Totally Random: Rethinking Madonna

Some of you may remember a while back that I mentioned my holy trinity (Dolly Parton, Joan Jett, and Björk) and how I was quite upset with Madonna. I had recently seen Madonna on a British talk show where she declared that much of her music's content was decided for her, and that she did not really mean a lot of it, but hoped to sell records with sex and scandal. This bothered me as through the Reagan/Bush era Madonna was the biggest voice against the religious right. She bothered them to no end, yet controlled things enough to remain popular. Many artists went too far fighting the PMRC and other groups, seriously damaging their careers; Ice-T for example with his excellent "Freedom of Speech" album, and the Ice-T fronted Body Count song "Cop Killer." Madonna lived to piss in their cornflakes another day.

I guess it all comes down to getting old and perhaps feeling the world has passed you by. At 51, it is difficult for Madonna to be anything but a mentor type figure. When your first album is twenty-six years old it can be difficult to seem relevant, and sometimes revising your history seems like an option. This is a shame, as Madonna is responsible for some of pop musics most memorable moments. Starting with her performance of "Like a Virgin" on the VMAs, she became an important part of the Video Music Awards, and often the most talked-about performer. The video for "Like a Prayer" garnered more unnecessary religious ire than most any video and lost her an endorsement from Pepsi... Then her Sex book, Truth or Dare "documentary," and the "Justify My Love" video caused a huge stir. The last really outrageous thing I have seen from her is the video for "What It Feels Like for a Girl" (2002) — a highly disturbing and thoroughly entertaining video that was banned by MTV.

There is a lot of talk comparing Lady Gaga to Madonna, and I think it is appropriate. Lady Gaga seems to be bringing Madonna out a bit, much better than the failed attempts to pass her torch to Britney Spears or Christina Aguillera. Lady Gaga is more interested in pushing boundaries and making art than the other two, and is more in the early Madonna mold.

I am going to hope Madonna was being funny about her past, but regardless I am going to give her the credit she is due whether she wants it or not. Her music and persona told us that sex was not dirty, that it was okey to be who you are, and that AIDS was not some sort of divine retribution. She was an important figure during a scary time, and I don't plan on forgetting it.