The other night I caught the last minute of the ONLY airing of Madonnas “Ameircan Life” video, in Latin America.
It was very cool, as is usual for Madonna.
As far as I could tell, It was a complex comentary of american life and attitude towards war and conflict in general.
Regardless of what your present ideas are on the conflict, what is absolutely creepy, Is that “controversy” Madonna herself has pulled the video!
It appears the whole of mainstream artists has been effectively put a lid on.
I’m 100% certain that this is not a voluntary decision by madonna. There are sinister, powerfull forces behind. She was definitely pressured into submission. You may tell me she was worried that her sales and image would be tarnished. maybe true, but that would have been the result of systematic smearing from pro-war organizations of various stripes who think its their duty to SHUT UP, yes SHUT UP any voice that speaks against this war.
First of all: Bullshit. Celebrities have been extremely outspoken for the past year or two. Many, if not most, have seen no need for such a “lid”. I’ve not seen the Madonna video, and I probably wouldn’t have, even if she hadn’t yanked it, given that I don’t care for her music. Thus I can’t comment on how “contraversial” it may have been. Madonna’s explanation is thus:
Sounds to me like a decent thing to do, out of respect to the soldiers out there. Not having seen the video, I don’t know whether or not it’s highly critical of the war, or of Bush, or whatnot. If it is, then it’s likely she doesn’t want to suffer the fate of the Dixie Chicks, which is understandable.
Contrary to your little VRWC fantasy, there is no group of cigarette-smoking men somewhere pulling the strings. It’s simply that American citizens, in a time when much is at stake, don’t want their entertainers informing them that their president is an ass, the war is a joke, and whatnot. When we’re not at war, pretty much anything is fair game, though.
Truth be told, though, I doubt Madonna would suffer from contraversy as much as the DC did. The Dixie Chicks are a country group. Those who listen to country tend to be Republican. Going oversees and bad-mouthing your target audience’s choice of president to a country who thinks America is largely full of shit is not the best way to sell records, as anyone with an IQ higher than that of warm cheese could tell you. Madonna’s target audience likely doesn’t run as conservative - in fact, I would wager her audience isn’t as strong in their political convictions. Call it a hunch.
At any rate, she might be playing it safe. Wait until we’re not at war to spout contraversy, when people aren’t as much on edge. It’s not sinister, it’s just good business sense. Whatever you think of the woman or her music, she’s a smart cookie.
Jeff
The video was aired once, on Latin MTV, and it was pulled.
That means, for a fact, that she had the intention of making it public.
It also means she “changed her mind” abruptlly.
Why ?
Why air it once, and THEN decide you don’t want to “offend” the public.
In all probability, she was confronted by very important people. Probably Bush himself (which she mocks at the end of the video, Bush lights a cigarette with a grenade)
By your reasoning, the Blacklisted actors and writers of the 1950’s ceased to work so as not to offend the US “citizens”
What is the point?
There is a war going on. A most dramatic, and important event for the US, Iraq, and the World
Are songwriters and film directors supposed to sing and film about comedy and romance whilst the world collapses ?
Freedom of speech should be suspended during the War?
This is the most arrogant liberal conspiracy theory I have heard. Do you think Bush would take the time to “confront” any pop star over something as mundane as this?
This is one of the dumbest anti-Bush conspiracy theories I have heard. Grow up man. The world does not evolve around you or Madonna.
And if what I heard about the video is true, it would have been nothing but contraversy for her for many years to come. Maybe she is getting too old for that shit.
In what twisted, masochistic Orwellian fantasy world does this seem like the most probable cause?
I would imagine, based on the artist in question, that the entire thing including the single airing, was carefully orchestrated to grab a few precious column inches. See, it plays to both sides in a typically ludicrous Madonna-like way; the doves like her because she made a critical statement about the situation, despite lacking the courage to stand behind it and the hawks like her because she had the ‘decency’ to “SUPPROT OUR TROOPS!” by not criticizing the war more than once.
Not exactly genius, but in a kingdom of the blind. . .
Since when has Madonna buckled in the face of pressure or controversy? She doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being a wallflower. Nor would I imagine that this is just some stunt, as she’s never seemed the kind to put up a false front (MHO, I am a Madonna fan, bias beware). The controversy may be that she is an honest, opinionated, but yet respectful and talented individual—and that is tough to find anywhere.
One thing you can say about Madonna, leaving aside any question of talent, she is much, much smarter than the Dixie Chicks.
I’m not a huge fan of her music – in fact, I’m a country music fan to the extent that I listen to music at all – but she is a bright woman and an astute businessperson. I’m of the opinion that JDeMobray and Lord Ashtar have perfectly pegged this “controversy.” She’s got a new album coming out and she is playing both ends of the war movement for all she’s worth.
And the idea that Madonna has been strong-armed by the government (by Bush himself, yet!) into yanking her video is both stupid and insulting.
Pure publicity. If she really didn’t want it ever to air, she could have had it edited before it’s release. But by doing it this way she raises a few eyebrows, panders to her largely liberal audience, gets to maintain her relevance for another year, and boosts album sales. A very savvy business move on her part, I think.
MTV is really (an even bigger) disgrace these days.
They (MTV Nordic / Scandinavia - that’s where i’m at) don’t air any videos with war themes that may be found “controversial”. In the feature “Cribs” (visiting the homes of celebrities) they blanked out Robert DeNiro’s guns on a Taxi Driver poster in the home of Exzibit!
Supposedly the tv channel of youthful rebellion. Hypocricy if there ever were.
I think many are focusing on the smaller part of the issue.
So Madonna is keen on sales and image. Ok, Granted
So maybe it was a publicity stunt. Or maybe she was pressured into pulling it. OR, something in between, we’ll never know.
The end result, and the big issue IMHO, is that mainstream media doesn’t comment upon the War. A friggin war. And I think that’s scary. It means that, when push comes to shove, establishment can impose a cultural black-out while something horrific is going on.
“The mainstream media doesn’t comment on the War?” I’m sorry - I’m really not trying to be difficult - but I don’t understand what you mean by this. You cannot possibly mean what it appears that you do on the face of it. The mainstream media has done nothing but comment on the war since it began. CNN and MSNBC are pretty much running nonstop feeds from Iraq, in between talking heads alternating viewpoints on everything from ethicality to strategy. Yahoo! news and MSNBC.com, to say nothing of non-American sites, are covered with news and analysis. Every major political columnist, from Anna Quindlen to Ann Coulter, has weighed in on one side or another. Locally, at least, radio stations interrupt broadcasts for war updates every fifteen minutes or so, and most talk radio hosts - no matter their political persuasion - are “commenting on the war.” The Onion comments on the war.
I really don’t understand your beef here. There are tons of voices being raised against the war, and a ton of voices being raised in support of it. None is being squelched by the U.S. Government.
That wasn’t a grenade, though, that was dynamite. Everyone knows you can light a cigarette by standing next to a suicide bomber, dj. It was the grenade thing specifically.
