That's not quitting!

Only yesterday I was wondering what the latest was with Angelina Jolie's film project. So it was with a certain serendipity I noticed The Telegraph screaming 'Angelina Jolie quits Bosnia' before I logged off for the evening. I paused long enough to decide I should share my findings today.

What we learn from this article is a truth, probably universal, but eminently applicable to this part of the world: don't believe the big statement. Why? While it may not be a lie entirely such generalisations are generally misleading. In this case the details of the article are all but completely misrepresented by an emotive headline.

By most common definitions quit is to give up, leave or walk out on. I expected to hear that Jolie was no longer going to film at all in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, and this is a direct quote, the article says: only three days of filming will now be done in Bosnia and Jolie will only visit the set briefly. The number of Bosnian locations used in the film has been cut from seventeen to five.

To clarify, far from quitting the country Jolie's film will still have scenes shot in Bosnia and she will still be visiting to be part of that process. Like Hollywood's movies these days, things are rarely black and white. I guess 'Angelina Jolie scales back filming in Bosnia' just isn't as compelling a headline. Unfortunately it's not just stories in the arts section that get treated this way.