Core Post #5- Madeline Virga

For my post this week, I want to focus on the Bell Hooks reading Black Looks Race and Representation and the documentary Truth or Dare; as well as Madonna's whole career, and how it has affected other singers of today. First and foremost, there were a couple of parts of the essay where I didn't fully grasp what Hooks was surmising, but I understood the significant points. Hooks major point of the article is to point out how Madonna had appropriate and exploited black culture as a way to shape her image to become "controversial" and ultimately successful.

Growing up I knew who Madonna was but only from her most popular works such as Like a Virgin, Vogue and Like a Prayer, but it wasn't till I was in college that I learned about Madonna's image and her impact in popular culture. Therefore, I was unaware of the controversy that Madonna caused, and it was not till I read the Hooks text that I learned of how black women and men felt towards her. In the article, Hooks begins by stating that Madonna and white woman "stars" like her have created a career and commodified off of black culture. Throughout the text Hooks gives examples of how Madonna has done so, but the most apparent example she drew from is the Like a Prayer video.

Before reading her thoughts on the video, I went and watched it because I had never seen it. In the article, Hooks describes how in the video black people are "caricatures reflecting stereotypes." She continues by pointing out that the only black female figure is there to catch/rescue Madonna when she is falling. This was seen as a contemporary casting of a Mammy. After watching the video, I saw all of Hooks points, but I also saw how Madonna might be commenting on the relationship between cops and black men. Towards the end of the video, it shows a white woman being stabbed and killed by a group of white men. As she is lying there lifeless, a black man comes out and attempts to comfort her in her last moments, but the cops quickly arrive and arrest him. This little exchange could be read as Madonna exposing, or bringing to light the racial prejudice that cops place on black men.

While Madonna has been controversial, she has and continues to influence performers today. Her sexually aggressiveness and appropriation of culture could also be seen in performers well after her. Singers such as Gwen Stefani, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, etc. have all been known to appropriate not just black culture but other cultures, all while being seen as sexually aggressive or "progressive." This issue is still alive today even with the progress we have made about having conversations about appropriation. In 2013, Katy Perry was called out for appropriating Japanese culture at the VMAs, and the Kardashians/Jenners are continually being called out still for appropriating culture. While Madonna did not start culture appropriation, she brought it into a sphere that has yet to lose momentum. So it begs the question when, where, how does it end, or will it ever stop?