Week Twelve

This week we started our film section of the class which I'm really excited about. We viewed Madonna's Like a Prayer video which was really amazing. The Madonna that I grew up with (not in her prime) was slightly less provocative than what we saw in the video. Watching this video really made me appreciate the visual aspect of it. I had no idea what the song was about until I saw the video. I guess the song can actually be interpreted in many different ways but I never could have imagined that this was how Madonna interpreted it. She combined issues of race, sexuality and religion to make a really thought provoking music video. Visually, it seems like she wants to make her viewers uncomfortable. This is seen when she has sex with the black Jesus and when she's dancing in a risque outfit in front of burning crosses. I think the image of a burning cross is an uncomfortable image for most Americans because it arouses so much fear. Despite the fact that she makes people a little uncomfortable, she gets her message across and she smooths it over at the end when she takes a bow with the rest of the actors from the video, like it was just an act. I really wish Madonna's videos were still this controversial.