. I get that it may grow wearying to have to attend ceremonies where you know it’s likely some minor joke will be made at your expense, while you have to smile into the camera. But look at Robert Downey Jr; he’s adapted to it gracefully. It’s as if all that adopting of children from third world countries has had a deteriorating effect on the humor center of their brains, and they are no longer able to laugh at themselves. C’mon guys, the whole world knows that you got together under less-than-savory circumstances, and we know you know we know. The least you could do is look like you’re enjoying it.