1 00:00:00,090 --> 00:00:03,510 Speaker 1: All right, guys, welcome into another Rewind episode of Disgraceland. 2 00:00:03,670 --> 00:00:07,250 Speaker 1: We're getting into the archive with Madonna this week. This 3 00:00:07,330 --> 00:00:11,619 Speaker 1: episode was originally released back in 2019, if you can 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:12,219 Speaker 1: believe that. 5 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 2: That is just wild to me. October 22nd, 2019. 6 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:21,380 Speaker 1: A lot of you might not know this based on 7 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,480 Speaker 1: the way I portray my tastes here in Disgraceland. I 8 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:26,650 Speaker 1: come from the world of punk and hardcore, but I've 9 00:00:26,670 --> 00:00:29,590 Speaker 1: got some pretty well-rounded tastes like most of you as well. 10 00:00:30,470 --> 00:00:32,629 Speaker 1: Big Madonna fan. Always have been. 11 00:00:33,090 --> 00:00:35,180 Speaker 2: Huge part of my childhood. 12 00:00:35,220 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 1: If you grew up as a kid in the 1980s 13 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: and 1990s, she was impossible to escape. And I always 14 00:00:41,740 --> 00:00:43,940 Speaker 1: loved her vibe. And when I got into the research 15 00:00:43,979 --> 00:00:47,979 Speaker 1: for Madonna, I grew to love her even more because 16 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,690 Speaker 1: I never truly knew the history of Madonna in downtown 17 00:00:51,950 --> 00:00:55,190 Speaker 1: New York in the late 70s and early 80s. And 18 00:00:55,210 --> 00:00:57,790 Speaker 1: I just found it fascinating that she was running around 19 00:00:57,830 --> 00:01:02,010 Speaker 1: the same clubs with Sade and Beastie Boys and Keith 20 00:01:02,090 --> 00:01:06,890 Speaker 1: Haring and just an amazing time. And I hope we 21 00:01:06,930 --> 00:01:11,199 Speaker 1: captured it. We did justice to that era in this episode. 22 00:01:11,220 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: I had a lot of fun doing the music for 23 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: our little homage to Borderline, which you'll hear in here 24 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,410 Speaker 1: as well. So check this out. I hope you dig it. 25 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,340 Speaker 1: Madonna's obviously been in the news lately. She always finds 26 00:01:23,390 --> 00:01:25,730 Speaker 1: herself in the news. I just heard my kids come home. 27 00:01:25,790 --> 00:01:27,690 Speaker 1: So that's news to me. 28 00:01:27,730 --> 00:01:28,530 Speaker 2: I'm going to get running. 29 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,300 Speaker 1: Hope you dig this episode. Give me a call, 617-906-6638. 30 00:01:33,340 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: Voicemail and text at DisgracelandPod on the socials, DisgracelandPod at gmail.com, 31 00:01:38,180 --> 00:01:40,890 Speaker 1: and let me know what you think. Disgraceland is a 32 00:01:40,910 --> 00:01:45,310 Speaker 1: production of Double Elvis. A quick warning for those affected 33 00:01:45,350 --> 00:01:49,590 Speaker 1: by depictions of physical and sexual abuse. This episode details both. 34 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,780 Speaker 1: The stories about Madonna are insane. She's one of the 35 00:02:03,820 --> 00:02:07,910 Speaker 1: most daring, explosive artists of all time. She was raped 36 00:02:07,970 --> 00:02:10,869 Speaker 1: at an early age. She was targeted by the Vatican 37 00:02:10,910 --> 00:02:14,590 Speaker 1: for her performances and nearly arrested in front of 50,000 38 00:02:14,590 --> 00:02:19,889 Speaker 1: people for simulating masturbation. She repeatedly pushed herself through her art, 39 00:02:20,190 --> 00:02:22,830 Speaker 1: using it as a weapon to fight off abusive directors, 40 00:02:22,910 --> 00:02:27,389 Speaker 1: to overcome overbearing producers, to outrun breathless paparazzi, and to 41 00:02:27,510 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 1: outlast A-list significant others. Madonna obliterated mainstream attitudes about sex, 42 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,220 Speaker 1: refused to be slut-shamed, and pushed herself creatively right up 43 00:02:38,260 --> 00:02:41,470 Speaker 1: to the limits of the law. She was a megawatt 44 00:02:41,530 --> 00:02:45,010 Speaker 1: star who would not be dimmed, not by critics, not 45 00:02:45,050 --> 00:02:49,950 Speaker 1: by knife-wielding maniacs, and certainly not by hot-headed machismo narcissists. 46 00:02:51,070 --> 00:02:54,150 Speaker 1: Along the way, she made great music, some of the 47 00:02:54,190 --> 00:02:57,609 Speaker 1: greatest pop music ever made. That music I played you 48 00:02:57,650 --> 00:03:00,169 Speaker 1: at the top of the show, that wasn't great music. 49 00:03:00,930 --> 00:03:04,180 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my Mellotron called Mellow 50 00:03:04,220 --> 00:03:09,100 Speaker 1: Push Push MK1. I played you that loop because I 51 00:03:09,139 --> 00:03:12,420 Speaker 1: can't afford the rights to Mickey by Tony Basil. And 52 00:03:12,460 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: why would I play you that specific slice of choreographed 53 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,740 Speaker 1: cheerleader cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was the 54 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 1: number one song in America on December 16th, 1982. And 55 00:03:24,580 --> 00:03:26,900 Speaker 1: that was the day Madonna took the stage for the 56 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,700 Speaker 1: first time at New York City's Danceteria and began to 57 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:35,820 Speaker 1: slowly but powerfully push herself into American consciousness. A small 58 00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:40,550 Speaker 1: step that would lead to scandal, controversy, intense expression, and 59 00:03:40,710 --> 00:03:47,970 Speaker 1: icon status. On this episode, sex, controversy, rape, cheerleader cheese, 60 00:03:48,390 --> 00:04:17,730 Speaker 1: and Madonna. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland. The 61 00:04:17,750 --> 00:04:21,289 Speaker 1: video is grainy, so poor that it immediately smacks of 62 00:04:21,330 --> 00:04:25,430 Speaker 1: surveillance footage. Madonna, 19 years old, is lying on the 63 00:04:25,490 --> 00:04:30,980 Speaker 1: floor of a downtown diner. She's just been raped. She's sobbing, mumbling, frantic, scared, 64 00:04:31,020 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: and nonsensical. She can taste fear in her mouth, adrenaline. 65 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:40,060 Speaker 1: Her right breast is exposed. She's wearing all white, stretch pants, 66 00:04:40,100 --> 00:04:42,990 Speaker 1: and an oversized men's button-down shirt that she borrowed from 67 00:04:43,020 --> 00:04:44,890 Speaker 1: her boyfriend, who is comforting her. 68 00:04:45,510 --> 00:04:46,430 Speaker 2: He just made the scene. 69 00:04:47,540 --> 00:04:50,410 Speaker 1: Around him, the number of restaurant onlookers grows to a 70 00:04:50,460 --> 00:04:53,670 Speaker 1: small gaggle. They're no doubt hardened by their city, but 71 00:04:53,730 --> 00:04:56,809 Speaker 1: not so jaded that a freshly raped teenage girl lying 72 00:04:56,870 --> 00:05:01,170 Speaker 1: on the floor doesn't warrant a curious second look. Madonna cries, 73 00:05:01,310 --> 00:05:05,100 Speaker 1: Madonna moans, Madonna writhes on the sticky tile floor. Her 74 00:05:05,140 --> 00:05:10,020 Speaker 1: boyfriend swears revenge. It's a scene, one of the many 75 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: urban storms that swell up daily in Manhattan. Stirred by violence, 76 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:18,510 Speaker 1: stifled by cynicism, Madonna is in a familiar position, the 77 00:05:18,570 --> 00:05:21,940 Speaker 1: center of the storm, a position she seeks, a position 78 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:25,380 Speaker 1: she craves, a position she pushes herself into, even in 79 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,540 Speaker 1: this moment, not as a raped woman, but as an 80 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: actress playing a raped woman. The part was her first, 81 00:05:33,900 --> 00:05:38,030 Speaker 1: from the independent film A Certain Sacrifice, shot guerrilla-style around 82 00:05:38,050 --> 00:05:40,070 Speaker 1: the city across 1979 and 1980, three years before Madonna 83 00:05:40,089 --> 00:05:46,060 Speaker 1: would become a star, And decades before Madonna would confirm 84 00:05:46,070 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: to Harper's Bazaar that in her first year in New 85 00:05:48,860 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: York she was raped for real, held with a knife 86 00:05:51,940 --> 00:05:55,099 Speaker 1: to her throat on a steaming hot Manhattan roof and 87 00:05:55,180 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: forced into performing fellatio. Most rape victims would understandably not 88 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,820 Speaker 1: want to relive their trauma on film a mere year later. 89 00:06:04,470 --> 00:06:07,790 Speaker 1: But for a hungry artist like Madonna, this was an opportunity. 90 00:06:08,310 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 1: An opportunity for real expression, real art, transcendence. an opportunity 91 00:06:13,500 --> 00:06:16,900 Speaker 1: to express herself, push past her own limits and achieve 92 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: true artistry. To stand out as the undeniable force of 93 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: nature she knew she was, which she knew the world 94 00:06:22,980 --> 00:06:28,660 Speaker 1: would see too, someday. New York City, Madonna's New York 95 00:06:28,700 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: City in the late 70s and early 80s, was a 96 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: beautiful mess. Reggie Jackson, Jimmy Breslin, Garbage Strikes, The Son 97 00:06:35,820 --> 00:06:38,940 Speaker 1: of Sam, The Bronx on Fire, punk rock, street art 98 00:06:38,980 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: invading highbrow galleries, the advent of hip-hop and cheap rents. 99 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: It all felt like an explosion of creativity. A place 100 00:06:48,339 --> 00:06:51,460 Speaker 1: and a time where culture-shifting music and art was conceived, 101 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,890 Speaker 1: and Madonna was there and affected by all of it. Blondie, Basquiat, 102 00:06:56,029 --> 00:06:59,669 Speaker 1: Keith Haring, Fab Five Freddy, Andy Warhol, and more. Not 103 00:06:59,710 --> 00:07:02,650 Speaker 1: to mention countless punk rock and dance club kids moving 104 00:07:02,710 --> 00:07:06,060 Speaker 1: to the rhythm of New York's pulsing crime, grime, and electricity. 105 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: It shaped Madonna. Fueled Madonna. In a way, it made Madonna. 106 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:13,420 Speaker 1: New York City doesn't quit. 107 00:07:13,940 --> 00:07:14,100 Speaker 2: Ever. 108 00:07:14,730 --> 00:07:17,150 Speaker 1: It pushes itself into every pore of your being until 109 00:07:17,190 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: you become it, are expelled by it, or killed by it. 110 00:07:20,770 --> 00:07:25,020 Speaker 1: The city treated Madonna Louise Ciccone no different. The roots 111 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: of Madonna's creativity and virgin horror ethos were well established 112 00:07:28,940 --> 00:07:33,340 Speaker 1: before she made it to Manhattan from suburban Detroit in 1978, 113 00:07:33,340 --> 00:07:37,060 Speaker 1: growing up working-class Catholic in Rochester, Michigan. But New York 114 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:40,700 Speaker 1: City and its merry-go-round of creative characters helped Madonna turn 115 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,860 Speaker 1: her essence into the iconic image that turned the world on. 116 00:07:44,660 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: and New York City at the time was one big 117 00:07:46,580 --> 00:07:49,380 Speaker 1: come on. How far could you push it? It was 118 00:07:49,420 --> 00:07:51,420 Speaker 1: a place where one day you were just another face 119 00:07:51,500 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: in the crowd at Max's Kansas City or CBGB's, and 120 00:07:54,620 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: with the right timing, be discovered, made famous, a lucky star, seemingly, overnight. 121 00:08:02,300 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: At least that's how it seemed for those who knew 122 00:08:04,180 --> 00:08:07,980 Speaker 1: Madonna at the time. But stardom doesn't happen overnight, for anyone. 123 00:08:08,660 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: It's a combination of hustle, timing, and expression. Three things 124 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:16,090 Speaker 1: Madonna was a no-short supply of. not to mention talent. 125 00:08:18,890 --> 00:08:22,750 Speaker 1: The Clash were on stage at Bond's International Casino. In 126 00:08:22,790 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: between songs, Joe Strummer was chastising the Times Square crowd 127 00:08:26,540 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: for the less-than-warm welcome they'd given the opening act, Grandmaster 128 00:08:29,900 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 1: Flash and the Furious Five. It was a rock-and-roll crowd, 129 00:08:33,380 --> 00:08:36,300 Speaker 1: and Flash, to them anyways, scratching records with a suede 130 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,459 Speaker 1: Kangol on under his headphones, absent any live instruments on stage, 131 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,460 Speaker 1: might as well have been an alien. Joe Strummer, the 132 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,620 Speaker 1: Clash frontman, wasn't having it. Madonna and the crowd that 133 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: night thought Joe was decidedly more attractive when he was 134 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:52,110 Speaker 1: angry than when he was strumming. 135 00:08:52,570 --> 00:08:55,950 Speaker 2: But still, nowhere near as attractive as Clash bassist Paul. 136 00:08:55,790 --> 00:08:58,570 Speaker 1: Simonin, who'd let Madonna and her two friends sneak in 137 00:08:58,590 --> 00:09:01,390 Speaker 1: through the stage door, just as he'd done for countless 138 00:09:01,530 --> 00:09:04,609 Speaker 1: other seemingly anonymous fans who'd shown up without a ticket. 139 00:09:06,010 --> 00:09:08,790 Speaker 1: The Clash were in the middle of the now-famous 17-night 140 00:09:08,850 --> 00:09:10,410 Speaker 1: run at Bonds, a. 141 00:09:10,429 --> 00:09:12,450 Speaker 2: Stretch that started out as eight shows. 142 00:09:13,179 --> 00:09:16,620 Speaker 1: But after greedy promoters oversold the venue, the band had 143 00:09:16,740 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 1: righteously agreed to keep playing shows until every ticket was 144 00:09:19,980 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: honored for their fans. It resulted in a month-long residency 145 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:28,460 Speaker 1: with a mind-boggling run of openers, including the Dead Kennedys, Kraut, 146 00:09:28,620 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: The Fall, Bad Brains, and Lee Scratch Perry. The clash's 147 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: generous attitude toward their fans extended beyond ticket holders to 148 00:09:36,460 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: the point of just letting in whoever showed up. 149 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,679 Speaker 2: Madonna didn't have a ticket, but she pushed her way in. 150 00:09:42,630 --> 00:09:44,450 Speaker 1: When she made the scene, she took note of the 151 00:09:44,510 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: frumpy yet devastatingly cool Jean-Michel Basquiat, the visionary iconoclastic street 152 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: artist who was in the midst of becoming one of 153 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,449 Speaker 1: the most sought-after gallery artists in the world. A year later, 154 00:09:55,490 --> 00:09:58,369 Speaker 1: with his star in even more intense ascent, he and 155 00:09:58,410 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 1: Madonna would move in together. Eventually, he gets strung out 156 00:10:01,900 --> 00:10:06,939 Speaker 1: on heroin. Most people in her position, a 25-year-old struggling 157 00:10:06,980 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: to make her own ascent through the downtown art and 158 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,350 Speaker 1: music scene, while dating one of the youngest, coolest, most 159 00:10:12,410 --> 00:10:15,810 Speaker 1: talented rising visual artists at the time, would have held on, 160 00:10:16,330 --> 00:10:19,590 Speaker 1: tried to make the relationship work out, junk or no junk. 161 00:10:20,630 --> 00:10:25,030 Speaker 1: But not Madonna. Drugs weren't her scene. So Jean-Michel Basquiat 162 00:10:25,070 --> 00:10:27,130 Speaker 1: was out. Madonna dumped him. 163 00:10:27,170 --> 00:10:30,580 Speaker 2: Pushed on. Madonna was disciplined. Hungry. 164 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: Some would say desperate. But that rap was ridiculous at best. 165 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:38,710 Speaker 1: Sexist at worst. One man's discipline is another man's desperation. 166 00:10:39,230 --> 00:10:41,690 Speaker 1: If Madonna were a man, would her career origins be 167 00:10:41,730 --> 00:10:42,610 Speaker 1: seen as desperate? 168 00:10:43,010 --> 00:10:43,569 Speaker 2: Probably not. 169 00:10:44,380 --> 00:10:46,300 Speaker 1: She saw what she wanted and there was nothing, there 170 00:10:46,340 --> 00:10:47,960 Speaker 1: was no one who was going to hold her back 171 00:10:48,020 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 1: from her goal of becoming a singing sensation and then 172 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:55,140 Speaker 1: an actress. A modern Marilyn Monroe by way of downtown chic, but, 173 00:10:55,380 --> 00:11:00,060 Speaker 1: you know, who could actually act. Her ambition, off-putting as 174 00:11:00,100 --> 00:11:02,239 Speaker 1: it was to powerful men in the music business at 175 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:04,740 Speaker 1: the time, was part of her charm to the legions 176 00:11:04,780 --> 00:11:07,380 Speaker 1: of young women who would constitute her early fan base. 177 00:11:08,690 --> 00:11:12,050 Speaker 1: By the time Madonna recorded her first singles, Everybody and 178 00:11:12,100 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: Burning Up, she was equally entrenched in downtown punk and 179 00:11:16,100 --> 00:11:19,500 Speaker 1: dance club culture. Two scenes that took themselves a little 180 00:11:19,540 --> 00:11:22,699 Speaker 1: too seriously, but Madonna seemed to treat it all with 181 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 1: the mischievous wink and nod of a free-spirited Catholic girl 182 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:30,929 Speaker 1: next door. To those just outside her orbit, fans in particular, 183 00:11:31,350 --> 00:11:33,790 Speaker 1: it seemed like Madonna was always in on a joke 184 00:11:33,830 --> 00:11:36,110 Speaker 1: that you'd never quite get, but that compelled you to 185 00:11:36,170 --> 00:11:36,490 Speaker 1: want to. 186 00:11:36,450 --> 00:11:37,290 Speaker 2: Know more about her. 187 00:11:38,190 --> 00:11:40,990 Speaker 1: With an arm full of rubber bracelets, cross necklaces, and 188 00:11:41,030 --> 00:11:46,210 Speaker 1: mesh half-shirts, she exuded mischief, sensuality, and sex. She wasn't 189 00:11:46,250 --> 00:11:48,670 Speaker 1: the most beautiful girl in the club, but she was 190 00:11:48,750 --> 00:11:52,910 Speaker 1: by far the most interesting. She wasn't the stunning Debbie Harry, 191 00:11:52,929 --> 00:11:56,849 Speaker 1: the suicide blonde, crushing studded hearts from the stage at Seabees, 192 00:11:57,190 --> 00:12:00,850 Speaker 1: and she wasn't the beautiful beyond-compare Sade, slinging drinks from 193 00:12:00,870 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: the bar at Danceteria and frightening young, love-struck post-punk adolescents 194 00:12:05,410 --> 00:12:09,380 Speaker 1: into awkward silence. She was Madonna, and she was on 195 00:12:09,420 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: to something else. Her style was her own. Leather and 196 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 1: lace fashion manifest as the version or dichotomy she playfully 197 00:12:16,620 --> 00:12:20,500 Speaker 1: tinkered with. Part vintage punk, part Catholic schoolgirl in trouble. 198 00:12:20,900 --> 00:12:24,780 Speaker 1: And perhaps more important, she flaunted her vulnerability. She willfully 199 00:12:24,850 --> 00:12:28,170 Speaker 1: exposed her round belly. treated it as an asset as 200 00:12:28,250 --> 00:12:31,050 Speaker 1: opposed to a physical liability at a time when male 201 00:12:31,110 --> 00:12:35,099 Speaker 1: record executives expected female singing stars, at least the ones 202 00:12:35,130 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: who they wanted to top the charts, to be the 203 00:12:37,179 --> 00:12:38,780 Speaker 1: perfect image of femininity. 204 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 2: Rail thin, perfect in body and in manners. 205 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,380 Speaker 1: If Madonna's imperfect looks didn't betray her outsider status, then 206 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:51,439 Speaker 1: her accent certainly did. It was bridge-and-tunnel Betty Boop by 207 00:12:51,500 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: way of Midwestern adolescence. It was decidedly uncool. not of 208 00:12:56,260 --> 00:13:00,739 Speaker 1: New York, non-regional, its own thing. As a result, it 209 00:13:00,780 --> 00:13:03,300 Speaker 1: was a thing that, along with her humor and confidence 210 00:13:03,340 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 1: in her looks, turned most men on. And this outsider 211 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:11,220 Speaker 1: status made her supremely relatable to teenage girls and marginalized 212 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,420 Speaker 1: gay kids. Madonna immersed herself in the growing dance club 213 00:13:15,470 --> 00:13:18,550 Speaker 1: scene of the early 80s in Manhattan. In club culture, 214 00:13:18,870 --> 00:13:22,170 Speaker 1: a culture that celebrated and flaunted sex was as big 215 00:13:22,190 --> 00:13:26,210 Speaker 1: an influence on Madonna as downtown punk. Her sexuality was 216 00:13:26,250 --> 00:13:28,470 Speaker 1: hers to play with and she was unafraid to share 217 00:13:28,510 --> 00:13:32,730 Speaker 1: it with the world. All of this is on display 218 00:13:33,030 --> 00:13:35,130 Speaker 1: in her first single to hit the Billboard U.S. 219 00:13:35,170 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 2: Top Ten, Borderline. 220 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:41,900 Speaker 1: It's hard for me to explain the greatness and appeal 221 00:13:41,940 --> 00:13:45,820 Speaker 1: of Madonna's Borderline. The opening notes on the electric piano 222 00:13:46,110 --> 00:13:49,170 Speaker 1: gut me every time I hear them. It's a simple, 223 00:13:49,309 --> 00:13:52,910 Speaker 1: childlike sound and melancholic melody that looks back to the 224 00:13:52,970 --> 00:13:55,500 Speaker 1: 70s And then the beat comes in and all of 225 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,900 Speaker 1: a sudden, you're in a new decade, on to something fresh, 226 00:13:59,300 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: fully committed to the promise of the unknown. The feeling 227 00:14:02,990 --> 00:14:06,250 Speaker 1: is similar to the beginnings of any great relationship. You 228 00:14:06,270 --> 00:14:09,730 Speaker 1: feel comfortable and safe, while at the same time excited 229 00:14:09,790 --> 00:14:13,689 Speaker 1: about where it's all going. The single was Madonna's first 230 00:14:13,770 --> 00:14:17,930 Speaker 1: big come on. Her flirtatious glance across the bar. Her 231 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: nonchalant bump on the dance floor. It was electric, the 232 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: casual touch from her hand. pushing it, the whisper in 233 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:29,710 Speaker 1: your ear, keep pushing it, the mischievous laugh, heart melting, 234 00:14:30,130 --> 00:14:33,570 Speaker 1: the smile, the pout, the abandon, the control, a total 235 00:14:33,630 --> 00:14:38,190 Speaker 1: turn on. Madonna had made a pass in America, and 236 00:14:38,250 --> 00:15:05,370 Speaker 1: America was smitten. Sean Penn wasn't fucking around. He was 237 00:15:05,390 --> 00:15:06,270 Speaker 1: going to shoot him down. 238 00:15:06,850 --> 00:15:08,690 Speaker 2: Paparazzi. Parasites. 239 00:15:09,110 --> 00:15:12,530 Speaker 1: Vultures circling their Malibu home on his and Madonna's wedding day. 240 00:15:13,790 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: The shotgun was missing in the house. Sean was manic. 241 00:15:17,020 --> 00:15:19,979 Speaker 1: Madonna was laughing. As usual, it was all a joke. 242 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 2: Annoying, yes. 243 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,580 Speaker 1: A possible harbinger of what her life would become. An 244 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:28,020 Speaker 1: endless test of her so far bottomless appetite for attention. 245 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: But in the moment, pretty damn funny. And if she 246 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:35,530 Speaker 1: were being honest with herself, Totally exciting. Sean didn't see 247 00:15:35,570 --> 00:15:38,470 Speaker 1: it that way, because Sean saw everything through the gaze 248 00:15:38,490 --> 00:15:42,430 Speaker 1: of a serious-minded artist. He was just her type, currently 249 00:15:42,490 --> 00:15:45,030 Speaker 1: taking his at bat as one of those next Brando, 250 00:15:45,100 --> 00:15:48,020 Speaker 1: next Pacino types that come along every decade or so. 251 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:51,860 Speaker 1: To him, the helicopters were a big fucking problem. They 252 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:53,860 Speaker 1: were the kind of problem only a power couple as 253 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,220 Speaker 1: rich and famous as he and Madonna could even have. 254 00:15:56,620 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: The helicopters would drown out the sound of the ceremony, 255 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:02,370 Speaker 1: making it impossible to hear which was the reason everyone 256 00:16:02,410 --> 00:16:04,710 Speaker 1: was there in the first place, to hear Sean and 257 00:16:04,730 --> 00:16:07,690 Speaker 1: Madonna proclaim their deep love for one another. It was 258 00:16:07,730 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: the reason she found it funny, and the reason he 259 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: couldn't stand it. And at least in that way, they 260 00:16:12,340 --> 00:16:16,660 Speaker 1: balanced each other's intensity. Plus, Sean got word that the 261 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,410 Speaker 1: choppers were freaking out the guests, especially Martin Sheen, who 262 00:16:20,430 --> 00:16:23,690 Speaker 1: was rumored to be flashing back into intense paranoia, back 263 00:16:23,710 --> 00:16:25,810 Speaker 1: to his days in the Philippines when he was filming 264 00:16:25,870 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: Apocalypse Now. experiencing a very real alcoholic meltdown and using 265 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: it as fuel for his performance on a set drowning 266 00:16:33,260 --> 00:16:37,930 Speaker 1: in cocaine, LSD, and machismo, sharing prop helicopters with the 267 00:16:37,950 --> 00:16:43,370 Speaker 1: Filipino military while dodging revolutionary guerrillas, turned on and tuned. 268 00:16:43,130 --> 00:16:43,790 Speaker 2: Way the fuck up. 269 00:16:45,060 --> 00:16:48,700 Speaker 1: Sheen had replaced Harvey Keitel, who, according to Manic director 270 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,500 Speaker 1: Francis Ford Coppola, didn't have the acting chops. So Martin 271 00:16:52,580 --> 00:16:55,350 Speaker 1: Sheen poured himself into the role and ended up having 272 00:16:55,370 --> 00:16:58,010 Speaker 1: a heart attack on set for his efforts. And at 273 00:16:58,050 --> 00:17:01,109 Speaker 1: the moment, in Sean Penn's backyard, it looked like he 274 00:17:01,150 --> 00:17:03,850 Speaker 1: might be having another one. Either that or like he 275 00:17:03,870 --> 00:17:07,820 Speaker 1: might snap, like an actual shell-shocked Vietnam vet instead of 276 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:12,780 Speaker 1: the actor who famously played one in the epic war film. Additionally, 277 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,909 Speaker 1: Martin Sheen's sons, Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, looked bored. 278 00:17:17,350 --> 00:17:20,229 Speaker 1: So did Tom Cruise, and so did Andy Warhol. But 279 00:17:20,290 --> 00:17:23,210 Speaker 1: Andy always looked bored, and to him, Charlie, Emilio, and 280 00:17:23,270 --> 00:17:25,970 Speaker 1: Tom looked good enough to keep his mind occupied while 281 00:17:26,030 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: Sean and Madonna sorted out the helicopter thing. Where the 282 00:17:29,740 --> 00:17:32,820 Speaker 1: fuck was the shotgun? Sean gave up and settled on 283 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,179 Speaker 1: dispatching a friend to etch into the sand on the 284 00:17:35,220 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: beach below his home in giant 25-foot letters, FUCK YOU. 285 00:17:40,330 --> 00:17:43,770 Speaker 1: as a silent scream at the vulture photographers circling above. 286 00:17:44,910 --> 00:17:47,510 Speaker 1: Madonna laughed. She looked great and all white with her 287 00:17:47,570 --> 00:17:50,150 Speaker 1: black top hat. What the hell was all that about, 288 00:17:50,230 --> 00:17:54,630 Speaker 1: Andy Warhol wondered. Warhol was insightful about celebrity in this 289 00:17:54,710 --> 00:17:57,230 Speaker 1: case as he was in all cases. What the hell 290 00:17:57,250 --> 00:17:59,629 Speaker 1: was all that about is exactly what America would be 291 00:17:59,670 --> 00:18:02,429 Speaker 1: saying about the marriage that began that day until the 292 00:18:02,470 --> 00:18:05,659 Speaker 1: day it dissolved, inevitably, like the grains of sand that 293 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:08,560 Speaker 1: made up the giant fuck you on the beach. But 294 00:18:08,580 --> 00:18:11,659 Speaker 1: for the four years in between, Sean and Madonna's marriage 295 00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:15,780 Speaker 1: was a straight-up tidal wave. Madonna, for her part, entered 296 00:18:15,820 --> 00:18:19,220 Speaker 1: into it with clear eyes about their chances. She understood 297 00:18:19,270 --> 00:18:22,669 Speaker 1: that when two like-minded, volatile artists got together, that they 298 00:18:22,690 --> 00:18:25,510 Speaker 1: could either spur each other to greatness or flame out 299 00:18:25,570 --> 00:18:30,570 Speaker 1: in epic fashion. A year after the big fuck you 300 00:18:30,609 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: in the sand, they were on the island of Macau 301 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,650 Speaker 1: filming a movie together, Shanghai Surprise. As Madonna suspected, their 302 00:18:37,790 --> 00:18:40,889 Speaker 1: union had become a non-stop test of endurance against a. 303 00:18:40,950 --> 00:18:42,210 Speaker 2: Swarm of paparazzi. 304 00:18:43,490 --> 00:18:46,210 Speaker 1: When Sean was arrested on the island for dangling a 305 00:18:46,250 --> 00:18:49,050 Speaker 1: photographer over a balcony, she wasn't surprised. 306 00:18:49,470 --> 00:18:50,790 Speaker 2: She might have even liked it a little. 307 00:18:52,030 --> 00:18:55,150 Speaker 1: She was surprised, however, to learn Sean had escaped from 308 00:18:55,190 --> 00:18:58,050 Speaker 1: an unlocked jail cell and hightailed it to Hong Kong 309 00:18:58,109 --> 00:19:01,149 Speaker 1: on the first ferry he could find. The entire troubled 310 00:19:01,190 --> 00:19:03,730 Speaker 1: production fled Macau, and they were able to keep the 311 00:19:03,770 --> 00:19:04,910 Speaker 1: incident out of the papers. 312 00:19:06,230 --> 00:19:08,730 Speaker 2: But Sean Penn would not get less volatile when they 313 00:19:08,770 --> 00:19:09,410 Speaker 2: were back home. 314 00:19:10,390 --> 00:19:13,129 Speaker 1: If the Penn-Ciccone marriage was meant to push two artists 315 00:19:13,170 --> 00:19:16,820 Speaker 1: to new heights, the fiasco and bombing of Shanghai Surprise 316 00:19:16,859 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 1: was a loss on Sean Penn's turf, the movie biz. 317 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: Madonna the musician, she was in the middle of an 318 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:29,820 Speaker 1: unprecedented creative high. With Borderline, she had crossed the threshold 319 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,720 Speaker 1: into stardom. But when her second album, Like a Virgin, 320 00:19:32,780 --> 00:19:37,030 Speaker 1: dropped in 1984, she became a true pop icon The 321 00:19:37,130 --> 00:19:39,790 Speaker 1: in-on-the-joke virgin horror act she had developed in the ripe 322 00:19:39,850 --> 00:19:43,189 Speaker 1: dance and punk scenes of New York resonated across the globe. 323 00:19:43,930 --> 00:19:47,740 Speaker 1: And it didn't come easy. Madonna had a stare-down veteran hitmaker, 324 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: Nile Rodgers, who was producing the album. He didn't believe 325 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,940 Speaker 1: in the song, thought it was a novelty bit. Madonna 326 00:19:53,980 --> 00:19:57,420 Speaker 1: held firm. She was undaunted by the more experienced, more 327 00:19:57,500 --> 00:20:00,810 Speaker 1: successful man sitting in the producer's chair and she insisted 328 00:20:00,890 --> 00:20:05,390 Speaker 1: on recording the track. It goes without saying whose instincts 329 00:20:05,430 --> 00:20:08,169 Speaker 1: were right. The artist had a vision, a vision her 330 00:20:08,230 --> 00:20:11,489 Speaker 1: producer at the time couldn't see. She was rewarded for 331 00:20:11,510 --> 00:20:14,619 Speaker 1: her commitment, as was Rogers, who eventually bought in and 332 00:20:14,650 --> 00:20:19,720 Speaker 1: produced a tight-sounding monster. Like a Virgin became a massive smash. 333 00:20:20,140 --> 00:20:24,460 Speaker 1: Madonna's first number one hit, followed immediately by Material Girl, Angel, 334 00:20:24,619 --> 00:20:27,660 Speaker 1: Into the Groove, Dress You Up, all cracking the Billboard 335 00:20:27,700 --> 00:20:31,350 Speaker 1: Top 5. Every single, over half of the nine-track album, 336 00:20:31,609 --> 00:20:37,590 Speaker 1: was a stone-cold hit. Madonna had pushed herself into mainstream 337 00:20:37,650 --> 00:20:41,330 Speaker 1: American consciousness. She was a megawatt star, and nothing was 338 00:20:41,350 --> 00:20:44,410 Speaker 1: going to dim her shine. Not even leaked nude photos 339 00:20:44,450 --> 00:20:46,530 Speaker 1: from her days as a model back in New York 340 00:20:46,590 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 1: struggling to make it. When the pictures were leaked to 341 00:20:49,380 --> 00:20:53,500 Speaker 1: Playboy without her approval in 1985, she refused to be shamed. 342 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:57,020 Speaker 1: Unlike Sean Penn, Madonna could handle the exposure. 343 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 2: No shame. No pain. Virgin. Whore. 344 00:21:01,140 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: What's the difference? In the end, we all sink beneath 345 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:08,960 Speaker 1: the sun. Madonna pushed on. She owned Live Aid, performing 346 00:21:08,980 --> 00:21:11,920 Speaker 1: alongside titans of the music industry at the time, from 347 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,270 Speaker 1: Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger to Patti LaBelle and Tina Turner, 348 00:21:15,570 --> 00:21:16,970 Speaker 1: in front of a live audience of 100,000 and a 349 00:21:16,990 --> 00:21:18,850 Speaker 1: global simulcast audience of 1.9 billion, nearly 40% of the 350 00:21:18,869 --> 00:21:19,389 Speaker 1: Earth's population. 351 00:21:19,450 --> 00:21:19,970 Speaker 2: And she crushed it. 352 00:21:26,450 --> 00:21:29,160 Speaker 1: Her movie career took off with the success of Desperately 353 00:21:29,220 --> 00:21:32,940 Speaker 1: Seeking Susan, and her third album, True Blue, dedicated to 354 00:21:32,980 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: Sean Penn, cemented her status as the queen of pop, 355 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:40,300 Speaker 1: selling 25 million records around the world. But all this 356 00:21:40,340 --> 00:21:43,500 Speaker 1: glory brought even more attention. She and Sean had driven 357 00:21:43,540 --> 00:21:46,390 Speaker 1: each other to new extremes, and among the two stars 358 00:21:46,430 --> 00:21:49,469 Speaker 1: at the time, it was Madonna who truly transcended from 359 00:21:49,510 --> 00:21:53,169 Speaker 1: the top of her craft to global icon. They inevitably 360 00:21:53,230 --> 00:21:57,030 Speaker 1: but amicably divorced in 1989. And with the 90s on 361 00:21:57,050 --> 00:22:00,380 Speaker 1: the horizon, Madonna was freer than ever to push cultural 362 00:22:00,490 --> 00:22:03,940 Speaker 1: and sexual boundaries right up to the limits of the law. 363 00:22:05,060 --> 00:22:08,400 Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this word, word, word. 364 00:22:10,420 --> 00:22:13,880 Speaker 1: The after party was lame. It was always lame. Besides, 365 00:22:13,940 --> 00:22:18,380 Speaker 1: by Madonna's estimation, who had time to party? Which megastar performer, 366 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 1: which singers are actually partying after putting on a show 367 00:22:21,500 --> 00:22:25,640 Speaker 1: on the scale of Madonna's blonde ambition tour? Madonna, playing 368 00:22:25,660 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: multiple characters throughout the course of her setlist, Diva, Showgirl, 369 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 1: and of course, both The Virgin and The Whore. Numerous 370 00:22:32,859 --> 00:22:37,200 Speaker 1: complicated set changes, an Ayn Rand fountainhead-looking Metropolis set, a 371 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,740 Speaker 1: cabaret set, a religious set, an Art Deco set, and 372 00:22:40,790 --> 00:22:43,609 Speaker 1: a Dick Tracy set dedicated to promoting her new film 373 00:22:43,630 --> 00:22:47,490 Speaker 1: with her new boyfriend, the incorrigible Warren Beatty. There were 374 00:22:47,510 --> 00:22:52,510 Speaker 1: stage costumes designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier, a ten-piece band, eight dancers, 375 00:22:52,730 --> 00:22:57,410 Speaker 1: a film crew, a production staff of 100, 18 tractor trailers, 376 00:22:57,750 --> 00:23:01,230 Speaker 1: a giant 747 plane to haul all of the equipment around, 377 00:23:01,510 --> 00:23:03,570 Speaker 1: and a private jet to get her the fuck out 378 00:23:03,590 --> 00:23:08,530 Speaker 1: of there after the show. But no, the damn afterparty. Prince, 379 00:23:08,950 --> 00:23:12,699 Speaker 1: Michael Jackson, Elton John, even Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. 380 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:16,330 Speaker 1: Madonna didn't understand. First of all, how do singers do it? 381 00:23:16,700 --> 00:23:19,440 Speaker 1: Sit there in a cramped, barely furnished room in the 382 00:23:19,500 --> 00:23:23,010 Speaker 1: bowels of a cold stadium, covered in sweat, your adrenaline 383 00:23:23,090 --> 00:23:26,639 Speaker 1: pulsing through your body, your brain on overdrive, your vocal 384 00:23:26,700 --> 00:23:30,919 Speaker 1: cords strained, and carry on conversations about nothing with famous 385 00:23:30,980 --> 00:23:32,940 Speaker 1: people you don't know but who act as if you're 386 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,060 Speaker 1: lifelong friends, when really, all you want to do is 387 00:23:36,100 --> 00:23:38,830 Speaker 1: compare show notes with your dancers and your band and 388 00:23:38,940 --> 00:23:42,650 Speaker 1: celebrate the Herculean task you all just pulled off, staging 389 00:23:42,690 --> 00:23:47,510 Speaker 1: a highly complex, physically demanding, emotionally draining show in front 390 00:23:47,530 --> 00:23:48,189 Speaker 1: of 30,000 people. But no. 391 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 2: The After Party. 392 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:57,300 Speaker 1: L.A. was the worst, for obvious reasons. The biggest star 393 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,810 Speaker 1: fuckers on the planet are stars themselves. Madonna thought it 394 00:24:00,850 --> 00:24:05,090 Speaker 1: was silly, the Hollywood ass-grabbing. But Warren Beatty took it seriously. 395 00:24:05,570 --> 00:24:08,649 Speaker 1: This was, after all, his town. He'd been on the 396 00:24:08,730 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: A-list for 25 years, a career player in Hollywood land. 397 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,610 Speaker 1: The social conventions of celebrity, the clubbiness of... The premium 398 00:24:17,670 --> 00:24:21,490 Speaker 1: on privacy and appearances, the coded do's and don'ts, they 399 00:24:21,530 --> 00:24:24,260 Speaker 1: were all just sacred cows for the slaughtered in Madonna. 400 00:24:24,700 --> 00:24:27,820 Speaker 1: But from Beatty's perspective, they were to be taken seriously 401 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: as rites of passage into his inner sanctum. Al Pacino, 402 00:24:32,340 --> 00:24:38,010 Speaker 1: Lionel Richie, Shaka Kong, Mandy Patinkin, Olivia Newton-John, Martin Scorsese, 403 00:24:38,270 --> 00:24:40,190 Speaker 1: they were all there with her, backstage. 404 00:24:40,710 --> 00:24:41,990 Speaker 2: And so was Kevin Costner. 405 00:24:42,380 --> 00:24:46,639 Speaker 1: Who despite his A-list blockbuster status at the time in 1990, 406 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,990 Speaker 1: was awkward as fuck when he met Madonna. He told 407 00:24:50,030 --> 00:24:53,250 Speaker 1: her in all earnestness that her show was quote-unquote neat, 408 00:24:53,730 --> 00:24:55,850 Speaker 1: like he'd just seen Annie Hall for the first time 409 00:24:55,890 --> 00:24:57,790 Speaker 1: before coming to the show that night but didn't get 410 00:24:57,810 --> 00:25:00,290 Speaker 1: the joke. Neat went out, I would say, at the 411 00:25:00,330 --> 00:25:04,169 Speaker 1: turn of the century. Madonna was repulsed by Costner's lameness, 412 00:25:04,490 --> 00:25:06,330 Speaker 1: and as soon as he split, she turned to her 413 00:25:06,390 --> 00:25:10,970 Speaker 1: friends in pantomime vomiting to express her displeasure with the star. Neat. 414 00:25:11,740 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: Beatty was not pleased. But the jam backstage was no surprise. 415 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,550 Speaker 1: Neither were the jam stadiums. Madonna was one of the 416 00:25:20,609 --> 00:25:24,290 Speaker 1: biggest attractions in the world. The production, the creativity, and 417 00:25:24,310 --> 00:25:27,430 Speaker 1: the performances, the whole show was novel for the time. 418 00:25:27,990 --> 00:25:30,270 Speaker 1: It was a hot ticket, selling nearly half a million 419 00:25:30,330 --> 00:25:33,020 Speaker 1: seats in the first two hours after they went on sale, 420 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:38,419 Speaker 1: and eventually grossing $ 60 million. And it wasn't without controversy. 421 00:25:38,910 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 1: The show was a full-on theatrical production exploring Catholic sexuality. 422 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,540 Speaker 1: On stage, the grueling craftwork took its toll, and mid-tour 423 00:25:47,580 --> 00:25:50,440 Speaker 1: shows had to be cancelled so Madonna's throat could recover. 424 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 1: Off stage, Catholic watchdog groups across the U.S. and Europe 425 00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:58,750 Speaker 1: protested the subject matter, and when the Blonde Ambition tour 426 00:25:58,770 --> 00:26:02,550 Speaker 1: hit Italy, the Vatican threatened to outright ban Madonna from performing. 427 00:26:03,550 --> 00:26:07,449 Speaker 1: But in 1990, for Madonna, nothing was more controversial than 428 00:26:07,490 --> 00:26:13,730 Speaker 1: her show in Toronto. Madonna was sleepwalking through Where's the 429 00:26:13,790 --> 00:26:18,210 Speaker 1: Party on stage at the Sky Dome. 53,000 people, more 430 00:26:18,250 --> 00:26:21,100 Speaker 1: if you counted the mouth-breathing Canadian Mounties on hand to 431 00:26:21,170 --> 00:26:23,659 Speaker 1: bust Madonna if she went ahead with her performance of 432 00:26:23,700 --> 00:26:27,180 Speaker 1: Like a Virgin, where she had been infamously simulating masturbation 433 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,380 Speaker 1: as part of her dance routine. The song was coming 434 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,379 Speaker 1: up next. It was all Madonna could think about. When 435 00:26:34,420 --> 00:26:37,179 Speaker 1: she got the news backstage before the set that she 436 00:26:37,220 --> 00:26:39,800 Speaker 1: was being arrested if she went ahead with the performance, 437 00:26:40,220 --> 00:26:43,770 Speaker 1: she was immediately defiant. I'm not changing my fucking show, 438 00:26:44,150 --> 00:26:47,869 Speaker 1: were her exact words. Her defiance quickly turned to exuberance. 439 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,120 Speaker 1: The thrill of the arrest was downright exhilarating, as was 440 00:26:51,180 --> 00:26:54,419 Speaker 1: the prospect of the ensuing publicity shitstorm where she'd get 441 00:26:54,460 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: hauled in for public masturbation or indecency or whatever charge 442 00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:01,100 Speaker 1: the Mounties threw at her. She refused to be humiliated 443 00:27:01,300 --> 00:27:05,910 Speaker 1: and shamed. Despite the smooth talk from Madonna's management, authorities 444 00:27:05,950 --> 00:27:09,869 Speaker 1: weren't budging. Madonna's camp threatened to cancel the show. The 445 00:27:09,910 --> 00:27:15,070 Speaker 1: Mounties held firm. She touches herself. She goes to jail. Backstage, 446 00:27:15,369 --> 00:27:19,590 Speaker 1: the tension and excitement was palpable. Nikki Harris, a dancer 447 00:27:19,630 --> 00:27:22,689 Speaker 1: in the show, told Madonna the cops meant business and 448 00:27:22,710 --> 00:27:26,990 Speaker 1: that they arrested Bobby Brown for fucking onstage. Madonna lit up. 449 00:27:27,410 --> 00:27:27,780 Speaker 2: Did they? 450 00:27:28,170 --> 00:27:31,060 Speaker 1: And then slyly answered, I hope he's in jail when 451 00:27:31,100 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: I get there. And with that, Madonna defiantly walks onstage. 452 00:27:39,230 --> 00:27:42,430 Speaker 1: Sitting on the plush red velvet covered bed, center stage 453 00:27:42,470 --> 00:27:46,260 Speaker 1: in a gold bustier, black fishnets and high heels. Gone 454 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: is the belly from her borderline days. Her body is taut, fit, muscular, 455 00:27:50,540 --> 00:27:54,100 Speaker 1: a dancer's body. A result of the grueling physical demands 456 00:27:54,140 --> 00:27:58,980 Speaker 1: of the four-month, three-continent, ten-country tour. The drums percuss their 457 00:27:59,020 --> 00:28:01,680 Speaker 1: way into the beginning of her most identifiable song like 458 00:28:01,700 --> 00:28:06,119 Speaker 1: a virgin. But they're slower, more sensual. The feel of 459 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,860 Speaker 1: the live version of the song is significantly different than 460 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:13,590 Speaker 1: the single version. The tempo is down, less playful, more seductive. 461 00:28:14,430 --> 00:28:17,129 Speaker 1: The dance on the bed is all upper body, a 462 00:28:17,170 --> 00:28:21,930 Speaker 1: Middle Eastern-influenced siren call in the flesh. Arms extended, slithering 463 00:28:21,990 --> 00:28:25,149 Speaker 1: to the beat like cobras, and then Madonna turns to 464 00:28:25,190 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 1: face the crowd and begins to slowly sing the words. 465 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 2: The crowd immediately freaks out. 466 00:28:31,540 --> 00:28:34,640 Speaker 1: Her serpentine arms continue to wade through the stage lights 467 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,890 Speaker 1: above her. The drums kick in. Madonna rolls onto her back, 468 00:28:39,190 --> 00:28:42,700 Speaker 1: spreads her long legs, revealing her gold panty-clad crotch and 469 00:28:42,780 --> 00:28:45,340 Speaker 1: comes to her knees on the bed. She grinds her 470 00:28:45,380 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 1: hips into an imaginary lover beneath her, pushing it. The 471 00:28:49,260 --> 00:28:52,300 Speaker 1: song continues through the chorus, back to the verse. And 472 00:28:52,340 --> 00:28:55,060 Speaker 1: when she hits the second chorus, she does another spread 473 00:28:55,120 --> 00:29:00,070 Speaker 1: eagle and more grinding, more intense this time, pushing it harder, hotter. 474 00:29:00,810 --> 00:29:04,770 Speaker 1: Madonna leans into the ride, straddling her imaginary lover, teasing. 475 00:29:05,250 --> 00:29:08,290 Speaker 1: Her hand begins to rub her belly, slowly inching down 476 00:29:08,330 --> 00:29:12,410 Speaker 1: her navel, closer to the crotch. She moans the vocal refrain, 477 00:29:12,730 --> 00:29:15,620 Speaker 1: slides her hand back down her belly again, this time 478 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:20,080 Speaker 1: even closer, closer to her crotch, pushing it, dominating her 479 00:29:20,140 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: audience of thousands. A baseball stadium jammed with horny, inspired 480 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: fans and a small handful of conservative, soul-crushing Canadian Mounties. 481 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: The song hits the bridge and Madonna falls onto her 482 00:29:34,460 --> 00:29:37,290 Speaker 1: back on the bed. Two dancers at her side caress 483 00:29:37,310 --> 00:29:39,969 Speaker 1: her arms and back. She rises up onto her feet. 484 00:29:40,220 --> 00:29:43,920 Speaker 1: on stage and begins massaging her Jean-Paul Gaultier cone breasts 485 00:29:44,140 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 1: and falls into the arms of her two dancers, who 486 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,180 Speaker 1: take her. She rise beneath them, still singing, not missing 487 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: a beat. They mouth her nipples, palm her vagina. The 488 00:29:53,380 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: song's tempo picks up. Madonna's hand grabs her crotch. She's 489 00:29:57,180 --> 00:30:00,290 Speaker 1: on her back, thrusting her hips up. It's more than sex. 490 00:30:00,590 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 2: It's violence. It's inspired. It's nasty. 491 00:30:04,290 --> 00:30:06,870 Speaker 1: Madonna rolls over onto her stomach on the bed and 492 00:30:06,890 --> 00:30:10,570 Speaker 1: begins frantically dry-humping, banging her head and her blonde hair 493 00:30:10,830 --> 00:30:14,110 Speaker 1: up and down and up and down and up and down, her. 494 00:30:14,010 --> 00:30:16,030 Speaker 2: Healed feet outstretched like a V. 495 00:30:16,290 --> 00:30:20,570 Speaker 1: The crowd is freaking out, in full throat, screaming, cheering, 496 00:30:20,850 --> 00:30:23,970 Speaker 1: panting right there alongside her with every thrust until the 497 00:30:23,990 --> 00:30:25,470 Speaker 1: music finally comes down. 498 00:30:25,890 --> 00:30:28,060 Speaker 2: Post-climax. Post-coitus. 499 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:34,350 Speaker 1: The show could have ended right there. Madonna's performance of 500 00:30:34,380 --> 00:30:37,810 Speaker 1: Like a Virgin, under threat of censorship from Canadian Mounties, 501 00:30:38,110 --> 00:30:40,570 Speaker 1: was so inspired that there was no need to finish 502 00:30:40,630 --> 00:30:43,990 Speaker 1: the set. But of course, she did. And in the end, 503 00:30:44,450 --> 00:30:48,390 Speaker 1: there was no arrest. The authorities, perhaps sensing a potential riot, 504 00:30:48,530 --> 00:30:51,969 Speaker 1: backed down. And Madonna had once again used her art. 505 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:13,050 Speaker 1: Vanilla Ice took Madonna from behind. It was staged, but 506 00:31:13,270 --> 00:31:13,690 Speaker 1: so what? 507 00:31:14,170 --> 00:31:14,690 Speaker 2: It was hot. 508 00:31:15,410 --> 00:31:18,310 Speaker 1: As was Madonna wrapped in two other women, all curves, 509 00:31:18,450 --> 00:31:21,550 Speaker 1: buzz cuts, and tattoos, with a knife to her crotch. 510 00:31:22,130 --> 00:31:25,940 Speaker 1: Or Madonna alone in a leather blindfold, Studded lingerie with 511 00:31:25,980 --> 00:31:29,860 Speaker 1: exposed nipple cutouts, a riding crop between her teeth, and 512 00:31:29,940 --> 00:31:33,760 Speaker 1: hand between her legs, mesmerizing in kinky black and white. 513 00:31:34,820 --> 00:31:37,959 Speaker 1: This was Madonna's idea of a coffee table book. Sex, 514 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,030 Speaker 1: all caps. It was to be a literary and visual 515 00:31:41,070 --> 00:31:45,730 Speaker 1: companion to her fifth album, Erotica. Sex would sell out 516 00:31:45,790 --> 00:31:48,490 Speaker 1: its first edition within a few days, but even as 517 00:31:48,550 --> 00:31:51,690 Speaker 1: America shelled out money to peep Madonna's erotic fantasies with 518 00:31:51,830 --> 00:31:55,310 Speaker 1: one hand, it slapped her wrist with the other. Madonna's 519 00:31:55,370 --> 00:31:58,550 Speaker 1: pushing of the envelope, her virgin horror image, had always 520 00:31:58,610 --> 00:32:02,670 Speaker 1: attracted intense criticism. But after sex, the criticism reached a 521 00:32:02,690 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 1: new level. Critics who had once praised her pushing boundaries 522 00:32:06,340 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: now trashed her work, casting her as a try-hard slut. 523 00:32:10,260 --> 00:32:14,040 Speaker 1: Time magazine predicted, it'll be the first aluminum-covered soft porn 524 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,000 Speaker 1: book ever to grace the remainder bin. But they were wrong, 525 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,720 Speaker 1: of course. Today, sex is one of the most in-demand, 526 00:32:20,820 --> 00:32:24,070 Speaker 1: out-of-print books in the world. but the prudish backlash of 527 00:32:24,110 --> 00:32:26,930 Speaker 1: the early 90s was real. As a result of the 528 00:32:26,970 --> 00:32:32,250 Speaker 1: hypocritical controversy, Erotica would be Madonna's first record since 1983 529 00:32:32,250 --> 00:32:35,709 Speaker 1: with no number one hits. With all the noise, the 530 00:32:35,750 --> 00:32:38,830 Speaker 1: time seemed right for focusing fully on her acting career. 531 00:32:39,890 --> 00:32:43,130 Speaker 1: As an actor, Madonna, despite her more than capable turns 532 00:32:43,190 --> 00:32:45,650 Speaker 1: in desperately seeking Susan in a league of their own, 533 00:32:46,010 --> 00:32:50,780 Speaker 1: alongside Rosanna Arquette and Tom Hanks respectively, critics never considered 534 00:32:50,820 --> 00:32:54,750 Speaker 1: Madonna a serious actor. Madonna wasn't supposed to act. She 535 00:32:54,790 --> 00:32:57,350 Speaker 1: wasn't supposed to write books. She wasn't supposed to push 536 00:32:57,430 --> 00:33:00,110 Speaker 1: boundaries on film. She was supposed to make records and 537 00:33:00,150 --> 00:33:02,710 Speaker 1: videos to show off her belly above a boy toy 538 00:33:02,750 --> 00:33:05,450 Speaker 1: belt buckle and tour and make the power players in 539 00:33:05,470 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: the music industry more and more money every time she 540 00:33:08,060 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 1: got a creative itch to scratch, so long as it 541 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,880 Speaker 1: was the right itch. She was supposed to inspire critics 542 00:33:13,940 --> 00:33:18,700 Speaker 1: to write lofty, over-intellectualized reviews and long-form think pieces dissecting 543 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,670 Speaker 1: the motive and meaning behind her lyrics and her evolving image. 544 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: She wasn't supposed to make movies. Look what happened to Elvis. Singles, records, tours, 545 00:33:27,100 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 1: that's where it was at. Everything else was just noise, overexposure. 546 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:34,310 Speaker 1: But Madonna would not be put in a box. She 547 00:33:34,370 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 1: knew she had the goods for the screen and she 548 00:33:36,290 --> 00:33:39,510 Speaker 1: wasn't going to let self-important critics or the showbiz patriarchal 549 00:33:39,590 --> 00:33:44,250 Speaker 1: power structure dictate her creative station. The reviews for Body 550 00:33:44,270 --> 00:33:48,470 Speaker 1: of Evidence, the 1993 crime drama Madonna starred in alongside 551 00:33:48,510 --> 00:33:52,510 Speaker 1: Willem Dafoe were vicious. To follow it up, Madonna chose 552 00:33:52,550 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 1: to go deeper, darker, agreeing to co-produce and star in 553 00:33:56,280 --> 00:34:01,380 Speaker 1: notoriously tough and controversial director Abel Ferrara's dangerous game opposite 554 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: Harvey Keitel. The story tracks a famously uncompromising director, played 555 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:10,450 Speaker 1: by Keitel, who must cast a commercial starlet, played by Madonna, 556 00:34:10,810 --> 00:34:13,750 Speaker 1: in order to get his film financed. Meta enough for 557 00:34:13,790 --> 00:34:14,109 Speaker 1: you yet? 558 00:34:14,510 --> 00:34:15,069 Speaker 2: It gets better. 559 00:34:15,410 --> 00:34:17,770 Speaker 1: There was one more turn of the screw. The film 560 00:34:17,850 --> 00:34:21,049 Speaker 1: inside the film's lead is played by James Russo, a 561 00:34:21,170 --> 00:34:25,810 Speaker 1: real-life good friend of Madonna's ex-husband, Sean Penn. The project 562 00:34:25,850 --> 00:34:29,310 Speaker 1: with Ferrara, Keitel, and Russo was a snake pit of masculinity. 563 00:34:29,730 --> 00:34:33,350 Speaker 1: The production, an underground dogfight that Madonna pushed herself into 564 00:34:33,370 --> 00:34:38,730 Speaker 1: the middle of to answer her critics. And the results, electric, thrilling, transcendent. 565 00:34:41,530 --> 00:34:45,110 Speaker 1: As a director, Abel Ferrara believed in breaking down his actors, 566 00:34:45,489 --> 00:34:48,890 Speaker 1: berating them on set. forcing them through take after take 567 00:34:48,950 --> 00:34:53,069 Speaker 1: to act in mentally and physically challenging situations, humiliating them 568 00:34:53,130 --> 00:34:56,010 Speaker 1: when necessary, all in an effort to strip the actors 569 00:34:56,070 --> 00:34:59,930 Speaker 1: of any contrived stage artifice and to hopefully bring raw 570 00:35:00,010 --> 00:35:03,319 Speaker 1: emotion to their performances. The idea was that once they 571 00:35:03,340 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: had been so beaten down, they'd forget they were actually acting. 572 00:35:07,300 --> 00:35:10,020 Speaker 1: Ferrara's method was one that Harvey Keitel and James Rousseau 573 00:35:10,060 --> 00:35:14,690 Speaker 1: bought into wholeheartedly. Nothing was unfulfilled. improvised lines thrown out 574 00:35:14,730 --> 00:35:17,890 Speaker 1: to push the actors, mainly the female lead on the set. 575 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:19,799 Speaker 1: The only one on set, by the way, who was 576 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:23,880 Speaker 1: an actual A-list celebrity, Madonna, were meant to not only sting, 577 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:25,060 Speaker 1: but to break her. 578 00:35:26,020 --> 00:35:27,840 Speaker 2: Russo's character calls her a cunt. 579 00:35:28,100 --> 00:35:30,080 Speaker 1: He goes on to say she's a fucking whore and 580 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,260 Speaker 1: she can't act. Keitel calls her a commercial piece of shit. 581 00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:36,339 Speaker 1: Those last two daggers were meant to cut deep, given 582 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,400 Speaker 1: that they were essentially more concise, more profane versions of 583 00:35:39,420 --> 00:35:41,680 Speaker 1: the criticism that the press had been hurling at Madonna 584 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:46,669 Speaker 1: on a regular basis. The situation was beyond intense, horrific 585 00:35:46,710 --> 00:35:49,569 Speaker 1: in some ways. The line between art and real life 586 00:35:49,610 --> 00:35:56,070 Speaker 1: was being obliterated. Madonna grew paranoid, anxious, tense, insecure. Violence 587 00:35:56,110 --> 00:35:59,350 Speaker 1: was imbued into the nature of every shoot. Volatility was 588 00:35:59,430 --> 00:36:04,080 Speaker 1: heavy in each direction. The insults from Keitel, Russo, Ferrara continued. 589 00:36:04,460 --> 00:36:07,799 Speaker 1: This was not what Madonna had signed up for. The 590 00:36:07,860 --> 00:36:12,420 Speaker 1: attacks would not let up. She felt humiliated, ashamed. That 591 00:36:12,500 --> 00:36:15,890 Speaker 1: feeling was familiar. reminded her of something she did not 592 00:36:15,969 --> 00:36:18,610 Speaker 1: want to be reminded of. She could taste the fear 593 00:36:18,650 --> 00:36:23,220 Speaker 1: in her mouth, the adrenaline. She felt violated, scared. She 594 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:26,800 Speaker 1: questioned herself. She blamed herself. She tried to play it cool, 595 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,880 Speaker 1: pull the act off, but it was too much, too intense. 596 00:36:30,460 --> 00:36:33,060 Speaker 1: And she was afraid, afraid that her worst nightmare was 597 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:37,560 Speaker 1: happening all over again. The assailant kicked the door open. 598 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,260 Speaker 1: It happened so fast that she didn't have time to react. 599 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:44,150 Speaker 1: Take your clothes off, he shouted. She stood, stunned. He 600 00:36:44,230 --> 00:36:46,569 Speaker 1: forced her to the ground. Her body was so stiff 601 00:36:46,590 --> 00:36:47,650 Speaker 1: that he couldn't make it happen. 602 00:36:48,050 --> 00:36:49,930 Speaker 2: Even forcibly, he couldn't get it in. 603 00:36:50,510 --> 00:36:53,910 Speaker 1: So he lost it. And the insults continued. He called 604 00:36:53,950 --> 00:36:57,830 Speaker 1: her a disgusting lesbian. A stupid dyke. A pathetic piece 605 00:36:57,870 --> 00:36:59,969 Speaker 1: of shit. And claimed that if he couldn't get it 606 00:37:00,010 --> 00:37:01,760 Speaker 1: in her pussy, he was going to make her suck it. 607 00:37:05,620 --> 00:37:07,920 Speaker 1: But when it was over, she remembered the choking feeling. 608 00:37:08,180 --> 00:37:08,700 Speaker 2: Gagging on it. 609 00:37:09,340 --> 00:37:11,540 Speaker 1: And then being dragged over to the side of the 610 00:37:11,580 --> 00:37:13,520 Speaker 1: roof by her hair and the feeling of the knife 611 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,509 Speaker 1: against her throat. She heard the rapist say that he 612 00:37:16,550 --> 00:37:18,489 Speaker 1: didn't know if he should slit her throat or push 613 00:37:18,530 --> 00:37:19,310 Speaker 1: her off the building. 614 00:37:23,530 --> 00:37:25,470 Speaker 2: That's what Madonna's character said anyway. 615 00:37:25,910 --> 00:37:28,720 Speaker 1: That's how she detailed her rape to Harvey Keitel's character 616 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,880 Speaker 1: in the film, and in real life, on set. answering 617 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:36,319 Speaker 1: her co-stars and directors' off-screen abuse and creative taunting by 618 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,600 Speaker 1: digging deep into her past, into her own real-life rape, 619 00:37:40,020 --> 00:37:43,680 Speaker 1: detailing the most traumatic event of her life, pushing herself 620 00:37:43,780 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 1: deeper and deeper to deliver a tour de force of 621 00:37:46,260 --> 00:37:49,460 Speaker 1: an acting performance that is the best reason to revisit. 622 00:37:49,060 --> 00:37:49,799 Speaker 2: The movie today. 623 00:37:51,300 --> 00:37:54,490 Speaker 1: Only a year later, Quentin Tarantino would unveil Pulp Fiction 624 00:37:54,830 --> 00:37:58,950 Speaker 1: and eat Abel Ferrara's lunch as Hollywood's go-to celluloid provocateur. 625 00:37:59,660 --> 00:38:02,060 Speaker 1: But the boys club running the set of Dangerous Game 626 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:04,859 Speaker 1: thought they were truly cutting-edge badasses. 627 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:07,400 Speaker 2: And blamed Madonna for the movie not working. And they 628 00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:07,900 Speaker 2: were wrong. 629 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:12,530 Speaker 1: Even mainstream gatekeepers Siskel and Ebert in their two-thumbs-down review 630 00:38:12,650 --> 00:38:15,350 Speaker 1: called out the movie's blatant misogyny against Madonna. 631 00:38:15,950 --> 00:38:16,850 Speaker 2: It wasn't subtle. 632 00:38:17,310 --> 00:38:20,170 Speaker 1: A film about a film by a provocative director made 633 00:38:20,230 --> 00:38:23,529 Speaker 1: by a provocative director. Where the story dead-ends into all 634 00:38:23,550 --> 00:38:26,370 Speaker 1: the men calling the female lead a bad actress. A 635 00:38:26,430 --> 00:38:30,680 Speaker 1: female lead played by the heavily criticized Madonna insulting her 636 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,420 Speaker 1: on and off screen as harshly as possible just to 637 00:38:34,460 --> 00:38:34,779 Speaker 1: see if. 638 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:37,799 Speaker 2: They could break her. Most people would have buckled in 639 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:43,270 Speaker 2: the situation, broke. Madonna dug in. She pushed. She triumphed. 640 00:38:43,590 --> 00:38:44,490 Speaker 2: She lived to tell. 641 00:38:45,290 --> 00:38:47,610 Speaker 1: Dangerous Game didn't work as a movie when it came out, 642 00:38:47,910 --> 00:38:50,739 Speaker 1: but 26 years later, it holds up in another way, 643 00:38:51,219 --> 00:38:55,120 Speaker 1: as an accidental documentary about how Madonna is an unbreakable 644 00:38:55,160 --> 00:39:00,009 Speaker 1: force of nature. Throughout the entirety of her career, men 645 00:39:00,030 --> 00:39:03,910 Speaker 1: thought they could control her. Rapists, record producers, A-list movie 646 00:39:03,930 --> 00:39:08,450 Speaker 1: star boyfriends, directors drunk on their own testosterone, and especially 647 00:39:08,510 --> 00:39:12,170 Speaker 1: the critics. But there is no controlling a true artist. 648 00:39:12,910 --> 00:39:17,529 Speaker 1: Especially one as true blue as Madonna. Underestimate Madonna, and 649 00:39:17,570 --> 00:39:22,190 Speaker 1: you invite your own disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan, and this 650 00:39:22,670 --> 00:39:38,700 Speaker 1: is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created by yours truly and is 651 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:42,420 Speaker 1: produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode 652 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:45,480 Speaker 1: can be found on the show notes page at DisgracelandPod.com. 653 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:49,509 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 654 00:39:49,530 --> 00:39:50,549 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. 655 00:39:50,590 --> 00:39:51,720 Speaker 2: We really appreciate it. 656 00:39:52,170 --> 00:39:54,350 Speaker 1: And if not, you can become a member right now 657 00:39:54,410 --> 00:39:59,860 Speaker 1: by going to disgracelandpod.com membership. Members can listen to every 658 00:39:59,980 --> 00:40:03,980 Speaker 1: episode of Disgraceland ad-free. Plus, you'll get one brand new 659 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:09,280 Speaker 1: exclusive episode every month. weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special audio collections, 660 00:40:09,340 --> 00:40:14,690 Speaker 1: and early access to merchandise and events. Visit disgracelandpod.com slash 661 00:40:14,730 --> 00:40:17,850 Speaker 1: membership for details. Rate and review the show and follow 662 00:40:17,890 --> 00:40:21,890 Speaker 1: us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at disgracelandpod and 663 00:40:21,930 --> 00:40:25,630 Speaker 1: on YouTube at youtube.com slash at disgracelandpod. 664 00:40:26,630 --> 00:40:27,189 Speaker 2: Rock and roll. 665 00:40:29,700 --> 00:40:34,200 Speaker 1: He's a bad, bad man. All right, guys, thanks for 666 00:40:34,219 --> 00:40:37,370 Speaker 1: checking out this episode of Disgraceland, this special archive episode 667 00:40:37,410 --> 00:40:37,930 Speaker 1: on Madonna. 668 00:40:37,969 --> 00:40:38,520 Speaker 2: Hope you dug it. 669 00:40:38,530 --> 00:40:44,009 Speaker 1: Hit us up, 617-906-6638. Voicemail and text at DisgracelandPod on 670 00:40:44,030 --> 00:40:48,000 Speaker 1: the socials, DisgracelandPod at gmail.com. Let us know your thoughts 671 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:50,160 Speaker 1: on Madonna in Disgraceland.