In a recent issue of Us Weekly, Howard Stern is quoted on his impressions of different Hollywood celebrities—among them, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. He says, “They belong together. They’re the two best-looking people on the planet, aside from me and Beth [his new bride]. They should be mating. [But] she probably wants to get rid of this guy. I bet he’s a bore after you sleep with him a couple of times.”

In the same issue (December 25, 2005), adorable Lindsay Lohan is quoted on her impressions of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. She states simply, “He’s beautiful. But I’ve got more of a crush on Angelina, though.” You go, Lindsay girl.

Yes, what is it about Angelina Jolie that is so remarkably alluring? Now, it may not be that Brad is boring in bed (Sagittarians have always been quite hot to me), or that Angelina Jolie is bored with him. The implications seem to be that while the couple is truly beautiful, the dynamic and stunning Angelina Jolie is beginning to eclipse Brad’s sex appeal…even for [hetero] women!

First, most of us know that only in the rarest of relationships—Mel Gibson’s with his wife Robyn Moore has lasted over twenty years; Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward have stayed married for forty-seven years—is there a truly equal distribution of love. That is, one person usually loves the other “more”. Pardon if this seems reductionist, but the human truth will tell it like it is: one is more devoted than the other.

Next, we star-gazers are well aware of the impermanence of celebrity matches. We are lambasted with news of who’s dumping whom, who’s cheating on whom, and who’s divorcing, remarrying, or suing whom (usually presented to us in the supermarket aisle at the impulse buy stands by mags and rags featuring the spotlighted couple with a huge graphic tear down the center of the couple’s couple-dom photo. So the speculation and drama, accompanied by early paparazzi shots of secret hideaway adventures, are devices to sell magazines as much as they are to keep the box office bells ringing.

But beyond the forgetting that celebrities are feeling, sentient beings who love, marry, lose, and re-do all of the above is the realization that some stars have an essence, a dynamic, a skill-set and, yes, a look that works. Angelina Jolie is one such woman.

If we watch, for instance, Gia (the 1998 film based on the real life of haute couture model Gia Marie Carangi, addicted to drugs, afflicted with AIDS, and affected by unrequited passions), we find Jolie’s impeccably disturbing rendition of Gia reaches levels of verisimilitude that would have even the toughest of dope fiends writhing in discomfort.

If we consider Jolie’s Academy Award-winning (Best Supporting Actress, 2000) performance in Girl, Interrupted, we realize the multi-dimensional gifts she brings to film go beyond external thick and pouty sensuality she exudes.

If we focus on Angelina Jolie’s risk-loving rebel character Sway (Sara Wayland), in Gone in 60 Seconds, or her risk-taking renegade character Laura Croft, or her risk-inducing, revolver-toting wife/assassin Jane Smith in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, we admit that Angelina Jolie is the number one action-adventure hero…with estrogen and “-ine” attached.

Every week, day, or even minute, female stars are elevated, evaluated, and emulated. They are on the front pages, in the gossip sections, and, as Jolie is this week in Us Weekly, in the human “aww” pages, in the star beauty and make-up sections, and in the mouths and on the minds of fellow stars in the loose talk, loose lips, hot talk segments as victims of bloopers, models of motherhood, or subjects of salacious rumor.

And to the best of the best, none of the above—save the well-earned accolades for work well-done—will matter to them. Maybe this is why Angelina Jolie is the household topic du jour: she acts, adopts, adventures, has relationships, gives, loves, and lives…in spite of all the fawning, fluttering, and flap.