HolidayGuy Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Very good read- and true at that. (should be 23 years, but a moot point- 24 years that M had the idea to film behind-the-scenes stuff, though) ----------------------------------------------------- http://www.pqmonthly.com/24-years-ago-madonnas-truth-dare-predicted-pop-culture-world-live-today/18191 24 Years Ago Madonna’s “Truth or Dare” Predicted the Pop Culture World We Live in TodayJan 22 • Blog, FeaturesBy Leela Ginelle, PQ MonthlyIn 1991, a triumphant Madonna memorialized her domination of pop culture with the tour film “Truth or Dare,” a documentary so prescient about today’s entertainment landscape it’s eerie.Madonna had spent the previous eight years creating a role that previously hadn’t existed, but now is everywhere: The pop diva auteur. Through her eponymous disco debut, the provocative “Like a Virgin,” iconic “True Blue” and Artistic Statement “Like a Prayer,” she had accrued, by tooth and nail, the kind of prestige, control and respect not before afforded to women who make dance hits.In this moment of glory, she took to the road with her “Blond Ambition” tour, film crew in tow. The resulting documentary is fascinating to watch now, an uneven, but hugely watchable mishmash of live performances, celebrity worship, and an embryonic version of the reality television that rules our culture today.The film is fairly unprecedented. Most previous concert documentaries focused on performances, like Prince’s “Sign of the Times,” or were myth-making exercises, such as Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Look Back.” This has a little of both, but also has Madonna pleading with her dad to come watch her show, playing mother hen to her back up singers, and being accused of harassing a dancer based on his sexual identity.The performance segments, filmed in color, set the template, in a way, for the modern concert spectacle. At the time, rock music, especially hair metal, ruled MTV. Performance videos, even by pop artists, featured singers fronting a band on a large, unadorned stage, as though proximity to someone holding a guitar equaled credibility. Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana,” Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional,” and George Michael’s “Monkey” all fit this mold.Madonna turned this convention on its ear, making the concert stage more like a video, rather than vice versa. Sets and costumes change based on the song in the movie, and the choreography tells a story. De rigueur now, this approach was then quite novel.While appreciated at the time, though, “Truth or Dare’s” music is not what captured the critics’ (and public’s) attention. Rather it was the backstage scenes, shot in black and white, which captured a narcissistic exhibitionism previously unseen, but now ubiquitous. The cameras follow Madonna as she interacts with everyone in a chaotic, confrontational, and ultimately, fascinating way.At a time when Michael Jackson and Prince hardly gave interviews, and Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston projected the studied blandness of politicians, here was catty Madonna, routinely half-undressed, getting up in everybody’s crap.While this is something every Ke$ha-level performer partakes in today, it’s astounding to realize it’s a form Madonna seems to have intuitively invented. Her movie premiered in 1991. “The Real World,” generally considered the first reality tv show, debuted in 1993. In this way watching “Truth or Dare” is like somehow discovering a rap song from 1965.Consider the famous scene backstage at her Los Angeles concert. In a snotty voice over she disingenuously claims not to know why famous people act like they’re all friends, when they really aren’t, while, on camera she chats, intimidatingly, with various celebrities. Kevin Costner awkwardly tells her the show was “neat,” and she disses him as soon as he walks out.Why would she include this? It’s riveting, but so inflammatory. It’s something one would see on “Real Housewives,” but Madonna at the time was as big as Beyonce, who, as we know from “Life is but a Dream,” does not dis movie stars in her documentaries. Madonna contains masses, though, and her movie managed to give everyone everything they didn’t even know they already wanted.The movie was directed by Alex Keshishian, who went on to make a few un-noteworthy features. At one point “Fight Club” and “Social Network” director David Fincher, who had filmed the videos for Madonna’s “Express Yourself” and “Vogue” was slated for the job, but dropped out because of scheduling conflicts. The idea of his having made this movie is too confusing, not to mention disruptive to the cinematic space-time continuum, to imagine.Madonna’s voice over, so saccharine, faux-innocent, and just plain phony, is the film’s most jarring component. She’s clearly attempting to shape the viewer’s opinions, which seems completely at odds with her warts and all persona, leading one to wonder who she really is: The manipulative control freak? The backstage mean girl? The wounded child? Looked at through this lens, “Truth or Dare” becomes a more superficial, danceable “Citizen Kane.”“Truth or Dare” even includes an embedded meta-critique of its revolutionary anti-privacy aesthetic, in the form grumpy, camera-shy movie star Warren Beatty’s complaints. Her boyfriend at the time, Beatty lingers miserably in the background on occasion, sarcastically commenting on Madonna seeming compulsion to document and share her every waking moment. While his thoughts seemed insightful at the time, in terms of pop cultural behavior, he was clearly on the wrong side of history.Madonna’s documentary made a big splash at Cannes in ’91, and performed respectably in the theaters, but has been largely lost in our discussion of her, which is a shame. She was clearly onto something here, inventing a language of entertainment we’ve all slowly become fluent in.While it doesn’t contain the power and perfection of her best hits, its imperfections–the sloppiness, sensationalism, bad behavior, and desperate need for recognition–were all decades ahead of their time.The woman deserves her due: It’s her documentary–we’re just living in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerGirl Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Demonna: Predicting the future since 1991 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acko Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Sorry, but I've said this all along...in fact me & some fag on the school playground in 1993, said MTV was copying Truth or Dare with 'The Real World' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Sorry, but I've said this all along...in fact me & some fag on the school playground in 1993, said MTV was copying Truth or Dare with 'The Real World' Exactly. She didn't predict it. She defined and created a huge majority of it instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuenosAires Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Just proves she was always a head of the curve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madonnasuperfan01 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Great read! And SO true. Madonna was a true innovator, the actual pop scene would be TOTALLY different if it wasn't for her. That's why people (especially young fans of today's popstars) need to respect her more. All of their beloved popstars wouldn't be the way they are now if Madonna didn't paved the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolidayGuy Posted January 23, 2014 Author Share Posted January 23, 2014 Yep- I've always observed this, too. Predated The Real World (which maybe was tolerable for its first few season, but that it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VogueMusic Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boy skeffington Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Madonna is still as big as, if not bigger, than Beyonce. Always will be. Don't diminish.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Sorry, but I've said this all along...in fact me & some fag on the school playground in 1993, said MTV was copying Truth or Dare with 'The Real World' yeah this was obvious back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pud Whacker Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 The MOST influential film of the 20th century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzy Jan Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Madonna is always ahead of the pack. She takes the risks, cops the heat but remains the legend that had the foresight and heart to do it all in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rocco Papa Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I get what the article is saying, but the film wasn't all about her. It gave her an opportunity to raise awareness about issues like homophobia, rape, and freedom of expression. That's something many reality shows don't really have. Most of it seems to be pretty self-indulgent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tumbleweedt Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 The MOST influential film of the 20th century. Ultimate Warhol Superstar Madonna? Andy would have LOVED Truth or Dare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Madonna is pretty amazing. A pure genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIRTY PIG Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 great article. I disagree its been lost in her career though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivy Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Incorrect article. In actual fact the first ever reality tv show was filmed in Australia called Sylvanian Waters in 1992 which followed around a bogan family for 6 months. I remember the mother who was a real piece of work! Also anyone remember ONJ in Truth or Dare, probably her best acting since Grease- should have won an Oscar for best supporting actress. Did Kevin Costner ever respond to Truth or Dare diss? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadCrazy Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Great article BUT "Madonna at the time was as big as Beyonce,"??? Bey only wishes she was half as big as M back then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samo Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 ^ exactly and Beyonce STILL can't get a hit single! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXL Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Sorry, but I've said this all along...in fact me & some fag on the school playground in 1993, said MTV was copying Truth or Dare with 'The Real World' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXL Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I get what the article is saying, but the film wasn't all about her. It gave her an opportunity to raise awareness about issues like homophobia, rape, and freedom of expression. That's something many reality shows don't really have. Most of it seems to be pretty self-indulgent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXL Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Demonna: Predicting the future since 1991 1978 actually (and before) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stijn Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 The dead sea scrolls of POP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXL Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Great article BUT "Madonna at the time was as big as Beyonce,"??? Bey only wishes she was half as big as M back then... I always wonder for someone who doesn't know about Madonna's career or is not a fan or a casual fan what does it say that at twice the age or practically almost 3 times the age (Miley) she's outearning all these people multiple times. Says how much phrases like "Beyoncè's moment" and "Madonna's peak" mean a big fat ZERO Madonna was and is a mastermind, always has. Therein lies the difference and the fact that her authentic artistic merits are luckily for her paired with impeccable business and communication acumen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXL Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Exactly. She didn't predict it. She defined and created a huge majority of it instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Madonna represents everything worthwhile in this world. I can't live without her!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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