1. Madonna: The Video
Controversies

2. Why Study Controversy
 Controversies occur when a set of taken-for-
granted assumptions are violated.
 But not every violation produces a controversy.
 Studying controversy is a way of revealing these
taken-for-granted assumptions, and a way to
identify which of our social norms have
particularly high ritual strength.
 Not only is the norm there, but we defend it.

3. Why Study Controversy
 Controversy can be seen as a kind of reflection.
 The issues that become controversial in popular
culture are a reflection of the issues that a given
epoch views as important
 Studying controversies over time allows us to
see shifts in what matters to a given society.
 A way to document social change

4. Why Study Madonna?
 One of the few stars of popular culture in recent
decades to maintain a career across several
decades
 First national release was in 1983 (Madonna)
 Currently ranked by Forbes as the 8th
most
powerful celebrity
 Ranks 11th
in pay, making $50Mil in the past year
 She’s the highest ranking musician on their list

5. Why Study Madonna
 She’s leveraged her career across genres
 15 albums
 Many music videos
 10 feature films
 TV appearances on Will & Grace, SNL, and all the
interview shows
 CEO of Maverick Records (division of Warner Bros)
 Photography: Sex (1992)
 Children’s Books (numerous—all in recent years)
 And more

6. Why Study Madonna?
 She’s consistently (though not always)
CONTROVERSIAL, but also
 She’s consistently the darling of the very
same music industry (including the music
video machines of MTV and VH1) that
seems so frightened of her daring material

7. A little background
 Born in 1958, in Bay City Michigan, as Madonna
Louise Veronica Ciccone
 Italian heritage
 First album appeared in 1983 (self-titled)
 The 3 videos we are studying today are
 Like a Prayer (1989), from the album of the same
name
 Justify My Love (1990), from The Immaculate
Collection
 What it Feels Like for a Girl (2001), from Music

8. Like a Prayer
 What you need to know:
 The was the first release from this album
 At the time, is was billed as a comeback. It had been 2 years
since Who’s That Girl, which was not a big success. Madonna,
now 30, has marketed herself with youthful sexuality, and many
wonder if that can continue into her 30s.
 Coinciding with the release of the video, Madonna signed a
$5Mil contract with Pepsi to appear in a series of ads. As part of
the deal, the song “Like a Prayer” was used in those ads and the
new ads actually appeared before wither the song had been
released.
 The first ad appeared during an episode of the Cosby Show in
March of 1989.
 The video was released the next day on MTV.
 Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association called for a
boycott of Pepsi
 Within a month, Pepsi cancelled the ads. Madonna kept the
money.

9. The Video
 Why the controversy?
 What does this reveal about the norms
and anxieties of the time?
 It’s a controversy, but is it a problem?

10. Justify My Love What You Need to Know
 Madonna is now 32. Like a Prayer had been enormously successful and doubts
about her career’s future have disappeared.
 This song was one of 2 bonus songs placed on a compilation album called The
Immaculate Collection
 The roll of bonus tracks on these albums is to promote the album
 Radio stations will not play old songs to promote a “greatest hits” album, so these
albums usually include bonus tracks so that a single can be released
 Artists usually earn nothing off of music videos.
 The video is an investment to promote record sales and concert attendance.
 Depending on the contract details, many artists actually have to pay for the music
video themselves
 When this video was released, MTV refused to air it. So Madonna sent the video
straight to VHS. This was the first ever release of a video single on VHS.
 The VHS sold for $10/copy, with a runtime of 5 minutes
 “Never have so many paid so much for so little” (USA Today).
 Sales rank peaked at #2, behind Madonna’s own video compilation The Immaculate
Collection
 The controversy provoked attention from news programs and talks shows,
including a number of interviews with the artist, and Nightline actually showed the
full video on primetime network television.

11. The Video
 Why the controversy? (make a list)
 Is it a good song? Does that matter? What
about the filmic quality? Is it a good video?
 What do you make of the closing quote?
 Poor is the man
Whose pleasures depend
On the permissions of another
 Does this song contribute to the Dreamworld?

12. What it Feels Like for a Girl
 What you need to know
 Released in 2001. Madonna is now 42 and married to film director Guy
Ritchie.
 Ritchie made the films Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch.
More recently, he directed Madonna in the box-office bomb Swept Away.
 Ritchie also directed this music video.
 The song is from the album Music, which was released in 2000.
 May be helpful to know that this video was released in the spring of
2001, prior to the events of 9/11.
 MTV and VH1 refused to play the video, except after midnight.
 Madonna signed a contract with AOL to allow access to the video online,
and the controversy resulted in an enormous online audience

13. The Video
 Why the controversy?
 What’s changed from 1990 to 2001?
 Is Madonna a victim of these controversies?
Is her audience being victimized?
 By whom?
Do these controversial videos amount to a kind of
resistance? Are they counter-cultural?
 Are the videos an attempt to change the social world, or
are they just the same-old-thing?

14. Constructing Racial Rhetoric
 How would you compare the Madonna
controversies to the music controversies
that are discussed in the article?
 As a kind of reflection, what do those
controversies reveal to us about American
society at the time?
 What kind of racial rhetoric is identified
and why should we care?