EVERY OTHER DAY, IT'S LIKE, "WHAT AM I DOING? THIS IS INSANE. I COULD BE OFF GARDENING RIGHT NOW. THIS IS TOO STRESSFUL. WHO DO I THINK I AM? WHY AM I PUTTING MYSELF THROUGH ALL OF THIS PUNISHMENT?" THAT'S WHAT IT FEELS LIKE-FOR ME, ANYWAY - Madonna,
Interview magazine, May 2010.
We know, the photos and stories have been all over the net, but we can’t help it. She is
Madonna after all. She is the woman who has been at the top for the last 25 years or so and still seems so herself. She is the one whose actions have been food for criticism, no matter what she did or does. It is interesting how critics expect those artist who made it to the top to strike back at the ones who follow. Now, after more then 2 years since Madonna released her Hard Candy album, the world is waiting what her musical answer will be to newbies such as Lady Gaga. Have we forgotten that we are talking about a star who is most apprehensive towards other talent ? Have we forgotten Madonna’s support to Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, all once mentioned as potential candidates to throw the Queen of Pop from her lonely place at the top? Madonna seems to have other thing to her mind than ever lasting and ongoing battles for popularity.
If you haven’t had the opportunity yet to read the interview Madonna had with filmmaker Gus Van Sant for groundbreaking magazine
Interview, we strongly recommend you do it while it is still available on the Interview website. Seldom have we seen the pop idol so – well – normal. In the documented phone conversation Madonna had with Gus, they talk about her deep rooted fascination and passion for Malawi
[I have a lot of projects there that I go and check up on and children who I look after. It's sort of a commitment that I've made to this country and the hundreds of thousands of children there who have been orphaned by AIDS], about early influences
[He (Christopher Flynn) was the first man-the first human being-who made me feel good about myself and special. He was the first person who told me that I was beautiful or that I had something to offer the world, and he encouraged me to believe in my dreams, to go to New York. He was such an important person in my life], and about AIDS
[after going to New York and being a dancer when the whole AIDS epidemic started and nobody knew what it was. And then suddenly, all these beautiful men around me, people who I loved so dearly, were dying-just one after the next. It was just such a crazy time. And watching the world freak out-the gay community was so ostracized]. They talk about paradoxes, creativity
[I quite like the idea of collaborating in general. Not only is it lonely to do things on your own creatively, it's also kind of arrogant.], insecurity and struggle
[Before you start filming and you're in the trenches, it just seems like this process of pushing-of working through all of these people saying no. It seems like the whole world is against you.] and survival.
Illustrated with the fantastic photography by Mert & Marcus that throws you right back in the time of Erotica, in the Gus Van Sant interview Madonna reminds us once again that, besides being the iconic star she has become, she is after all a human being, beautiful, smart and intelligent, never choosing the easy way out and always trying to make a difference. She is a person, like everyone else, with virtues and flaws and, even though we expect her to be, far from perfect. She is, as someone once said, a work in progress. We will definitely hear more about Madonna in the months to follow, when her long awaited new single, Boom, will be released and when she will start filming her second directorial film after her 2008 debut Filth And Wisdom. Yes, Madonna is still a happy sight, and sound, in an overfed time with Gaga-esques entertainers.
–B-
MADONNA |
BEAUTIFULMAG
