Madonna...Who Is That?
Madonna is now being "crucified" upon a glitzy cross, including a fake crown of thorns, as a centerpiece of her current concert tour. Christians are condemning her behavior as blasphemous.
Such contemptuous treatment of that which others consider to be sacred could certainly be interpreted as blasphemy.
Here is what I think is happening: Once again, the Christian community is being manipulated by an amoral entertainer for personal gain. And we play the "sucker" well. Madonna has been around for quite some time. She has to be near my age; I remember her antics when I began pastoring a little church in Michigan in the mid-80's. As I recall, she was at one time a cheerleader at one of the Detroit-area high schools. Her road to stardom, to me, is amazing but also understandable. She's attractive but certainly not beautiful. Her voice is middle-of-the-road at best. But, oh can she use sex and shock to entertain. And such is most effective when good, church-going conservative Christians loudly voice their complaints. She wants such attention, smartly using it to line her pockets.
So, what's a well-meaning Christian to do when someone like Madonna provokes his faith? Or, when Andres Serrano- another pitiful excuse for an artist, suspends a crucifix in a jar of urine and calls it "art"? I say, "Nothing". Do not lend an ounce of credibility, let alone dignity, with an iota of public response. When the subject is broached, at best just shake your head and roll your eyes.
What Madonna is truly selling is not talent, but shock. The best way to marginalize her impact is to refuse to play her game. Just yawn.
09.21.06 (10:49 pm) [
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posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
09.21.06 (8:12 pm)
You think she's not talented? Whew! I thought it was just me.
(I maintain she DOES have some talent but, instead of using it to the best of her ability, she takes the easy way out and choses shock as a substitue for working harder to produce the sort of output she might be capable of if she really put her mind to it.)
posted by:
seochris (
reply)
post date:
09.21.06 (8:26 pm)
seochris here.
Madonna is a cheap material and in no way bear any resemblance to the orginal madonna, the virgin who made way for Jesus.
In my opinion she should do more such antics anyways I feel she can't change sice its very much in her blood to seduce people and show them the eternal life of bliss i.e the kingdom of Lucifer.
Comeone Madonna, You can do far better for your Master, the ruler of the world.
posted by:
TheRockSays (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (6:25 am)
Is she into that crucifix stuff again? You really are showing your talent bottom-out when you have to recycle your icons after 20 years. In a few years we'll probably see her dress up in leather and port whips and chains again.
posted by:
fractalmom (
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post date:
09.22.06 (9:01 am)
Amen.
posted by:
PastorDave (
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post date:
09.22.06 (10:39 am)
Reply to: surrogate
I'm not a musician, and have a "tin ear", so I will respect your determination that she does have a modicum of talent. I will propose that she does not place in the Top 100, talent-wise, in the American music business. She's a provocateur, and good at it.
Your insight that she may be lazy with her talents is interesting. How often we are tempted to stop growing, learning, expanding, and instead just continue to do what we've done before.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (10:42 am)
Reply to: seochris
Wow!
I understand she has embraced the religion of "kabala", which I do not know much about, but think it is a mystical offshoot of Judaism. I wonder if her religion encourages modesty and sexual purity, and recanting of the love of this world for the sake of a Higher love? If it does, then she does not appear to me to be a good student.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (10:43 am)
Reply to: LadyG
Ignore who?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (10:44 am)
Reply to: TheRockSays
Recycling her icons? Now that is funny.
I did not know she had a thing with the crucifix years ago. I do vaguely remember the whips and chains act. I'm not sure what that tells you about me...and don't ask.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (10:45 am)
Reply to: fractalmom
Can you say "amen" during mass?
posted by:
bawdy (
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post date:
09.22.06 (11:46 am)
Madonna is very talented. She's a gifted songwriter and her singing voice isn't the best, but it's by no means bad. She has a knack for making hits and keeping with the times. She also feels this need to be controversial and likes to shock. Yes, she says and does stupid things. But it's her music that drives her record sales.
posted by:
drforbush (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (12:37 pm)
Madonna is marketing to the max. I agree with surrogate and PastorDave. If it weren't for her ability to pull the marketing strings she certainly not be where she is today. I would go so far as to say that she symbolizes most of what is wrong with American pop culture.
There are talented artists out there that have never had the chance because they are good singers with ordinary or traditional lyrics. There are outstanding singers out there that don't meet the qualifications of pop music, so they are singing more demanding things like opera.
The average American doesn't know what real singing ability is, so they think that people like Maddona are good.
Then again, singing ability isn't everything. It's too bad that Burlesque died because if it hadn't we could have a few beers and watch a pretty girl sing while half dressed instead of watching a Maddonna video...
posted by:
TheRockSays (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (1:48 pm)
Reply to: PastorDave
Oh yeah, you don't remember those burning crosses sometime in the mid- to late-80s? I also heard an unconfirmed rumour that she says a man on a cross is sexy. This was around the time of the Salman Rushdie scandal, so my mother jokingly said the pope should sentence her to death.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (3:35 pm)
Reply to: PastorDave Top 100? Madonna? Not a prayer - in any genre.
posted by:
lorischuster (
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post date:
09.22.06 (3:52 pm)
Very refreshing to hear you say this. I think you're right. I went to an Aerosmith concert a couple of years ago it was at an outdoor ampitheatre and packed (they also my first concert in 1978) and most of the audience was very young. My point is that true performers don't need to resort to cheap and pathetic self-promotion.
posted by:
fractalmom (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (5:43 pm)
Reply to: PastorDave
yes, you can say amen during mass. I did several times today as a matter of fact. It's amazing how liberal the church is becoming.
posted by:
fractalmom (
reply)
post date:
09.22.06 (5:50 pm)
you know, today was rather weird. even weirder than normally weird whatever that is. i hate madonna and the stupid music she sings. i hate everything about her actually. but then today, (again, deja vu) on my favorite rock station, i cranked up ozzy osbourne and 'war pigs'. I was thinking about your post as i was singing along to the band that could get just about anyone excommunicated from their church 20 years ago. that is sort of a dichotomy isn't it? and what a strange world when ozzy is now accepted (well, okay, not accepted as such, but accepted..)
again, no point. i seem to be doing rather a lot of that lately. i wonder if this is a warning of some sort by my unconcious mind to my concious?
dm
posted by:
bawdy (
reply)
post date:
09.23.06 (12:26 pm)
Can Mick Jagger sing? Stephen Tyler? Bono? None of them are good singers, but I love their music. Madonna can carry a tune better than them. The key is that they're all quality writers. Madonna's body of work speaks for itself. You don't sell that many records for two decades by being a gimmick. She'd be successful without the controversy. Maybe not as successful, but successful nonetheless.
posted by:
FinalyFree (
reply)
post date:
09.24.06 (5:34 pm)
I agree with you completely, Madonna--like many other entertainers use shock value to increase their popularity. She's looking for a reaction, period. It really bothers me when I hear 20-somethings talk about what an influence and role model she's been for them. Sad.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
09.25.06 (3:38 am)
This most recent pic of Skylar with the grin is too cute.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
09.25.06 (3:51 am)
Reply to: drforbush
Burlesque... What a nice word. I remember my Dad trying to explain the diffeence between burlesque performers and strippers to me when I was a kid, a moot point since I doubt if he ever saw even one of either sort during his life, but I remember him trying to explain that burlesque was an art form but that stripping was pure trash - a distinction that to me, at 14 or so, seemed pretty silly, but to him was very important for me to understand. He thought the world of Sally Rand, though I'm sure he never saw her perform. My only exposure to her was from the movie "The Right Stuff," where someone played the role of her doing her thing at a Texas Barbeque.
