Star Analysis: Madonna

Madonna Louise Ciccone, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, fashion icon and actress, hit the music scene with her debut album in 1983. Initially moving from Bay City in Michigan to New York in 1977 to pursue a career in dance, Madonna found herself after a few years one of the leading ladies of 80’s pop music.

Madonna’s experience in dance came in hugely helpful for being a successful artist, even to this day people expect a show when they go to a live event. Madonna’s dancing skills were a huge advantage for her, and even in many of her videos she is seen dancing or doing complicated dance routines. For example, her famous song/video for ‘Vogue’:

Even in her more recent years, Madonna has shown herself still capable of the active dancing she used to do in her older videos. For example, her 2005 music video for ‘Hung Up’, which features Madonna and various 
other people dancing:

Madonna’s wild, trendy fashion style got her incredible attention in the 80’s, as well as her amazingly catchy music. 

Madonna’s permed and highlighted hair was sought out by women all over, as well as her fashionable clothing.

Even today women seek Madonna's classic style, for example Katie Waissel who featured on the show 'X Factor' in 2010.

Some say that Madonna’s ability to constantly reinvent herself and change her style is one of the main factors which contributed to the longevity of her career. Madonna started the layered look in the 80’s, wearing shirts over other shirts etc, and usually short skirts worn over tight leggings. She would wear lots of accessories, mostly multiple necklaces and bracelets and her earrings were long and dangly. She would often be seen wearing a crucifix necklace, particularly symbolic in the controversial music video for ‘Like A Prayer’. These were all regularly occurring motifs throughout the 80’s and 90’s. Throughout the years, the fashionista has very rarely made a faux pas, in 2008 she turned 50, and the picture below was composed to show her constantly changing fashion sense.

Many of Madonna’s musical lyrics, although very popular, were hugely controversial at the time. Her song ‘Papa Don’t Preech’ was taken differently by different people. Anti-abortion groups and campaigners saw it as a wonderful message of pro-life, but family planning clinics were in uproar at the message of teenage pregnancy she was spreading. Being such a huge influence over adolescent girls at the time, people were terrified younger girls would want to be like Madonna.

 

Her song ‘Like A Virgin’, although not as controversial as some of her other songs, create quite sexual and impure imagery. The title itself,  ‘LIKE’ a virgin, clearly suggesting she is not a virgin. As I stated before, being a role-model to young girls, Madonna’s lyrical choice did not go down well with parents of the girls.

Perhaps her most controversial video is ‘Like A Prayer’, which features religious imagery which, at the time, would have shocked and appalled many people. Madonna is dressed scantily clad in a tight-fitting dress throughout the video, with a crucifix around her neck. Madonna enters a church and begins kissing the feet of a crying black male statue, this is very similar to the prostitute Mary Magdalene, who bathed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. The statue comes to life, and it is strongly suggested throughout the video that he is in fact Jesus – perhaps Madonna’s character in the video is a prostitute.  There is a shot in the video of her hands bleeding, which is the religious symbol of stigmata. People at the time had a hard time with the idea of Jesus being black – nowadays it is actually widely believed Jesus was of a darker skin tone, but in the 80s it seemed an alien idea. Near the end of the video, Madonna is seen standing in front of many burning crosses – this creates very violent but religious imagery.

Madonna has a huge fanbase, and it is difficult to pinpoint her exact audience. Around the 80’s-90’s Madonna was hugely popular with young women, but young people nowadays generally do not seem to be very interested in her. However, Madonna knows how to keep herself ‘current’. In the past few years she has had collaborations with popular young singers such as Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in a bid to keep herself in the limelight. Although the younger generation are not necessarily interested in Madonna, Madonna’s devoted fans from her earlier days are still there for her. However, she is still hugely popular with gay audiences and is considered a ‘gay icon’.

Madonna has appeared on countless magazine covers since her arrival on the music scene, and is quite possibly the celebrity with the most magazine cover appearances. Some examples of these include:

ROLLING STONE:

VANITY FAIR:

VOGUE:

ELLE:

COSMOPOLITAN:

DIVA:

TIME:

Madonna has always had relatively good media coverage, and is admired by many people. A quote which perfectly sums this up is from American magazine ‘Interview’ writer Becky Johnson – “Very few public figures are such wizards at manipulating the press and cultivating publicity as Madonna is. She has always been a great tease with journalists, brash and outspoken when the occasion demanded it, recalcitrant and taciturn when it came time to pull back and slow down the striptease. Madonna is a self-created woman, no question, but it was not a virgin birth: her adroit handling of the press played a major part in the consummation. Publicity is the name of the game.”