Mega-snooze, “Kabbalist” Madonna is evidently doing the Bush-Blair-Hitler routine in her new review. This is obviously “good for business” for the Material Girl, as is, I guess, her mock crucifixion (yawn). But how can you push the envelope when the paper’s already sopping wet? How could anyone be interested in her trivial, clichéd nonsense when we’ve already seen the “Piss Christ” (That was banal enough), not to mention a half-dozen fifty year old Bunuel movies? Now if she had any real guts, Madonna would dance around on stage as Mohammed in drag. Don’t hold your breath, however. Was this supposed freethinker around for the Danish Cartoons protest? Of course not. Why should she clutter her head with things that have nothing to do with money?
UPDATE: The Material Girl has gotten what she wanted – the Church of England has branded her Cross “offensive.” Ka-ching! Ka-ching! C’mon, Madonna. How about little Mohammed action? Prove us wrong. We don’t think you have the cojones.
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21 Comments
1. Cap'n Billy:I suspect, Roger, that like me, you saw the Most Entertaining 1950-something movie, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” on one of the old movie channels over the weekend. Madonna does bear a striking resemblance to Lorelie Lee in more ways than one, come to think of it.
May 22, 2006 - 12:21 pm 2. dclydew:Why does anyone expect anything different from most Hollywood/entertainment types? These folks that try to push the envelope aren’t aiming to attract Red America, conservatives etc. Madonna dancing in leather singing about ’sex’ tends to be appreciated by a liberal crowd, not a conservative one. (WARNING: STATEMENTS HERE ARE GENERALIZATIONS AND MAKE NO COMMENT ON THE PERSONAL TASTES OF SOME CONSERVATIVES)
So, lots of liberals like hollywood, they like its movies that support liberal ideas, they like its music that promotes liberal ideas, they like its stars that talk about liberal causes, liberal ideas and liberal dogma. Liberal people buy Madonna’s music. liberal people watch Clooney’s and Ron Howards movies… Liberal people go see movies about gay cowboys.
Who do you expect these capitalists to cater to? This is Economics 101. You’re not going to hear Pat Robertson promote gay marriage, you’re not going to hear Tom DeLay promote violent video games, you’re not going to hear Diebold promote open voting systems. It doesn’t make sense for anyone to go against their base, be it religious, political or commercial. Actors/Actresses/Musicians are no different. Their base tends toward the liberal, therefore they tend toward liberal interpertations in their art.
Truth in Art, throughout history has usually meant “Truth as seen through the Artist’s patron”. I see no difference here, except of course it makes excellent fodder to keep people stirred up and pissed off.
May 22, 2006 - 12:41 pm 3. Roger:dclydew, as you probably know, I am not even remotely conservative on social issues, love Bunuel forever (never saw Piss Christ – no interest), but find Madonna a complete bore. This is pandering of such an extreme nature as to be stupid. Actually, there are many “conservatives” (whatever that means) in Hollywood, despite the cliche. Eastwood, of course, comes prominently to mind – one of the great filmic successes of the past several decades. It ain’t so simple.
May 22, 2006 - 12:49 pm 4. Kevin Peters:Roger:
She is not pushing the envelope. She is borrowing old worn out “shockers” and trying to get free pub.She will sell out her shows but the Osmonds sell their shows out too. This is strictly the 80’s generation version of Branson Missouri. She is too dull to be offensive. As far as being cutting edge, she is over. So she has to resort to kissing teenage girls and blasphemous imagery to start a buzz. When her attempt at a stripped down “I am now a muscian who does serious music and topics” bombed she went straight back to bombastic shock and awe tactics. Unfortunetly she is just repeating herself and has become dull. She will make money but she should start looking towards Vegas for her future gigs.
May 22, 2006 - 1:06 pm 5. Sandy P:Since she’s worried about world poverty, of course she won’t be making a profit……
May 22, 2006 - 1:24 pm 6. dclydew:It ain’t so simple.
Roger,
As I said, those were general statements, about the issue overall. Of course there are non-conservatives (like you and I) who find Madonna trite and boring. There are conservative actors like Eastwood, but notice how he doesn’t tend to promote liberal ideas (and doesn’t tend to make the sorts of movies that liberals are gonna run to see).
We could claim that any generalization is “too simple” and I wouldn’t disagree. However, I think we can see a large number of Hollywood Liberals pandering to the people that pay their bills (the liberals that swallow their ‘art’).
I’m not remotely conservative socially, nor neo-conservative in any sense, I’m not Christian and I find Madonna to be trite. However, none of my friends think I’m liberal either, so that’s probably not a good comparison. Of my liberal friends, most think that Madonna and Clooney and all the other artists in Hollywood are fantastic (Supply and Demand, simple and sweet).
Of all the media, I find only a few to be truly in the vein of the traditional Bard. In Wales, the Bards were seriously political, they were cunning and powerful and political people tended to tread lightly around them. Out of all the Liberals in Hollywood, and Television today, I see very few that could honsetly wear the badge of Bard. Jon Stewart comes to mind, maybe George Carlin, Carlos Mencia seems to be headed that direction and Trey and Co. over at South Park are fantastic examples. Otherwise, most times I see art/recreation/entertainment and politics mix, its just business.
May 22, 2006 - 1:57 pm 7. dclydew:My post was slightly unclear, I didn’t mean for Trey and Co at SP to be labeled as Liberal, they are most certainly not.
May 22, 2006 - 1:58 pm 8. David Thomson:Madonna is not placing herself in any particular danger. First of all, the well known singer is almost certainly surrounded by security guards every moment of her daily existence. Ridiculing George W. Bush and the Christian faith is unlikely to get you killed. Even getting oneís face slapped is only a remote possibility. True courage is giving the proverbial middle finger to the adherents of Islam. I try to imagine what would have happened to the guy who created ìPiss Christî had he also completed a ìPiss Mohammed.î What would be the odds of his still being alive?
May 22, 2006 - 2:33 pm 9. Kevin Peters:Roger:
Another question to be asked is why sexual behaviour is automtically considered “serious” by the established art community. I have not seen it but my L.A. times told me about the “buzz’ that was created by a Cannes entry that featured a gay threesome having sex, and hold your horses here comes the serious artistic, and politically brilliant commentary, they sing the U.S. national athem while performing. Wow. Thats sooooo deeeep. The film also has a extended scene of someone masturbating. Oh, my God, that is an amazing idea, a man masturbating is so original, and it provides so much potential in character development I can’t wait to be entertained.And just think about the rich and deep themes that are contained in the act of masturbation. You can learn so much about a character by watching him jack off. I always thought that what was missing from Hamlet, if we could have seen his angst portrayed by a wanking scene we could have cut the play in half.
May 22, 2006 - 3:22 pm 10. tioedong:I am not asking to return to the days of having married characters sleep in seperate beds. And there is plenty of porn out there so if someone wants to watch that there is no shortage of material. This isn’t 1962. Yet the quickest way to get yourself labeled ‘important” seems to be by performing sex, either on film or in ‘performance’ art. Does this mean that Paris Hilton is the new Fellini?
Well, her blasphemy is passe, but in W magazine she has photos of herself with horses…
May 22, 2006 - 4:12 pm 11. Luther McLeod:it should give the phrase “Big Love” a different meaning…
Unfortunately, tioedong, may have conjured the most salient comment. Apologies for continuing the theme.
I am an old guy (well, not that old). Madonna never did a thing for me. Dime a dozen. Another example of media driven success, preying upon gullible and naive youth. Of which, of course, I was once one myself.
May 22, 2006 - 7:31 pm 12. Neo:The last time anyone really important hung around on a cross, some Roman guard stuck him in the side with a spear.
May 23, 2006 - 5:47 am 13. syn:So if people have enough money to lay down $380 to see a regurgitated two-hour Madonna show, which was sold out-across the country, then they have enough money to pay for their own health care insurance.
How it is that eye-candy Da Vinci Code garnered $77 million over one weekend yet for some reason we have a health care crisis?
Art in America no longer inspires anything but hollow junk for big $$$.
May 23, 2006 - 5:58 am 14. Xixi:If that electric cross has a malfunction and Madonna gets fried, will the media proclaim she has “died for her art?” or will it just be a matter of hellzapoppin’ gone terribly wrong?
May 23, 2006 - 7:14 am 15. Ripper:I for one am glad that “Madge” and Gwyenth Paltrow call England their home. I wish Babs Streisand would join them in Londonistan.
May 23, 2006 - 10:47 am 16. Ripper:Roger
May 23, 2006 - 10:51 am 17. Section9:“Pushing the envelope” would be for her to say something pro Bush. Being a crude lefty on stage runs no risksin Hollywood. It is no more cutting edge and courageous as wearing a button on your jacket with the name “Bush” on it with a red diagonal line going through it in the East Village or Upper West Side (of NY City).
As a sample from the side dish, can someone tell me why the Dixie Chicks are being marketed as some sort of Radical Chic Down Home act when all they do is what Madonna does-kick Bush in the teeth when he’s down on the ground?
Consider-poor Bush is down there and everyone, and I do mean everyone is kicking him. Pretty soon, the average Joe is going to start feeling sorry for the guy.
Even Andrew Sullivan won’t let up, for Christ’s sake.
May 23, 2006 - 4:28 pm 18. Luther McLeod:Dead thread, but… Good photo and succinct summation at Ace’s .
May 23, 2006 - 7:10 pm 19. Luther McLeod:How about here; Ace’s
I give up:
Go here:
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/178147.php
May 23, 2006 - 7:12 pm 20. Luther McLeod:Material Girl, is obviously, all about Material. Will she end up, in a few years, hiding in a burqa a’la M. Jackson, safely ensconced, regardless of her past ‘Kabbalisim’, in the shrouds of Islam. Safe from all intruders. After all, they do protect their believers, no matter how false, do they not?
May 23, 2006 - 7:25 pm 21. Korla Pundit:I guess when Madonna finally burns out on all the Catholic shocking tantrums, she will be following the Sinead O’Connor path and become a nun. She tore up a picture of the pope only because the image of the pope had real power over her.
Who but somebody who truly cares about a religion would spend so much time mocking it?
But just from an entertainment perspective, Madonna is truly one of the most boring acts around.
May 24, 2006 - 9:24 am