I'm gonna post the actual Madonna essay I wrote for The Magazine Formerly Known as Stereo Review in a day or two (once I find a copy of the dead trees version), but in the meantime here's the quote disingenuous dickhead Michael Medved used in his wingnut screed Hollywood Vs America:
The sweaty and slimy single-mindedness of so much contemporary pop has begun to trouble even some veteran observers inside the industry. Rock critic Steve Simels of Stereo Review writes of Madonna’s retrospective assemblage of music videos: “'The Immaculate Collection' still makes me want to shower when it’s over, and I think I know why—it’s so nakedly, so honestly scummy…. I’m hardly advocating some sort of ethical litmus test for pop music. But we shouldn’t pretend this stuff is value-neutral, either.”
Yeah, I actually wrote that, but it's what he left out that really pisses me off. Short version: I specifically criticized Madonna for being anti-abortion ("Papa Don't Preach") and appropriating the iconography of the Civil Rights movement ("Like a Prayer") in a way that reduced it to just another pop culture image/signifier of cool.
In other words, my Madonna critique was FROM THE FUCKING LEFT.
Medved can bite me.
Update: Here's my review of the Madonna videos for Entertainment Weekly. As I recall it was having to sit through the damn thing that inspired me to write the column that Medved deliberately misrepresented.
MADONNA: THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION (1990, Warner Reprise, $19.98)
Here's a new video anthology that provokes an interesting question: Why Madonna? Why did a woman whose singing style is Early Munchkin, whose dancing is generally mechanical, whose sex appeal recalls that of a dominatrix, and whose only other notable asset is a David Bowie-style mastery of image-mongering, become a pop-culture icon? The answer, as this tape shows, is that we seem to get the pop stars we deserve. "The Immaculate Collection" -- 13 video clips ranging from 1984's ''Lucky Star'' to 1990's ''Vogue'' -- is a depressingly revelatory artifact, a sort of time- capsule peek into the pop unconscious of the Reagan years. Clip after clip vibrates with themes ranging from the appalling to the nearly evil -- porn palace peep shows as harmless rite of passage (''Open Your Heart''), heartfelt paeans to unwanted pregnancy (''Papa Don't Preach''), narcissism as liberation (''Vogue''), and on and on. Although the clips could be defended as intentionally ambiguous examples of postmodern irony, watching them back to back makes it clear that Madonna has not one ambiguous or ironic bone in her well-displayed body. D+
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14 comments:
Have you e-mailed Medved yet?
Would you like us to e-mail-bomb him?
I haven't yet, but I will as soon as I compose myself.
Mostly, I need to get the original column first, so I can throw it in his face.
My successor at Stereo has promised to get me a copy in the next couple of days.
Medved = Med Fly.
Swat him!
Why the fuck am I not surprised?
Is there a single person among these right wing cultural critics who have even a shred of integrity? I've yet to see one.
I would counsel (as if anyone cared!)that we let Steve take care of this matter himself rather than resorting to harassment. Steve can certainly express himself powerfully, and does not require any backup.
I understand Steve's irritation at Medved, and his musical critique of Madonna, but I am missing why it is important that she takes a pro-life stance in a video or personally.
Now I have assiduously avoided any political commentary on this blog because I am just here for the music and am one of the few right wing nutjobs in house, but I would appreciate to know more of your thoughts on Madonna and abortion Steve. Not to argue with you, just to listen.
Trey
Trey --
I thought the Papa Don't Preach video was apalling.
A multi-millionaire pop star who has all the options in the world telling her working class female fans who may not have those options that abortion is icky?
I don't want to get into an argument about abortion in general, but I just found that reprehensible.
Trey,
I'll take this one on.
I think the point here is that Madonna wants to have it both ways, as both, well, whore and madonna.
Her calculated use of female sexuality isn't necessarily a bad thing--I suppose it prefigured the Riot Grrls movement of the 90s--but to then suggest that irresponsible sexual behavior was somehow a good thing, is just reprehensible.
Liberals are not all about fucking and abortion, you know. We believe people should take responsibility for themselves, including using birth control (which we believe should be legally available and accessible), or knowing when you can't really afford or cope with having a baby (we also believe abortion should be legally available and accessible). And if Madonna became a model for young women--as I know she did, being a young woman in those days--she got a lot of young women and their children in trouble, because that line "I've made up my mind; I'm keeping my baby" undoubtedly consigned many, many women and children to poverty.
Now you could argue that they shouldn't have been having sex, or they should have gotten married, but we know that men routinely walk away from their responsibilities in this regard, and the idea that her father should pick up the pieces is both Freudian and icky.
My two cents.
What NYMary said.
Exactly so....
I guess I never considered PDP from the perspective of abortion, and just assumed it was a Father/Daughter struggle between keeping a baby and giving it up for adoption. I just checked the lyrics and they seem to back up that perspective - boy says he'll marry girl, she tells Papa their future will be A-OK, etc. Also, I get the sense that it's an unplanned pregnancy rather than an unwanted pregnancy - semantics, to be sure, but that's my take.
That said, I think Medved is definitely reaching if he's trying to corral you (or your column) into the "Hollywood is liberal and evil !" camp. There's a difference between saying "this is plonk" and saying "it's bad because it promotes a certain set of values." and I don't think Medved is reading you correctly. Or he's just disingenuous, which wouldn't be hard to believe.
I feel like I'm not making much sense with this.
Or he's just disingenuous, which wouldn't be hard to believe.
I feel like I'm not making much sense with this.
Yes you are.
:-)
Thanks guys! I appreciate your answers and your patience and the respect with which you answered. Outstanding.
Trey
appropriating the iconography of the Civil Rights movement ("Like a Prayer") in a way that reduced it to just another pop culture image/signifier of cool.
I think she does that with a lot of things, just to be shocking. But the shocks are superficial amd meaningless. One of my old friends once said about her, "She's sexual, but she's not erotic." Juxtapose Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friends" against "Material Girl" and the distinction is obvious.
Madonna is fascinating, but in a clinical, confrontational, self-congratulatory sort of way. She plays images against each other simply because she knows they will attract attention, not because there is really any sociopolitical message, or at least one of any depth. She's no fool, but she plays us for fools.
One of my old friends once said about her, "She's sexual, but she's not erotic."
I have a few more problems with Madonna than you do, obviously, but that in particular strikes me as spot on.
I've always thought that the reason teenage girls in the 80s liked her so much was because she scared teenage boys.
I've always thought that the reason teenage girls in the 80s liked her so much was because she scared teenage boys.
I never thought of that, but it's a great point, and it makes total sense.
The pop star role models I was influenced by were first the girl groups, then people like Dusty Springfield, and then the greats, Gracie and Janis. So when Madonna came along, she just seemed like a commercial little tart, followed by other little tarts. But without that historical context, she becomes a much more insidious character, exactly the way you described her in the review. Not a role model I would want a kid of mine to grow up with.
Kind of like Reagan.
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