I've never seen Madonna in concert but knew her when we attended ballet classes at Christopher Flynn's studio in Rochester, Michigan. I was an adult student while Madonna was 14 or 15 and attended Rochester High School. She wasn't the best dancer in the class, but Mr. Flynn recognized Madonna's determination, motivation, and potential to excel. I knew that Miss Ciccone was very intelligent, that she dared to be different, and didn't care what anyone else thought about her. It really didn't surprise me to learn years later that Madonna had achieved the success for which she was destined early in life. :moo:
Madonna was very ambitious and a talented entertainer (not artist, just entertainer). That's the best I can say about her. I watched Truth or Dare a few years after it came out. That said it all to me. Madonna was rude, arrogant, and cruel to the people around her. She laughed and mocked a female staffer of hers who said she was drugged and raped, she was coldly dismissive to an old best friend from school who asked her to be the godmother of her children and she was repulsive with her then boyfriend, Warren Beauty:
Throughout the movie, Madonna acts like a monster. She laughs when she finds out her makeup artist was raped and then explains, "All I can think of is that she started talking about how she's on tour with me, she's staying at the Ritz Carlton and those guys got it in their mind they were going to **** with her." She tells those who appear with her onstage how much she loves them to their faces and then talks behind their backs about how her backup singers annoy her and hanging out with her dancers gets boring. She mocks Kevin Costner (who to be fair is sporting stringy hair, shoulder pads and a mock turtleneck) for calling her show, "Neat," as soon as his back his turned. She throws unexplained shade at Belinda Carlisle, Janet Jackson and, most confusingly, Oprah (Chicago's conservatism is a reason "to not wanna live in Chicago beside for the fact that Oprah Winfrey lives here"). She laments Antonio Banderas' marriage in front of his wife. She throws tantrums and is oblivious to the manipulation of her manager, who calms her down with flattery.
http://gawker.com/5898823/truth-or-dare-how-madonnas-documentary-changed-the-next-20-years
This told me all I needed to know about Madonna's character and I couldn't stand her after that. I also don't believe people's core characters change and she, to me, has a defective soul. Looking back, it seems she is personality disordered, probably as a result of her mother's death, I don't know. The way she acquired a British accent in two days after moving there, etc., adds to my suspicion.
In any event, have any of you seen the video of her stunt in Turkey? I just did, on CNN and it prompted me to come here and post.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2012/06/13/joan-rivers-madonna-flash.cnn
Ick. Just ick. She opens and lowers the little triangle on her top to expose herself and stares, fixated on her boob, while she does it. She then buttons it up and gives a quick smirk before turning her back to the audience.
Yeah, it's just a boob and I actually don't have a problem with nudity in natural contexts. But she's a boob herself, IMO and her unnatural antics in exposing herself tell me that, like most vapid people, she equates youth with relevancy and will become more and more desperate as she ages.
Because, when a person has nothing of substance to fall back on, growing older is like a knife in the back. People who instead, have cultivated character, done good deeds, loved their families and cherished true friendships, those people do not shrink like cowards from aging. They just continue to appreciate life.