Does Angelina Jolie....

I'm not an expert, but she may have had some amount of a weakened immune system in part from all the stress she was under (soldiers taking over her home, her one daughter trying to kill said soldiers, her other daughter ducking unwanted sexual advances from the same soldiers, her husband gone off to war, etc.), plus we do not know for certain that what the soldier does to her is one-time, he may have continously assaulted her (plus lived in her house, possibly in close enough proximity) over the course of days/weeks, that soldier may not have been the only one with consumption/TB staying in her home-which the soldiers likely would have boarded up somewhat for protection but also trapping the disease rather than letting the air flow, and if she had been exposed before - being a Doctor's wife (and she seemed the type to go visit and care for friends who had fallen ill) she may have been around a patient or two in the past who had the disease. It was TX, where the climate was considered better suited for those suffering from consumption, so her husband may have had several patients who were victoms/carriers of the disease, as well as their families if they had brought their families with them out west to dryer air.

And while yes, I agree that she was very healthy and serene looking for someone wasting away due to illness, part of me can give it over to a)artistic licence (such as that's how she saw herself, that's how her best friend and husband saw her, that's how the slave-turned-housekeeper saw her, etc. - so that's how they depicted her) or b) Southern Pride where a Southern Lady would not allow herself to be seen in a shoddy state but would have had on her best clothes/etc. to receive guests into her home (although taken pretty far by the crew making the movie). I don't have enough issue with it to have it ruin the movie for me, as when I initially watched it, I barely registered it due to the emotion of the scene. Upon the second viewing, I shrugged it off as that last burst of strength/energy/etc. that comes just before death. Personally, I like to think that we were just seeing her as her loved ones saw her, radiant, serene, and full of life.

I also admit that, for me, I was ready to turn off the movie once I realized she was going to die. She and the aunt (Dana DeLany's character) were my two favorite characters, especially after the scene where they were making the bullets for the soldiers. However, I stuck with it, and am glad I did as this is a good story. They should probably put this as Suggested Viewing in classes talking about the Civil War, TX, Women in the 1850s-1900, and other similar subjects because it really does help put a human face to those issues.

"There is still hope."-Arwen