Pathos or Pompous
Background: So, in 1990, Madonna was at the height of her career! She had created a top selling album that fueled controversy and gained a lot of traction based on the title track "Like a Prayer". The music video caused a stir with its religious imagery, including burning cross and kissing a saint. She was headlining a huge tour known as the Blond Ambition World Tour which included a racy version of former hit "Like a Virgin" in a bed where she simulated masturbation. Hearing of this, the Pope and other religious groups in Italy decided to boycott shows and called it blasphemes. She even had to cancel a show because of it, and this was her response.
Commentary: So, the definition of pathos from webster is "A quality that evokes pity or sadness", and while she tries to evoke a certain amount of pity, she is too head strong and angry to able to get that across in the speech. Trying to get total silence and screaming at the paparazzi just doesn't help her cause. It makes her look very diva-ish. Also, her tone seems rather angry and she takes digs at Italy near the end saying that they don't have an open heart or mind, which again, doesn't help your case by insulting them.
Now to the message of the speech! What she is asking for is really the freedom to perform her show the way it is without getting called blasphemes and getting the pushback from Italy and the church. As she says, she is proud to be an American because she knows she has the freedom to express herself, but she isn't in America. She is in Italy, she screams "basta!" in Italian, meaning that's enough! Italy is well known for being a Catholic country, it is where the Pope resides (aka Vatican City). So, they are allowed to makes laws and govern speech the way they see fit. Just because you come into a country and you are American, doesn't mean they go by the same rules or will allow you to do things that are against rules or seen collectively as blasphemes. If you go into a country that has different rules, you are respectful and follow them. You don't do what you want out of spite or because it is your art. Now, they do have free speech in Italy, but there is also an article that restricts certain acts based on public morality (Article 21, Paragraph 6). If a high amount of Italians are Catholic, which we can be sure of because they grew up with that church being part of that country, their idea of public morality will be more conservative. They are allowed to feel that way, as you ask to be able to feel the way you do. She also discusses that she feels freedom of speech and thought is to see her show and judge afterwards, but that doesn't make sense. Freedom of speech and thinking allows the audience to judge prematurely and decide it is blasphemes and to not go to the show. She wants people to not use their freedom of speech and judge her, but asks for freedom of speech be used when talking about her show. She also conflates not being able to perform, an act against freedom of speech. Again, Italy has it's own rules on freedom of speech and what they see fit as morality. So bringing a show, which definitely can be seen as provocative and using your freedom to do so, and Italy using its freedom to say they do not encourage people seeing the show is not an act against free speech.
In conclusion, she conflates allowing her show to play as freedom of speech. She doesn't allow Italy to use its freedom of speech and choose not to have certain places play that show, or tell people not to see that show. It is in their right to do so. She can play her show everywhere else they allow her to, other places in Italy allowed her to play that show.
No comments:
Post a Comment