AMERICANWAY

COURTESY NBCUNIVERSAL ANGELINA JOLIE that he's someone every single human being can relate to, even those of us who have really felt t hat we weren't g reat p e ople — we wer e , i f a n y t h i n g , e v e n , b a d people, or not fit for so- ciety, or not helpful to others. His message is that you can choose to rise above and to redi- rect your life. Someone w ho w a s a s t r ou ble d and as full of fire as he was can choose to redi- rect that fire, and it can become a great thing." BORN THE SON of working-poor Italian- i m m i g r a n t p a r e n t s , Louie Zamperini grew up tough on the streets of Tor ra nce, Ca lifor nia . He wa s a neig h- borhood punk who was quick-f isted a nd ill- tempered. He stole more than he bought, and it was understood throughout the neigh- borhood that inevitably, Louie would end up dead or in jail. R ig ht a b out t he t i me t he t ow n h a d washed its collective hands of him, the junk science of eugenics cut a swatch through the country. California was mesmerized by the idea of culling undesirables from the general population and institutionalizing them, sterilizing them, or sometimes both. After a neighborhood kid was deemed "feeble minded" and then institutionalized, Louie was scared straight. His older brother Pete was a track star at Torrance High School, and Pete helped train his younger brother. By the time Louie quit smoking, reconditioned his tar-riddled lungs and put in some serious track work, he was turning heads of rival high school coaches and college scouts. A successf u l hig h school track ca reer begot a successful college career. Then an Olympic berth. After a spirited appearance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Louie was ear- marked to place in, if not outright win, the mile race four years later at the 1940 Tokyo games. But the world was on war footing. The 1940 Tokyo games were canceled, and Louie joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. On one fateful mission in 1943, Louie was shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk, they, too, will know that they have strong options." W h at r e s u lt e d f r om t h i s s t or y, a nd countless copycat stories thereafter, was what T ime maga zi ne or ig i na l ly dubbed "The Angelina Effect" and what health care professionals now use as industry terminol- ogy. The number of women around the world who opted for genetic screening of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations more than doubled in the last year, according to a September story in the International Business Times. More screening equals more preventative mea- sures for women — and men — who may have developed breast cancer. More preventative measures equals saved lives. A nd it 's that A ngelina Jolie — the Act Two Angelina Jolie; the Angelina Jolie who ha s been a round the world to where, a s The Sunday Times once said, "real bullets fly"; the Angelina Jolie who has a beautiful, multicultural family and the World's Most Beautiful Man-husband in Brad Pitt — who is well qualified to block and tackle the story of Louie Zamperini. "People often simplif y things by saying there a re good people a nd there a re bad people," she says. "Little kids hear it: What a good person so-and-so is, or what a trouble- maker. A nd I think the beauty of Louie is FROM TROUBLEMAKER TO TRACK STAR: A rehabilitated bully from Torrance, California, Zamperini (played by Jack O'Connell) excelled in track and impressed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. 60 D EC E M B E R 2 01 4 A A .CO M/A M E R I C A NWAY UNIQUELY YOURS SINCE 1947 COMMISSION YOURS BY DECEMBER 22 AT JOHN-CHRISTIAN.COM. YOU'VE NEVER SEEN JEWELRY LIKE THIS BEFORE. BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T MADE IT FOR YOU YET. FROM FAMILY CRESTS TO SPECIAL DATES IN ROMAN NUMERALS, EACH OF OUR ONE-OF-A-KIND BESPOKE MASTERPIECES IS MADE EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOU. AND LIKE YOU, NOTHING ELSE IS LIKE IT.

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