Jennica Wragg Supplemental Post #6: Comparing Madonna's Two Documentaries

I found the Madonna documentary particularly interesting as I was familiar with several of her songs considering she was popular around the time we were young kids however, what I thought was particularly interesting was how controversial of a performer she was which I didn’t know much about. I knew her songs but I hadn’t seen her perform to these songs or any of her music videos, which really changed the way I understood her music and her as a performer.  Just by going off the documentary and the little bit I knew about her I somewhat saw her as a positive representative for the feminist movement in the way that she is comfortable with her body and expressing female pleasure and sexuality on stage, she is extremely successful as a female artist and represents female power and the ability for women to become extremely successful in a career that was/is traditionally dominated by men,  and of course she stays true to her beliefs and craft even when others challenge this (i.e. Toronto incident) which is impressive.

            However, after doing the readings for the week and also doing  a bit of research about her I was given a new perspective about her that challenged what I originally thought of her and her ability to be a role model for women. One of the interesting things I found out about her when doing a bit of research is how she admired Marilyn Monroe so much and somewhat crafted her physicality after Monroe. Taking on Monroe’s hairstyle not only the blondeness but also the symbolic qualities of that blondeness including pureness and the natural, the innocence gave Madonna a very angelic persona even when she contrasted this innocence by a seemingly very in touch way of understanding her sexual desires, and being completely open about female sexuality which is very similar to the way Monroe was. In some of the documentary footage she comes across as rather “dumb” or “silly” but what is interesting to find out is she actually managed a lot of her career on her own and is considered to this day one of the most successful women in entertainment thus using the “Monroe” façade to maintain perhaps a certain type of idealistic femininity while delving into the masculine sphere not only by becoming such a successful female performer, but by utilizing male physicality and characteristics (business savvy) to bridge the gap between the gender binary. In many ways this can be seen as positive however, as the readings point out through this process of trying to raise awareness about feminism and bring herself to equality with her white male counterparts she exploits black culture  as a means to her own success. From utilizing an entire crew of African American performers Madonna puts herself in front of these dancers showcasing her as the spotlight while they dance in the background. Madonna may be making a political statement by directing her audience to see her extraordinary female power as she commands the whole stage, but at the same time she essentially illustrates herself as dominating black culture and having the ability to have more power than these black males. Thus in order to achieve her female power she must subvert another oppressed group, which is problematic.

Similarities both in the physical appearance of Madonna and Monroe. This similarity is not just through physical appearance but also through performing style when we look at the ways these women illustrate female sexuality.

            I found out that like Truth or Dare Madonna recorded an additional documentary during her tour in 2004 titled “I’m going to tell you a secret” and I watched a bit of this and found it so different than her previous documentary that was filmed only 13 years earlier.  For one, there was a blatant emphasis to exploit Madonna’s more feminine side by showcasing her role as a mother to her two young children, as well as through the way she interacts with her dancers she expresses a much softer maternal side than in her previous film. She also is blatantly more emotional in some of the scenes when she talks about her life and the difficulties of balancing work and family. We have spent a lot of time talking about star contradictions and the way in which stars manage and expose these elements through their performance on screen and off screen and I found this concept useful to think about when comparing the two documentaries on Madonna. While in the first documentary she exposes contradictions by dancing and dressing in such a way that was extremely controversial, she displayed quite a boisterous and somewhat aggressive personality when she spoke to those around her often not coming off as very “feminine” or displaying behaviors that are very “ladylike” per se. However, in her second documentary the androgynous traits she exhibits are hidden much more and managed displaying more of her nurturing and maternal side. Whether this is Madonna just maturing or the societal pressures forcing her to stray away from her more controversial and androgynous traits we will never know but it is an interesting change that is visibly documented that I think it interesting to look at and evaluate.

Madonna showing more of her maternal side in the documentary "I'm going to tell you a secret," quite different from the more abrasive Madonna we see in the first film (Truth or Dare).