Erlend

Get Together Hollywood or God Control?

Like a Virgin Joel D. Schwartz just didn't get her: "The appeal of rock 'n' roll at its best, from Buddy Holly to Bob Dylan to Prince, has always been its sincerity. Madonna, in contrast, wears commitments like costumes to be taken off and on at whim. Everything is a pose (...)" And of course he was worried about the fans, the young girls who flocked in their thousands to the arenas in the spring and summer of 85, ready to sing along with their idol. Like a Prayer What on earth is she singing about? Is it about God or oral sex? Lucy O'Brien has clearly made up her mind, and so have a lot of people. The song is perhaps her very best, and yes, the album is right up there. Vogue She's the perfect pop star for the 90's. She doesn't offer drugs. Instead she invites her listeners to get up and Strike a Pose. Yes, that's what Madonna is about. Her fantasy is your fantasy, and anybody can do it. But please don't take it too seriously. This isn't about Marilyn's struggle with the Fox studio and the way she (and others) were destined for alchohol and sleeping pills. This is about attitude. Beauty's where you finds it, she sings. And in that moment she captures both the spirit and the zeitgeist.

Express Yourself Queen's English or The Beast Within?

Like a Virgin Whore and Madonna, she can be both, playing with these stereotypes, deconstructing them Express Yourself For Madonna gender is a put-on. The way she parodies the big boss Justify My Love At a time when society is becoming very conservative Madonna opens the door (as well as her coat) She/him/her in a postmodern age, doing nothing but making love

I'm not too sure that her older fans are bitter. Not everyone, anyway ?

Who's That Girl Beautiful Stranger or Die Another Day?

TRUE BLUE Baby, I'm a superstar LIKE A PRAYER I'm a sinner, and I like it EROTICA Deeper and deeper Ray of light Material Girl? I'm neither (Now that's 4... ah, well)

Holy Water! I'm impressed! ???

Swim Secret Garden or Sanctuary?

One of Madonna's trademark as an artist was how she re-invented old Hollywood-myths and made society confront those myths. Yes, she was criticised, for not being original etc etc, but she also earned some respect because of it. Many of her videos alludes to old movies and moviestars, from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to Metropolis. Madonna facinated because she was seen as "her own director". She took these cultural images and turned them up side down in a way. "I can be a sexsymbol", she once said, "but I don't have to be a victim".

That's not quite the way I remembers it. The Madonna/Marilyn facinated the public, and while she no doubt was criticised for it from some quarters, there was also this feeling that Madonna embraced the old Hollywood glamour in a creativ way. Madonna lived out her fantasy and changed her looks frequently (from Marilyn to Mae West). Up to a certaint point this was seemed as something creativ, and it kind of embraced the notions of a post-modern society.

This is true. In an article about Madonna (Guilty Pleasures) Pamela Robertson wrote this about the Material Girl video (wich was inspired by Monroes ' Diamonds ara a Girls Best Friend' from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) "The video (...) reproduces elements of the Monroe image (blondness, sexuality,gold digging) and simultaneously recast that image in a potentially critical manner. (...) both Madonna's witty performance and ghe song's pointed lyrics attribute to the Monroe character a knowingness and degree of control absent from most nostalgic treatments of Monroe, which generally remember her as a witless sex object and/or tragic victim. Thus the video creates a dialectical constellation of Monroe-Madonna, revealing a stronger and more savvy Monroe in the image if Madonna."

This is correct. What I meant to say was how unpopular Madonna was, despite the fact that the song was such a big hit. Maybe that was just how I felt it? But in the spring of 94 it was all about Janet and grunge and techno.

Dear Jessie Sooner or Later or You Must Love Me?

Now, that's a though question. I really don't know. It would be great if it happened. But ever since American Life she has seemed much less focused (with Confessions being the exeption) Her last four albums may have some good stuff, but none of them has the magic that she once pocessed.

The Look of Love Into the Groove or Music?

True. And then it was forgotten. I personally love that song, but it was such a weird time. People had no time for Madonna. And then she went to the Letterman show...

It's a beautiful album, and perhaps one of the most important albums of the 90's. I was kind of ambivalent to it in the beginning. It had all of these great songs, and yet at the same time I knew that the old Madonna (the one with the blond ambition and Dita Parlo as her alter ego) was not coming back. One of her best albums.

And maybe she didn't wanted to be a " "conventional" popstar any longer? I mean, where do you go after one success after another? True, she went more mainstream later on, but back in the early 90's it was all about EXPRESSING herself.

Yes, the critics was so hostile. This review, from The Girlie Show, gives a perfect example: "There she stood, a vision of tawdriness: blond hair, black skirt, red bra over taut white flesh. She was that odd-lot remnant of the '80s, a Madonna wannabe. But most of the other fans at the Toronto SkyDome last week for the North American opening of the singer's Girlie Show tour were dressed in civvies. For them, the star was only something to stare at. She is not a role model, not after a decade in the spotlight. These days, does anyone wanna be Madonna?" Richhard Corliss, Time magazine, october 25, 1993. Metz. Benson: Schirmer Books. New York. The Madonna Companion. 1999.

True. I remember her talking about how she keeps everything, including all the costumes from her tours etc.

He was a great TV-personality and a great journalist. RIP, sir.

Lucky Star Santa Baby or Supernatural?

Madonna has always been edgy, but then again, she also had this romantic, more innocent side to her. You do mention songs like Angel and Love Makes The World Go Round. They're very good examples of this. And what about Cherish and True Blue?