Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Madonna

How could I forget the power Madonna has over me? When I was a girl, my first tapes I chose for myself were Madonna's "Who's that girl" and RUN DMC's "Raising Hell." When I was 12 I discovered, from her Susan character in "Desperately Seeking Susan" the immense power in sexuality. In high school I watched Truth or Dare over and over and contemplated a different way of seeing homosexuality.

When I see photos of her I don't feel anything, but her "Confessions of a Dancefloor" is on T.V. right now, and she has me wrapped around her little finger. Shes. Still. Got. It.

The first song I saw was a teriffic gay anthem sounding song. Something about "Do you believe we can change the future." She looked drop dead georgeous, the visuals were beautiful, the men (of course) were beautiful, and the song gave me that upbeat feeling, like good things can happen.

Next came some amazing dancing, with some voice overs all with harrowing stories, one, an abused man, second, a woman who cut, and third a gang member pushed to kill someone. The tears started appearing then. I don't cry enough, I think I would be much less stressed in life if I did, so I enjoyed the appearance of the tears. It just seems like so many people are in pain right now.

Then came "Live to tell" with photos of African orphans. I cried the whole song. I was eating pudding and suddenly my hunger was gone. I know I sound corny, but it was like I was hungry to feel my feelings, and when I was able to I didn't need the cheap substitute of food when I finally had the real thing.

Then she had a song with Arabic singing. What more do you need today to summon up emotions. Now another dancefloor song is playing.

Yes, Madonna is an expert businesswoman. She is in tune with the culture, and reflects what is/will be cool in her music. Our world is scary and confusing right now, and it is chic to be thinking of Africa and world issues. Is she sincere or tapping into this trend? I don't care. She expertly tugged my heartstrings, and made me think about how much I think about these world issues and just how little I do about them.

Madonna is amazing.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yes, Madonna was always one step ahead of us, wasn't she? I missed that special! I checked Tivo, and didn't see it? Your description really makes me want to watch it now!