Everybody Comes to Hollywood

In class today we discussed a commercial for Gap jeans featuring Madonna and Missy Elliot. I have seen this commercial before, and I loved it. I loved how upbeat the music was and I already enjoy both Madonna and Missy Elliot. My first impression of this commercial was “AMAZING!” But I also felt as if I did not even remember what the commercial was for. The actual product, Gap jeans, did not leave as much of a lasting impression as the mastered pop sounds of Madonna and Missy did.

When Mark Lipton told us that this video was racist, my jaw hit the floor. I thought the complete opposite. Madonna is white, Missy is black, and they were performing together in perfect harmony. I have also witnessed other occasions when ‘Misdemeanour’ and the ‘Material Girl’ have worked together, illustrating no strong signs of racial tension.

At the MTV Video awards, the AMAZING “Like A Virgin” compilation consisting of Madonna, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Missy Elliot (AKA the infamous Britney Spears and Madonna lesbian kiss), has factors that can be interpreted as racism.

For the life of me, I will never understand why no one remembers that Missy Elliot was in this performance too. She was amazing, but completely out of her element. Some could say that it was racist because only the white girls kissed each other, and that Madonna not kissing Missy was making a racial statement. I disagree. Like I said, Missy was out of her element. I believe that she would not have wanted to commit to a same-sex kiss; it is just not a part of her personality.

I would just like to acknowledge a point about this performance and it’s surrounding media (completely un-related to this topic) that has frustrated me for quite some time. Why did the media forget about X-tina kissing Madonna? It was way hotter than Brit's kiss.

But back to the Gap commercial, I agree that there are many instances in this video that could be screaming racism, but I do not believe that was the message in this video.

A thesis – “Madonna is on Top” (Lipton).

Of course she is! She has done amazing work for decades; she deserves all of my respect in regards to her profession because of her talents as a musician and because she is responsible for a musical revolution. I do not dispute this thesis. Madonna is on top, and will hopefully be on top forever. I believe that this may have been the real intention of this video and I would not be upset if it was proven as a fact.

As far as all of the effort put into this video by Madonna’s or the Gap’s production people come, at first I was sceptical. In all cases where there is a celebrity or musician in the media, they are always made out to be superior. If they were not thought of as superior there would be no reason why they were celebrities. Madonna is controversial, Paris Hilton is stupid, Brad Pitt is hot – that is why they are famous. Yes, the ‘top’ in the background is convincing, but I am still sceptical of its intentional placement. On the other hand, in other Madonna music videos it is clear that there are words written on the ground to help express the mood of her songs/videos – maybe her PR people have figured out a way to advertise/convince people both subtly and obviously.

But than again, it may just be a conincidence.

Cited Work:

Get Into The Groove. Dir. Gap Jeans. Perf. Madonna, Missy Elliot. Gap Jeans. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQpN3ToVtmQ>.

What If. Dir. Stephen Scott. Perf. Scott Stapp, Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall, Scott Phillips. DVD. Warner Music Canada, 2004. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEijnCAg2-8>.

Hung Up. Perf. Madonna. Maverick, 2005. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CosUSYHGQeM>.