In the age of social media where tweens run amok and everyone hides behind a fake name and filtered image, even the most durable and classic of pop stars have a hard time escaping the awfulness that comes from giving anonymous losers any sort of platform. That goes for this blog as well, so I’m not above admitting I’m occasionally part of the problem. The difference is that I don’t hide who I am – you got my name and face and body, and if you want any sort of respect you should reciprocate the honor.
With that said, it seems a good moment to address all the Madonna-bashing that goes on when she does just about anything these days, and to remind myself, and anyone reading this, of how lucky we are to have such an icon still living her life and causing a commotion. Do I always agree with her? No. I never have. But I can do so in a thoughtful and respectful way. I find her Instagram-heavy focus of late cringe-worthy not because she’s too old to pose in such pictures, but rather because they seem to be detracting from her legacy of music and drama. Besides, anyone can be Insta-famous these days – Madonna was a star long before social media was even born, and remains so even in this age of social media madness. Madonna’s presence on Instagram, while mandatory these days, is almost a foot-note in her pop culture accomplishments. Still, it gets her points across, and currently that’s celebrating her body – a Madonna tradition that goes back to when she first bared her belly-button and writhed across the MTV Music Awards stage while crooning ‘Like A Virgin’.
She did a stunning spread for V Magazine in which she and Steven Klein paid more homage to Marilyn Monroe, as seen in the accompanying photos. Yes, they’re airbrushed and edited to the point of caricature, but that’s partly been the point of Madonna since the beginning – she makes us wonder how much is real, how much is fluff, and how much really matters. She registers in an increasingly-chaotic and random universe where information and images are thrust so quickly and voluminously at us that it’s a wonder anything registers at all. To get anyone talking about you these days is a major accomplishment when you consider the trending topics on Twitter any given morning.
Madonna remains a master at this, and positing her body and image as exhibit A for four continuous decades, and not letting up anytime soon, is pretty damn impressive. Making some bold and courageous artistic statements along the way (and usually far ahead of their time) is what has cemented her status as artistic icon. Wrapping it all up with some indelible music has left us with a musical legacy and timeline filled with memories and history (and anyone having a rough day should simply consider one of her multiple greatest hits packages to immediately lift the mood).
Your opinions of Madonna prove that she still matters – stop hating and start celebrating.
