Madonna’s Political Statement

I’ve lost respect for Madonna over the years (partly because she’s owned by corporations), but I found the articles about her recent political tour to be hilarious. A Reuters article writes:

LOS ANGELES? She sits in an electric chair and dances and sings against a backdrop of war images, President Bush, and Saddam Hussein, but fans of Madonna say the pop queen of shock seems to have mellowed with age, religion and motherhood.

Madonna opened her extravagant and politically charged Re-Invention tour on Monday wearing a jewel-encrusted corset but changed into army fatigues when she sang “American Life” against projected images of a war-torn nation and the sounds of dropping bombs.

Another article by Karen McVeigh:

Meda Namdar, a fan from Orange County in California, was unimpressed with the opening show. “We are so disappointed – what happened to the cool, energetic Madonna?” she asked. “I mean, come on dude, get out there, start dancing. “Nobody cares about her political views. Who is Madonna to be offering her political views – she?s just an entertainer. It?s like the Pope starting a rock band.”

Ok, I understand people’s discomfort with singers like Madonna stepping into politics, and truthfully, political speech can be grating at times. But here’s the point that is missed: this is the first time that artists in America have spoken with near unanimity about the horrible state of America and the fact that George W. has to go. The fact that entrenched entertainers like Madonna are even trying to push politics show how quickly the winds are changing.

A caustic remark about Madonna’s recent stunts by Grant McCracken:

Poor Madonna. Her concerts were staging areas for the next restless self. They sprinted out ahead of contemporary culture, sending back new intelligence. Now they are more like a high school reunion, with all the old Madonnas turning up, unbidden, unwelcome, and more often than not, uninteresting. Somewhere in the life of this changeling, the transformation stopped. As Kaleefa Sanneh, says, ?Having created all those old selves, she can?t now disown them, she can only play with them.?