Although only a one-time attendee of the Cannes Film Festival myself, I too was disappointed to hear that Madonna was unable to be a member of the Cannes Jury this year because her duties would interfere with her twice-weekly Kabbalah meetings in London. As festival chief Thierry Fremaux put it, “to have her on the jury would have been fascinating. She has so many thoughts on her mind.”
I’m certain of that. And, yes, it may well be true that, according to This is London, Madonna has been a Kabbalist for nearly eight years and attends weekly meetings at the Kabbalah Centre in London.
There are just 14 or so such places scattered around the world, and none in Cannes or the surrounding region.
In point of fact, Southern France, historically, has been one of the centers of Kabbalah. (From Kolel: Kabbalah has ancient roots, but as a distinct tradition in Judaism it begins in Provence (southern France) and Spain in the 1100s and 1200s.). But I’m sure Madonna knew that. No doubt the error was made by Monsieur Fremaux.
PJM Home
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
14 Comments
1. Occam's Beard:And some people say the French have no sense of humor.
May 13, 2005 - 3:04 pm 2. David Thomson:ìShe has so many thoughts on her mind.î
I sometimes do some very stupid things. Recently I viewed ìSwept Away.î This has got to one of the dumbest films Iíve ever seen. It is utterly banal and pointless. Who is investing their money in this junk? Do they truly have that much extra cash to throw away? Did their accountants advise them to find some sure losers for tax purposes? Is there some sort of tradeoff where Madonnaís movie is funded and in return she agrees to perform a few concerts? Does anyone know? Iím truly bewildered.
May 13, 2005 - 3:30 pm 3. Charlie (Colorado):Not to be difficult or nothing, but the fact that Kabbalah was widespread in southern France in the 12th century doesn’t mean Madonna would find it easy to find a Kaballah teacher/temple/synagogue (what the hell would you call it?) meeting today. I’m pretty confident that I’d have a tough time finding a Buddhist temple in Afghanistan, even though Buddhism was historically very widely disseminated there.
May 13, 2005 - 4:41 pm 4. lindenen:That was fast. “New German Holocaust Memorial Defaced.”
May 13, 2005 - 6:41 pm 5. Kyda Sylvester:“She has so many thoughts on her mind.”
And, see, I always had an idea that a thought would die of loneliness in there. Who knew.
So, what, for the last 8 years she’s never been more than a couple of days away from a Kabbalah center? No concert touring? No film location work? No vacations in exotic lands? Now why don’t I believe that?
David, give the original Swept Away a try. I haven’t seen the Guy Ritchie/Madonna vanity version (I’m not a masochist after all), so I can’t compare, but I think you’d find Lina Wertmuller’s film most satisfactory.
May 13, 2005 - 6:59 pm 6. Kevin P:Kyda:
The best thing about the original “swept Away” the hyper political dialogue. I am not a marxist but the sexist communist vs. spoiled rich girl political back and forth, while tiresome at times, was at least spirited. I made the mistake of watching the remake and the removed most of the dialectic and substituted an Oprah like wishy washy class war snoozathon. Even the sex scenes were dull.
May 13, 2005 - 8:37 pm 7. richard mcenroe:“She has so many thoughts on her mind.”
And so much room for each one.
May 13, 2005 - 9:05 pm 8. Morgan:Oh, come on. It’s because her mind is so big that it holds so many thoughts, each in its own relative seclusion. Madonna’s a genius! I mean, the way she reinvents herself by, like, changing her clothes and having babies and reading children’s books and stuff.
You guys are just jealous.
May 13, 2005 - 9:19 pm 9. Patrick Tyson:The best thing about the original Swept Away was the full title: Travolti da un Insolito Destino Nell’Azzurro Mare D’agosto or Swept Away… by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August. The Madonna version was just about as bad as movies with a budget get.
It does appear that she can only do her thing in 14 places worldwide. Would that none were close to a movie studio, but, alas, one of them is probably that place on Robertson and Century City is only, at most, a couple of miles away.
May 13, 2005 - 9:19 pm 10. Fausta:You guys are just jealous.
I admit it.
You pay me to fly to Cannes and stay there for a few days watching movies, and I’m willing to go, and blog about it.
I’d have to consult with The Manolo as to clothes and shoes, though.
May 14, 2005 - 4:29 am 11. Silicon valley Jim:Actually, my understanding is that Madonna is extraordinarily intelligent (I’m not kidding about this). Unfortunately, she uses the intelligence for self-promotion and not much else.
And, as Al Gore, John Kerry, etc., continue to remind us without meaning to, it’s possible to be intelligent enough to earn a degree from an Ivy League school and still be an absolute fool.
May 14, 2005 - 7:11 am 12. goldsmith:Possible? As someone who earned one of these for myself, I’d say being an absolute fool is almost a prerequisite.
May 14, 2005 - 7:28 am 13. Occam's Beard:“Actually, my understanding is that Madonna is extraordinarily intelligent (I’m not kidding about this).”
She must be, to hide it so well.
May 14, 2005 - 1:20 pm 14. charlotte:And, we’re poking fun at ridiculous Madonna for not wanting to be a juror at a French film festival that awards Palm d’Ors to Michael Moore why?? Too bad Tarantino wasn’t into Kabbalah at the time.
May 14, 2005 - 1:41 pm