Madonna has always been an icon for me. Since I was a little girl living in a small town in northern Italy, I would be dancing to “Like A Virgin” in front of the mirror, not even knowing what that meant. She always symbolized badass perfection to me and when I was younger I did strive to be just like her; internally and externally. I saw her appearance as the ultimate version of absolute female perfection.
“Truth or Dare: In bed with Madonna” was undeniably a revolutionary documentary during a time where, without any form of social media, fans only had interviews, newspaper gossip, or magazine profiles to rely on for gaining insight on their favorite stars, but often these impressions still felt staged and stilted. Therefore, Madonna’s documentary giving an inside glimpse at the pop star and her life, truly broke that wall for the fans showing them both Madonna the artist and Madonna the person. At the time, Madonna’s show was extremely controversial, featuring scenes of simulated sexual masturbation within a dance routine with juxtaposed with the present Catholic imagery. She was brought to justify her expression through her show as a way to push the audience to ask questions and not endorsing a specific way of life. Truth or Dare managed to echo that mission Madonna had beyond being an average music documentary. In addition, the dancers are a crucial part of both the tour and the doc. and their sexuality celebrated.
On the flip side, the reading truly made me reflect upon the overall image she promoted. As Hooks points out, Madonna has always claimed to be fascinated yet envious of the black style, as a result, she unapologetically appropriated it and expressed it under her own terms in a way that mocked and undermined black culture. Hooks analyses the many articles that were written about her video “Like a Prayer,” and observes that none of them dealt with the very present issue of race. Perhaps, how she “flaunts her sexual agency by suggesting that she is breaking the ties that bind her as a white girl to white patriarchy and establishing ties with black men.” However, Hooks points out that it’s her who does the choosing, not black men. Thus, the message seems to be directed to white men, suggesting that they harshly label black men only out of fear that white girls would choose them over white men.
On the other hand, Cvetkovich, in analyzing the juxtaposition between Truth or Dare and Paris is Burning, argues that, although Madonna seems to confirm that power and privilege are available to some (white rich) women, she also openly envies the world of drag balls as she expressed through the video “Vogue.” Many of her dancers, in fact, were gay men of color who do also appear in Paris is Burning. As Hooks said, it can indeed be argued that Madonna turns to such subcultures only to appropriate them, but Cvetkovich counter argues that it has always been clear that the world of balls has for her “the aura of transgression, play, hipness,” and the empowering mission to which, as a woman, she could relate to in some levels.
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