Lady Madonna

Howard Stern, love him or hate him, has a great gift. He is a terrific interviewer. He draws out the information from celebrities that no one else can. Everything from childhood memories to conflicts among peers to marital strife. Naturally, Stern has to appeal to his core audience that swims in the muck of human disobedience and asks the sexual questions, but, he manages to swing his skills back to the normal level. I am constantly astounded by the will of the celebrity to open up completely to his interrogation. And, some thoughtful and poignant moments develop. I guess my favorite interviews he conducts are with people I've never had much interest in. Madonna is one of them....... When she arrived on the scene in the early 80's, Madonna was not on my radar of interest. A couple of her songs were catchy, but that was it. However, I was not the target audience she was shooting for. She aimed her pap at young teenage girls and their constant search for personal identity. Soon, young lasses spoke like Madonna, dressed like her, and emulated the way she lived life. That was fine. Taste aside, she filled a hole for a generation that was finding itself. Along the way, she became more than a pop star. By shrewdly marketing her sex appeal, she became a cultural obsession. The paparazzi, always looking for the Next Big Thing, went haywire over her and her antics. Never mind that most of these antics were calculated to draw attention to herself----therebye, multiplying her popularity a millionfold---- the media lapped up her persona and actively promoted her personal cause. They went chasing after her, most notably, when she was with Sean Penn. And, the fact that Penn was a notorious hot-head and liked to punch people whenever the whim came to him, the atmosphere was perfect for good, old-fashioned sleazy tabloid viewing. She loved it and her public loved it. During this time, she was everywhere. Her videos, capitalizing on her self-creation of a rebel and a champion of the lower classes [again, calculated to stimulate her all important career] were talking points. Most had the topic of rubbing against the blue noses who championed censorship. Now, there is nothing wrong with pushing the envelope----- great strides in art and culture have been created this way---- but, Madonna could never be accused of being an Artist with a capital A. No, she was simply an average talent who felt the pulse of the public and what it presumed it wanted from her. Then, with her remarkable instinct for selling her image, she brought her name to the public's lips. Whether you praise her or condemn her, she knows where to sell the sizzle and not the steak........ As with any media sensation, the public soon shifts its tastes and wants fresh blood. The challenge of Madonna was to go from her sexual tease of the 80's to a still relevant adult in the 90's. And, she did it. She wisely moved into movies, but, unwisely picked wrong projects that did not show any acting skills. Her roles in movies---- most of them bad and forgettable--- just were another retread of her videos. You know, the sex and tease thing. Soon, it became apparent that this girl from Michigan, who captured the stronghold of the public in the 80's, was not an interesting and talented actress. She was passable, at best on the Big Silver. Kinda like her abilities as a musician. Average. She made two positive appearances on film. One was ''Dick Tracy', with her then-current boyfriend, Warren Beatty. And, she made an interesting documentary of her latest tour. Personal documentaries can be deceiving because its subject always is playing to the camera and has final edit before the film is released. But, a couple of cracks in the image were shown and, I think, the real Madonna did show through. In those moments, she appeared to the naked camera a little girl who did not seem to know where the real world, and her image world, separated..... So, Madonna in the 90's found that she had to keep marketing herself to the public, lest they forget her. Her dating life, already a soap opera of the famous, went into overdrive. An endless stream of men---and women--- found their way into her bedroom. Naturally, these personal conquests became public disclosures. With the aid of her publicists [ who, are unsung heroes in her rise to stardom] we knew them all and commented on whom she was banging. With every tidbit, came a new release of music. And, public statements designed to promote herself. As usual, her audience and the media fell for it, the trials and tribulations of Our Madonna. A sex book announced her fantasies to the world. The book, completely forgettable, became a huge best seller, provoking outrage and constant assessment. Just as it's author and subject wanted........... By the late 90's, she seemed to be slowing down. She had a child and got married. She still tried to shake the public with shock, as a notorious and well designed appearance on David Letterman attested to. But, each reincarnation seemed to draw the public in a little less. At times, she seemed like an aging, pathetic media junkie, trying desperately to stay relevant. However, the public had moved on to other bright lights. Her young audience in the 80's had grown up and thought of her less. And, she spawned other female artists, like Brittney Spears and Lady Gaga, who saw what she did, and, like any imitator, avoided the mistakes of their idol, and took the brass ring from her. It must have been with cruel irony to her that she was now old hat in the media world of a pop princess. With the arrival of middle age, she looked out of place talking about her sex life and breaking down of her self-perceived biases and taboos in the world. In the new century, Madonna was a relic from a past time, someone who belonged in a time machine.......... So now, she is back again, promoting  new album. The Stern interview is actually a few months old, just as her new album was about to be released, so, at the time she was on the show, her album could not be judged in terms of critical appraisal or public interest. Now, it can be. It didn't make much of a mark. Perhaps, her audience no longer cares. They may listen to her when she is on TV, but, they will not go out of their way to hear her music anymore. Her concerts still attract attention. It seems like the attention, though, is more for her audience to relive a nostalgic time in their lives, to go back and be sixteen again.......... The Howard Stern interview was quite good with her. It did bring forth a more adult and mature Madonna. To be sure, she still had her moments where she was full of herself and her image. But, as Stern does so very well, the human being, beneath the star facade, with all of its foibles, came through. For a good chunk of the interview, her guard was down and she was all there. And, some surprising, and at times, painful information was revealed. The most shocking and horrifying was her disclosure that she was raped when she first came to New York in the early 80's. She spoke of this with quiet dignity, not ashamed to admit that it happened. She spoke of her insecurities in her life and her mistakes. It was quite a fascinating interview from her......... After it was over, I must admit, I did view her a little differently. I was never a fan of her, be it her music or her media behavior. But, I did glimpse a sensible person coming through the radio. Someone who has come of age and has good qualities. It might be the real her, buried for decades under her designed image of a pop star. Now that she is older and, hopefully, wiser, maybe, we will see the human being more and the image less. I'm hoping...... By the way, the two songs she played on the show, weren't bad...........