Madonna celebrates 65 years; remember 10 controversial video clips of the singer [LISTA]

song ofTrue Blue (1986), “Papa Don’t Preach” portrays the agony of a teenager who discovers she is pregnant and has to dismantle the “daddy’s girl” image. Scenes that show the father-daughter relationship in the young woman’s childhood are cut by moments of the romance lived by her and a boy. In a completely empty setting, Madonna dances in a black jumpsuit, a look that has become iconic.

The video even raised the debate about abortion. In the lyrics, the singer says she wants to keep the baby, while her friends remind her how young she is. For this reason, the character seeks advice from her father and hopes that she will build a family with her boyfriend.

open your heart

Still on the beats of the 1980s and also inside the record True Blue,“Open Your Heart” it may seem like a romantic song, but the clip features a stripper dancing in the eyes of club goers. In addition to the attention of men who seem obsessed with the performance of Madonna, she also piques a boy’s curiosity. It is with the child that the artist leaves the place, which was not well seen by all spectators, since Madonna comes to kiss the boy. Another controversy was in relation to the work of strippers: part of the public considered the staging a way to romanticize it.

Like a Prayer

On the 1989 album, the title song “Like a Prayer” relied once again on the religious theme. With Madonna dancing in front of burning crosses and even referencing the crucifixion of Jesus in a scene that shows his hands with stigmata, the clip was condemned by the Vatican. The pressure from the Catholic Church was such that the singer had a contract with Pepsi broken after the release of the video. On the other hand, Madonna addressed racial issues by portraying a black man being unfairly accused of assaulting a young white woman, who closely resembles the artist.

Justify My Love

Talking about sex again, the music video for “Justify My Love” – of The Immaculate Collection (1990) — show Madonna walking down a hotel corridor with a suitcase. Apparently confused, but still doing a kind of sensual dance, she sees people simulating sexual positions through the cracks in the rooms. Suddenly, she meets a man, and they too go into a room. For those who thought that this time religion would not be involved, when the singer’s partner opens his shirt, the viewer is faced with several crucifixes hanging around the man’s neck.

erotica

Like this “Justify My Love”, “Erotica” MTV did not like it and was left out of the channel’s programming. The album, which was also named Erotica (1992)arrived accompanied by a book with photographs of Madonnamade by Steven Meisel It is Fabien Baron. The name couldn’t be any other: Fri. Sex dictates the tone of the clip, which starts with the singer being undressed by a man and involves more than warm kisses.

What It Feels Like For a Girl

Making a leap to the 2000s, Madonna is already a mother and is married to the actor Guy Ritchie. After the controversial Body in Evidence1993 film, and In Bed with Madonnaa 1991 documentary, the singer won Grammys for the album ray of light(1998) and even secured a Golden Globe for his role in Avoid (1996).

Career changes also transformed the music and, consequently, the music videos Madonna. In “What It Feels Like For a Girl”she takes a lady on a dangerous nighttime car adventure, while singing feminist-laden lyrics.

American Life

What begins as a fashion show with camouflage prints, turns into a real war in the eyes of photographers and fashion aspirants present at the event. The audience enjoys the performance, reacting to the severed bodies on stage with laughter. In the first version of the video, Madonna throws a grenade which is caught in the air by a man very similar to George W. Bush (who lights a cigarette with the pump).

The final scene was left out of the “director’s cut”, published only 20 years after the original video was released, in April 2023. Another version of the clip simplifies the critics of Madonna with flags of different countries in the background, changing from one to another as she sings to the camera. Watch the three versions:

director’s cut

Original version

alternative version

Girl Gone Wild

Already in his 50s, Madonna did not abandon eroticism, both musically and visually. In “Girl Gone Wild”of MDNA (2012), she dances in a minimalist setting, as do half-naked men, clearly simulating BDSM practices. Jesus couldn’t stay out of this, of course. Before the singer whispers “Forgive me”, we see a muscular man wearing a crown of thorns.

MTV did not censor the music video, but when it was released, only people over 18 could watch it on YouTube.

God Control

“The story you are about to see is very disturbing. It shows graphic scenes of gun violence. But it’s happening every day. And it has to stop.” That’s how the music video for “GodControl” — Madam X (2019) – start.

The church, in the narrative of this song, is the scene of wakes for people shot dead in a disco. Madonna types the lyrics of the song on a typewriter placed on a table under photos of important figures for feminism: Simone de Beauvoir, Frida Kahlo It is Angela Davis. The end of the music video shows protests against firearms.

Despite the singer’s critical intention to portray cases such as the then-recent Orlando massacre — which took place at Pulse, an LGBT nightclub in the United States —, the artist’s idea was not well received by survivors of the tragedy, who opined against the staged brutality.