Notes From D. R.

How do you fight a culture war when you’ve been a fan of one of the chief enemies?

I can’t deny that I have a almost-irresistible urge to give Madonna a pass when she engages in the same sort of left-wing Hollywood political ranting that Barbra Streisand and Alec Baldwin are known for. I know it’s not right, but I can’t help it–because Madonna was the first celebrity I ever had a crush on.

I can’t recall if either "Borderline" or "Lucky Star" was the first Madonna video I saw her in, but I was convinced that Madonna was the most beautiful woman in the world. Madonna became for me what Michael Jackson became for many young girls during the same time period: the absolute center of the universe. (I remember winning a Madonna poster in 1985 for selling a certain amount of candy bars during an elementary school fundraiser. I had the poster–a concert still photo of Madonna wearing her "Boy Toy" outfit with a purple-and-white jacket–on the wall of my room for a year.)

Madonna seemingly became more beautiful with every new video–"Material Girl," "Like a Virgin," "Into the Groove," "Live to Tell." I remember being jealous of Sean Penn when I heard about his marriage to her; I also remember desperately wanting to see Who’s That Girl?, the first PG-rated movie she was in. (I eventually saw Girl nine years later on television; it’s not the greatest film in the world, but like Prince’s film Under the Cherry Moon, it’s not nearly as bad it’s been made out to be.)

On some level, I never stopped being a fan of Madonna; my childhood crush allowed me to excuse any number of transgressions. I remember watching Bill O’Reilly on Inside Edition in the summer of 1989, tearing into Madonna for her extremely bizarre (and in O’Reilly’s estimation, blasphemous) video for "Like a Prayer"; I thought O’Reilly was being way too hard on her–and that Madonna looked even better with her natural dark hair. I also remember the fuss over her 1990 song “Justify My Love,” her 1992 book Sex and her 1993 film Body of Evidence–and wondering why people were singling her out for criticism, when there were so many other folks peddling questionable content at the time.

I was glad to see Madonna survive the "Justify My Love"/Sex/Body of Evidence controversies, and regain her past prominence with the Bedtime Stories and Ray of Light albums, as well as her above-average (considering her previous films, that is) work in Evita. Regardless of what I think about her politics, she is a legitimate musical talent, and it’s always nice to see talent being rewarded.

There’s no way around it: when it comes to Madonna’s more outlandish activities (the Bush-bashing, the awful films, publicity stunts such as the 2003 Britney Spears kiss), I hold her to a different (lower?) standard than I do other entertainers. It’s one of those things where, once you start liking a person, you never really stop liking them. Perhaps Madonna has never changed in my mind; she’s still the charismatic entertainer I was attracted to as a young boy, as opposed to an overbearing Hollyweirdo calling attention to herself and spouting off about things she knows nothing about.

To be fair, there are times when even I can’t make excuses for her. The crucifix imagery she used in her 2006 Confessions tour was manifestly stupid and distasteful; although she denied that the use of the imagery was intended to be offensive, it’s hard to avoid the sense that she was really trying to make fun of her critics on the religious right.

However, it’s virtually impossible for me to join the chorus of those who have condemned Madonna as an exemplar of American moral decline. The part of me that likes her will never go away. Instead of ripping her next outrageous act, I just might go on Holiday.