Madonna releases Pride anthem “I Rise.” It’s not… good? [Towleroad]
Charlize Theron’s baby bangs were clip-ins, thank the lord. [Go Fug Yourself]
Beto O’Rourke is leading in the polls? Voters, love yourselves. [Pajiba]
Juliette Lewis is the Miranda Lambert of indie rock?! [Dlisted]
Salty bros were also salty about Brie Larson, no surprise. [LaineyGossip]
Rep. Steve Cohen is a beautiful stunt queen. [Jezebel]
Donald Trump won’t consider Joe Giudice’s deportation case. [Reality Tea]
Lily Collins does look like she’s in a Robert Palmer video. [Red Carpet Fashion Awards]
I don’t think Kylie Jenner is pregnant again, but she might be engaged. [Starcasm]
Rest in peace, Peter Mayhew, the original Chewbacca. [NPR]
May the Force be with you, Mr. Mayhew. Thank you for what you’ve done for the galaxy.
I just don’t know about Madonna. She’s had a fabulous career. Controversies. Fun dance songs. All of it. I definitely don’t want her to quit, but I honestly believe she’s missing the mark of a successful Madonna morph. No more writhing around on a stage floor please, she’s not even ‘like’ a virgin. She should command a post apocalyptic army of virgins maybe. Or stage an earth invasion of alien male strippers. Anything that takes her out of the front line.
Madonna just makes me…tired.
It’s bad but for some reason it does feel closer to the current sound which is what i think she was going for. You know? This is bad like a Halsey song.
Madonna wont retire and I think thats kinda cool. I wish she would do her own thing tho instead of jumping into what seems to be the trend. Whats her own thing tho?
I like what you say about that it’s good she won’t retire. She was such a forerunner in the 80s and then everyone became derivative of what she did. Then her huge place in our pop culture became diluted as everyone else built upon what she created. And ironically now she is making music derivative of those who were influenced by her. Wrap your head around that!
I think she’s going to have a renaissance though. In a few years she’s going to be the first female senior citizen pop star who refuses to retire, and I think she still has a few new tricks up her sleeve, striking down barriers just like she did in the 80s.
I’m not even a Madonna fan really, but I wouldn’t say she’s down for the count. I think she’s going to surprise us all.
I think there is going to be one more huge amazing Madonna moment before her career ends — and I don’t think it will end until she is physically unable to keep working.
I think it’s less bad than the first song she released anyway.
Seven hells, Madge looks embalmed. Disturbing.
We really don’t know what to do with Madonna, do we?
What do you do with a woman who leads with her sexuality when she’s 60?
Yes and she has messed up.her face so badly that she looks grotesque.
Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles is also 60 and looks fabulous and human!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv1rBC_A8Al/
I don’t mind the sexuality at all, but it does sadden me that she has not accepted aging or herself as aging. It would have been pretty empowering if she had just let herself be.
Agreed. ‘Madame X’ could convey sexual intensity in a number of ways. Spreading her knees in a girly short skirts isn’t one one them.
I know Helen Mirren has expressed reservations about her status as a sex symbol, but she’s the first example that comes to mind. It would open up worlds of re-invention possibility for Madge to consider ‘What Would Helen Mirren Do’?
I automatically think of Tina Turner. She leads with her sexuality at all ages and it works! I think because her sexuality isn’t dependent on youth (though her legs help!) and she just comes off as confident.
It’s not so much the sexuality as it is all the weird characters/costumes/ “cha cha cha-ing” that gets me. She should get it – I just think she’s made herself into a joke.
I don’t mind the sexual thing, men of her age are “charming”, and cool, and “at his age is still rocking”.
What bothers me, really: I watched her performance of that “cha-cha-cha” thing, and I had to rewatch the “Hung up” performance, the one with the discoball, when she was 50 to understand what was rubbing me in the wrong way: at 50 she came up with that ABBA earworm and literally rocked the crowd, last night she appeared tired. Her energy was so bad staged that I could feel it, like she was tired to try to be her stage persona. I don’t know. But that is the feeling I got.
Ugh, apparently the auto tune won’t be limited to her first single. I know it’s popular to hate her, but I love a lot of her music. Her last album, Rebel Heart was pretty good. Madonna still feeling sexy at 60 does not offend me and I’m not sure why others like to rip her apart for it. Did anyone really expect her to age gracefully and wear clothing from head to toe? That’s not her style.
The same kinds of things will probably be said about some of today’s female pop stars if/when they get to be 50+ too. Their immodest ways will be attributed to a midlife crisis or desperation to look young and desirable, even though some of us will remember that they were like this since before they could rent a car from some companies.
I am not « sexy » in the same way as I was when I was twenty. If anything I am sexier, I have more moves, I am less embarrassed. Mainly because I’ve worked on a lot of internalized Lolita and femme fatale moves that are simply not sexy. I have no problem with a sexualised 60 year old. On the contrary, I long to see what it is and how it is when I get there. I’m just not convinced by Madonna’s version of it. Frozen faces and Lolita moves is not it for me.
“I am not sexy in the same way as I was when I was twenty.” Yeah, a lot of people do go through big changes in what appeals to them as they get older. Still, it’s not hard to believe that some of the things that appealed to someone at 20 may still appeal to them at 60- especially things related to what they’re passionate and, in this case, are part of who they are as entertainers and performers. I think Madonna just hasn’t ‘outgrown’ some things women are expected/told to outgrow as they get older.
@Otaku fairy Agree with you, especially with what you said last. At least I think. I don’t think I’ve outgrown some things because that’s what was expected of me. On the contrary, I think I have a freer relation with my body but I also have a sense that at my age some things are sexier than others – although equally “explicit”. Madonna doesn’t show her boobs anymore, Rihanna shows hers “before they sag” (I am paraphrasing).
Moreover, I see Madonna as one of those second generation feminists (who had their own time and place and influence) that tried to emulate male behaviour – copying the enemy, as it were: the younger boyfriends, revelling in the power imbalance with her sexual or not partners, etc. Which ties in with her not knowing quite how to place that kind of power at 60, other than dancing with a “stud” pretending to be attracted to her.
Other older women have younger boyfriends (from Marguerite Duras to Tilda Swinton but not as a statement so much as a thing that happened and that they are unapologetic for). Madonna could very well be super revolutionary if she came clean about her real sexuality: is she at the end of the day asexual? Does she prefer polyamory? What has she learned so far? But none of that transpires.
Someone like Iggy Pop kept on doing the same thing (almost naked performances) but he hasn’t transformed / enhanced his body and it’s a thing of beauty. Same goes for Isabelle Huppert. Orlan, a French artist, for instance, used plastic surgery to change the human body (she has a sort of horn thing on her head etc) – that’s far more interesting that just shaving off your wrinkles.
Her face 😱😱😱😱😱 it looks painful.
Jesus Christ, those bros are so extra with their attacks on Brie. Seems like MRA types.
Well, Brie hasn’t apologized for existing yet or even bothered to comment on this dumbass stuff. That said, if she manages to take Marvel down like they all seem to think for some reason, I’ll be very impressed.
Did anyone know the actor that plays Grey Worm in GOT is a talented singer, songwriter, rapper, etc. I feel like I’m late to the game but wanted to share if anyone else didn’t know.
The song is hauntingly beautiful
https://youtu.be/VB30oo2YYf4
Listening now!! Love it!! The last time I instantly loved an artist, it was Caro Emerald. Went out and bought everything of hers I could, and going to do the same with Raleigh now. 😉
I’m surprised. I don’t hate “I Rise.” I actually like it. As for her BMA performance, I don’t think she’s tired so much as the song wasn’t high energy. I’m not a fan of that song or her dress. It wasn’t flattering.
I’ll be interested to see what is next from Madame X.
I didn’t hate Rise, but it wasn’t anything special. Same formula as Ariana Grande or Halsey or any pop star, but then Madonna IS a pop star. I would love to hear more catchy accessible pop from her, but also I would hope her money and position could afford collaborators and producers that could create something that is more uniquely her own, like the Erotica album was, for example.
Really never liked Madonna’s shtick but maybe she influenced someone i like? Who knows. I find her pop music unbearable and her persona both insufferable and basic.
Now this Madonna I like. Never finished her first single. Never went back and listened again. It had a really nice easy vibe, but not single-worthy. More like filler for an album. Although, the video was killer because of “HIM.” He is beyond sexy. Madonna used to mesmerize me in her music videos. But her face is so frozen. I never paid attention to her. I never thought that would happen. Although, I like her in dark hair.
But this song is good. Good job, Madonna. I’ve listened to it about five times already.
Okay. I went and watched her Billboard Music performance. I loved her outfit. I actually enjoyed it. This album might be her updated Bedtime Stories. It has that vibe a little.
I liked it, too! Loved her outfit and especially the shoes!
She really messed up her face this time to be wearing an eye patch ALL.THE.TIME. lol. Bad facelift perhaps? Wonky Botox eye?
Only a delusional narcissist would make a music video all about her frozen face 🙄
Nothing. No creativity, no good lyrics, no voice, although there was something pleasant about the melody. Unfortunately she’s a victim of her own success : she’s Madonna, so we expect a lot.
And oh, Maluma is awful.
Medellin, I kind of like, but I hate the auto tune on I, Rise. Ruins it for me. Hate auto tune! Why is this video basically a screen saver? It’s awful, too.
Madonna is so passe
I think she’s passé too, and it’s because at some point entertainers have to be real people or they become caricatures. She’s become an absurd caricature, physically and with those laughably bad stylings. She’s trying to keep the idea of young Madonna alive but it just makes her current self look even more wizened and atrophied! If she just stopped trying to be her former self and got real, maybe she’d regain a little relevance.
No, she’s not passe, it’s just that everyone else has reached the bar that she set for pop music. She was revolutionary. I was totally anti-pop when she became popular and have only been able to appreciate her many years later. She was never a strong vocalist or lyricist, but that is not even a requirement of pop music anyway. She did change the landscape for pop music though, and especially for WOMEN in pop music. She rewrote ALL the rules. So it saddens me that this incredible music pioneer is being written off by some as a has-been.
I don’t think aging male music icons are put through the same scrutiny.
We know better after some time if what we deemed revolutionary was indeed so. Madonna came at a time where women were in the workplace fighting for their voices to be heard. In hindsight (and showing her work to my kids) I don’t think she was as important as we think she was. There were far more interesting things in art and entertainment than a white girl fascinated by sexualised otherness.
Also, sexuality is what is prevalent in today’s entertainment that the only revolutionary thing she could do would be to become a nun and renounce sex. I am personally tired of sexualised performers, and using sex as the code for every message. Also tired of the Lolitising of performers.
I need something different at this point, more variety, more personas.
I agree @Silentstar albeit in a contrarian way. She is responsible for a lot of the crap we see nowadays disguised as sexual empowerment for women: Britney Spears being the epitome of that. While Madonna was aggressively taking a very male perspective of sex onto female territory, there were performers ripping it and complexifying these issues such as Fiona Apple, Kate Bush, Nina Hagen, Salt’n Peppa, Annie Lennox, Sinead O’Connor…
But sexual empowerment can never really be a one-size-fits-all thing. There are different women showing us different forms of it. It’s actually great that Madonna is one of many, many women from all different backgrounds responsible for that because there’s a multicultural tendency for people to only care about the advancement and protection of the women/girls who only intend to stray so far from what’s considered ‘respectable’. Even on the left. Annie Lennox and Sinead O’Connor have also made dehumanizing comments about sex workers, compared women choosing to make decisions with their bodies they don’t approve of to self-harm,and have blamed sexual violence and other bad male behavior on women being too sexually immodest in their dress and the way they present themselves.
@otaku fairy
I read you regularly and I see you as someone sticking out for women who have explicit sexual behaviour willingly and who sometimes are dragged for it.
The problem to me is that much of it including the very “naked”, very sexualised women nowadays is everything but sexual empowerment (see someone like Kylie or Kim who enhanced their bodies while their male counterparts remain their sloppy selves). Having 4 children, a girl and 3 boys, I see the impact of entertainers on them. Basically “sexy kittens” diminish the sense of confidence for young girls (I’ll never be like them / never have the money to do what they do etc.) and women who present themselves as complex in their sexuality are much more inviting and encompassing (see Rihanna, Beyoncé).
Madonna as a sexual empowering icon yes, agreed, maybe. I remember as a kid loving her defence of being pregnant in Papa don’t Preach (sexual empowerment? yes!), of defending an sexualised idea of Christianity and inclusive of others (yeah!) and being super lost with Vogue (which I now understand is a very poor take on the amazing tradition of Voguing here in the UK) and her documentary where I found her bossy – I kept thinking that she was the star and was paying for people to look at her sexy. For me that’s what started the whole descent into an empty and insecure sexuality which I don’t find empowering at all.
Some of them definitely do have insecurities about their looks- we can see that with the amount of plastic surgery they keep getting. Getting a lot of plastic surgery while lying about it and shilling flat tummy teas probably isn’t a good way to promote confidence for girls . But I also don’t think women whose physical appearances are under the most scrutiny should have to present like they’re free of body image issues in order to promote sexual empowerment for women and girls either. That works the other way around too: Even if a woman isn’t personally free of all the insecurities that misogynistic abuse through slut-shaming and rape culture can create when it comes to choices about sex, modesty, her reproductive health, and relationships, she should still be able to promote women not being disrespected and discriminated against based on conventional beauty standards or speak out when people are blamed for other forms of abuse. People are complex. Women can be confident and determined in one area but have weakness or be very insecure in another area.
It’s not often said how complex it is to navigate the contradictory expectations thrown at us. Your last sentence rings very true. My daughter was playing with one of her classmates throwing water from water bottles and hid in the toilets. He got in and they were caught. The boy was unscathed and we were called to school. He was a hero and she was the slut. Horrendous. The school heard me loud and clear when I asked where the boy’s parents were and that I had no problem with my daughter playing in the loo with a boy – even if they were kissing.
Anyway my doubts lie in the connection between power and (sexual) empowerment. They’re two different things and it bugs me to see stars who do not see the difference, that’s it. A star has the power to be adored (like a patriarch) and when I see so clearly that that’s where the power is going to, I loose interest. Power and disempowerment are so often connected.
She needs to reinvent herself into something that isn’t a sexed up sixty-something made of plastic from the knees up.
It sounds like some of her older better stuff. It’s not completely bad and at least she’s not wearing grills anymore or whatever those fake gold silver teeth