Material Girl: Queen of Pop

 


One of the biggest, most influential pop stars that has graced the world with her talent. A literal icon, she is. Madonna Louise Ciccone is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Often referred to as the “Queen of Pop” and rightfully so, her tracks have been pushing the limits of her stardom higher and higher. An absolute legend.

In 1978, she moved to New York pursuing a career in modern dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy, she made a name for herself as going solo while pumping out a series of all-time bestselling albums. Her various works which I suppose some would find controversial incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes all packaged in her incredible and incredibly meta pieces.


Musical career aside, another thing that further pushed up her popularity was her roles in various films such as Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), A League of Their Own (1992), and Evita (1996). And although Evita did win her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, many of her other films received poor reviews.

 

The song itself “Material Girl” on the surface is simply a tribute to the pop star’s materialistic desire for expensive and pretty things. And though you would think it to be all it is, its true meaning goes a bit deeper than that. I said her songs are meta because they are. The irony of this song is because she isn’t making a song about how materialistic she is but rather a commentary on how materialistic we are. By we I mean us as a society. As David Tay (2020) has put it, “One has to appear immaterialistic in a world that demands a hyperawareness of money.”


But how do I feel about the song? I just think it’s a neat bop. In the original music video, I think it’s cute how the director won her over with hand-cut unruly flowers and took her out in an old pick-up truck rather than the expensive gifts and glitters she constantly sang about, further underlining the actual meaning of the song. I like it. It’s a cool song.

 

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