Caroline was convinced I bought this because I 'fancied' Madonna. No way was it the music, so what else could it be? Well, the way I remember it, the biggest factor was the endorsement of Sonic Youth, through their song Expressway to Yr Skull and, most directly, their Ciccone Youth album. They insisted they were sincere enthusiasts; that their support was not ironic or postmodern. Madonna was definitely postmodern, however, inventing herself as as series of simulacra. It's hard to fancy a simulacrum; that would be like getting the hots for Jessica Rabbit (hard, but far from impossible, I grant you).
I particularly liked the fact that, around or a little after this time, Madonna adopted the unlikely persona of Dita Parlo. Here's what Google finds me, from the work of Georges-Claude Guilbert on Madonna as Postmodern Myth
I have already evoked the European Dita Parlo persona that Madonna adopts in her book Sex and in her album Erotica. "Erotica" must be understood in its English sense, but also in its Italian or Spanish sense: it is the adjective "erotic" in the feminine gender. It is the adjective that Madonna-Dita proudly uses to qualify herself. The process is characteristic of Madonna: she chose Dita Parlo, a woman who existed (real name Gerhe Kornstadt, 1906-1971), a German actress with a strange and mostly French career, "an anarchist, who didn't care what people thought." The faces of the two women do look a bit similar, but what matters more is that inspired pseudonym recycled by Madonna. "Dita" means "fingers" in Italian (those that seize the power?), "Parlo" means "I speak"; Madonna expresses herself, Madonna has been speaking since 1983, and people listen to her.
Duh. Pretty rum, eh? By contrast, Like a Prayer is a smart and shrewd piece of work. Not really my kind of thing at all, but at the time I convinced myself that Oh Father and Spanish Eyes were decent songs. Half-decent, anyway.
Comments