A stunning change of tune about Angelina Jolie The New York Times speculated that Angelina Jolie, the tireless UN ambassador and do-er of good works, was still "hated" because she "stole" Brad Pitt from Jennifer Anniston eight years back. SO, this is what it takes for someone as envied as Angelina Jolie to be treated like the real human being she is, instead of having her every move analysed for signs of faults, "inner demons" or other manufactured personal problems we can jump on to make ourselves feel better about not being her. The much-maligned actor had to go so far as to have both her breasts removed before people felt they could really warm to her. Watching the change in the tone of the public dialogue about Jolie this week has been quite something. Only a couple of weeks earlier, yet another big gossipy spread hit the overseas papers gloating about her "worryingly skinny frame" and "bony wrists" - which, like so much written about Jolie, is a passive-aggressive way of really saying: "See! She's still a mess! Stay Tuned! For years, this woman has been the favourite target of supermarket glossies on the lookout for absolutely any sign that, beneath the composed, calm and maternal exterior she has presented for almost a decade, Jolie is still plagued with the insecurities and quirks that were a feature of her youth (a youth in the public eye from the age of about 16). Jolie has been relatively open about the adventures and misadventures of her past. And yes, some of them were on the out-there side, but none involved hurting anyone else or breaking any laws. She's moved on from stuff like wearing the vial of an ex's blood, or passionately kissing her brother and making one nutty Oscars speech (aged 23). But the rest of us are not allowed to move on from those things and other early rebellious gestures, because we are so constantly reminded of them. And in so many subtle and not-so-subtle ways, we are encouraged to buy into the idea that this woman is defined by some aspects of her non-conformist youth - and dammit, there are still bucks to be made by flogging the message that she's unhinged underneath. Hands up who else wants some of the stuff they did in their early 20s permanently hung around their neck? Just look at the weird carry-on about her Oscars dress in 2012. She looked sensational and showed a lot of perfect leg in that black velvet dress with the thigh-high split. She showed no more leg than so many others, but because it was Jolie, the "weird one" and not "the vanilla" type - the temptress/seductress or whatever we're supposed to think she is - even her rather nervous looking pose was endlessly ridiculed. Her debut directorial outing, 2011's In the Land of Blood and Honey, landed several awards and was acknowledged by many critics as a serious and worthwhile effort (a romance drama set against the backdrop of the Bosnian civil war). Jolie routinely puts her body on the line in far-flung and dangerous regions to promote her chosen cause - raising awareness about the plight of refugees and women in war zones. And yet Jolie still made No. 14 on the globally publicised Most Hated Celebrity List by Star magazine this month. The New York Times speculated that Jolie, the tireless UN ambassador and do-er of good works, was still "hated" because she "stole" Brad Pitt from Jennifer Anniston eight years back. But if we were to be honest, I think there is more to it than that. Jolie is the gorgeous, sexy, alluring and slightly dangerous-seeming siren all the boys went mad for when you were in your teens. She's so different and magnetic that she threatens other women. We like the dysfunctional Angelina story, and this newer version doesn't please us quite so much. Let's be honest: we are jealous of her looks, her outward confidence, the fact she seems to get what she wants because she is so ravishing. But we know nothing of this woman, really. Except that, in the end, she's as human and as fragile as us all.