SOCIAL MEDIA

Monday, February 6, 2012

Madonna at the Super Bowl

Pietro Perugino's Madonna (detail)
Follow my blog with Bloglovin


There was some mass hating last night on my twitter feed about Madonna. But please let me remind all the naysayers of these tiny little points.

1. Without Madonna having paved the way there would be no such entity as Lady Gaga.
2. Without Madonna having paved the way Katy Perry would not have "Kissed a Girl."
3. Without Madonna having paved the way in Pop Music - especially for women, the industry would have been vastly different then it is today.
4. And, I'm sure you're saying to yourself, "Someone else wold have done it if she didn't." Yeah, well, she did. And she is the one and only Madonna Louise Ciccione.



I love Madge! Always have. I was in the 7th grade when I was introduced to "Borderline" by one of my bully classmates, who had done a skit to the song. The girl was terrible but the song was sensational and while it's not her best tune (as I hearken back - at least not to me), I was hooked.  It was early autumn of 1983 and "Madonna" had just come out. For my birthday in October my mother and father gifted me a Sony Walkman (the equivalent of the ipod touch at the time) and the ever enduring cassette to play on it, called "Madonna." And to this day, I will still rock a little Nona!

I love her. I love her for always pushing the envelope. I love her for her feminine whiles. I love her for her demanding high standards. I love her for her perseverance. I love her for her insecurities. By the way, if you're human, you're insecure at some point. Even if you are a super star.

I love her for enduring very visible dramas;  Sean Penn, Prince, her children and Guy Ritchie. And I love that she has dabbled in more than just dancing and singing. She has a true creative mind having written a children's book, been a Golden Globe winning actress, and now has directed a film about one of history's greatest love stories. She has more Renaissance than the great Leonardo Da Vinci and she's a woman!

I feel a kinship with her somehow. I realize that sounds silly but keep reading. I believe sometimes she feels lonely, sad, incomplete or usurped by others. I do too. I also believe that she is probably very grateful for her blessings. Me too, for mine.

She has been a blessing throughout my life; when I was bullied in junior high school, she sang "Holiday" to me. In early high school, "Where's the Party" became my theme song. In 1989, "Like a Prayer" was released and so was I - from high school. Once I reached university, deciding what to do with my life became a huge challenge so I learned the "Vogue" dance moves - it was a wonderful distraction - I never did decide "what I was going to be when I grew up."

Nearly ten years later, "Ray of Light" was a literal ray of light for me. I was floundering professionally and personally. And it was a huge motivator for me. A motivator to always seek hope. And seek hope I did - on a whole other continent. I came out the other side of that adventure a smarter, stronger, braver woman - "quicker than a ray of light" and I sought to write it all down.

Now here it is and I still love her. Last night as I watched her perform, I was astounded at how well she can still move her body and write a song. Lip sinc? Who cares? Of course there are snarkers out there who have to attend to the little bitch inside them like JP Starkey from the Dallas SB Nation. I think he was upset the Patriots lost - so he blamed Madonna - that my friends, is what we call "yellow journalism!" Poor widdew JP. His big fancy Tom Bwady wet him down...Wah wah. Anyway, Madonna is no Ashley Simpson. She is a proven artist with 30 years of experience who was on stage orchestrating a huge event for Americana's sake. Perhaps we can be gracious and give her some leeway, no? For a more accurate account of the entire performance at Super Bowl XLVI's half time, refer to Alex Fiore's, "Madonna Rocks Super Bowl 'Like A Virgin'," from the Northern Star and other positive reviews from very reputable sources like Billboard, The Boston Herald and Entertainment Weekly all posted on All About Madonna.

MDNA - such a clever title - will if nothing else entertain. And what is Madonna if not an entertainer? If you've never read a biography about her, you can learn more about her here. It's enlightening.

For all the Madonna nihilists and especially for the Madonna fans, I leave you with a mix of some of my favorites by this dynamic star. Viva Madonna.

Se mai avete ballato o non cantate ad una canzone del Madonna, suppongo che potreste essere negativi circa lei ma allora probabilmente non conoscete il suo lavoro. Se parlaste male delle sue prestazioni la notte scorsa ed avete ballato o cantate per livellare una delle sue canzoni, vergogna su voi… voi cazzo piccolo!

Album Art: Sandro Botticelli's Madonna