Yesterday, I called someone out for ageism related to a particular part of Madonna’s Celebration Tour. People are often reposting how she’s dancing during Ray of Light and often saying rather ageist things about it.
In terms of the concert, Ray of Light was not her best moment in the concert. Her dancing was not great, but for context, she’s in an open box, flying over the attendees with just the rail to hold on. Hats off to Madonna for that because I know I’d be way nervous.
Her costume – epic! I think it does two things, and keep in mind, this is my interpretation – I see it as A) celebrating rave culture and B) I kind of see it as saying, “Lady Gaga, here’s the torch” because what she’s wearing looks to me to be Gaga inspired. I can vibe with that.
I’ve always been one to live and let live. Who am I to judge what someone does, especially older folks in this case. If you want to let your freak flag fly, using P!nk as reference, go for it.
Talking with someone yesterday, at the recent Haçienda events in Manchester, there was a couple 80-ish plus years old who went to that event. Are we go going to tell them to go home because of their age? No! We’re going to dance and celebrate with them! To me it would be awesome to be in their presence.
When I was at Hibearnation in November in Manchester, at the second club night, I was blown away by a 20-something guy coming up to me and going, “Damn! You’re just tearing it up on the floor” and he was celebrating that with me. Both club nights were special to me for a multitude of reasons, but knowing that I was accepted despite being almost 50 was the icing on the cake.
I’m not one of these myopic Madonna fans who are militant. There are things she’s done at times that I’m like, WTF? Sooner or Later at the Academy Awards in 1991 was one of those moments for sure.
At her core, I appreciate the fact that she shines the light on topics that people want to ignore such as sex, safe sex, HIV awareness, age, empowerment of women, empowerment of minorities and marginalised communities.
I know by the time I’m her age, I don’t want to be stuck at home; I’m planning on being out there and active. Given the near death experience I had two years ago, I want to live and experience life even more.
Her music deals with some amazing deep topics. A perfect example of this is almost the whole Like a Prayer album. Her music videos speak volumes on several levels that often get missed. What seemingly looks like a bunch of women having fun (referring to the video for her single Music) is commentary on, “Guys can have all this fun, why can’t women?”, and that’s a basic example.
Did you know that Like a Virgin was actually written by two guys and it’s actually about that time when you fall in love with someone and you’re all a flutter about the relationship, and you feel “shiny and new”?
She has pushed the envelope for women, gay men, people of colour, etc. Yes, she has done some of this stuff controversially, absolutely. The right approach? Not always for sure, and it rubs people the wrong way. I can appreciate that because, again, what I referred to in my WTF comment above.
Everyone seems to have an opinion on Madonna that’s surface level. When you dig a little deeper, you realize just how much depth she has. If all you’re looking at is the criticism and accepting that, then you’re not seeing the important messages and things she’s actually saying.
I can’t force anyone to like Madonna, just like someone can’t force me to be a fan of, say, Taylor Swift. That said, I can learn to appreciate what Taylor Swift has done and while I don’t totally get her, I know she’s an important cultural force with a younger generation.
My intention isn’t to make someone a fan of Madonna, but she has done a lot for our world and I think she actually deserves way more appreciation than she actually gets. I wish people were a bit more critical and looked at things with a bit more depth.
A shame the person blocked me because a slightly shorter version of this would have been my thoughtful response to engage in discourse and to educate.