Thursday, April 22, 2010

Glee-Cap: Madonna & "What it feels like for a Girl"

So, Glee this week took on the female perspective, for a summary of the episode check out this one, I'm not going into detail, but it may help if you haven't seen the episode.

The Episode is entertaining, but if I were in Junior High or High School I would be all over this.
"They Sing Like a Virgin... Then for one commercial break you're left to consider the possibility that in the "female empowerment" episode we'll actually see a high school girl make the decision that she's ready for sex, then do so without getting pregnant (there isn't room for two pregnant teens) or dying a bloody death in the next scene. "
Okay Glee, you threw me a bone after my last post and made the girls and women have feelings and some of them be honest about their feelings and make decisions and some of those had consequences, or at least will in subsequent episodes... I hope. The most honest characters however, are still the strait-up-evil Cheerleaders who seem to be either sadists or stupid sadists. Stay tuned dear readers, because I will still be watching and I expect more female-centered storylines Glee, or I will mention it on a BLOG!!!! (I know, so damning.)

What I will comment on today is that Wow, Madonna is a powerful Zeitgeist Deity. More so than even the performer herself, the IDEA of Madonna pervaded this episode of Glee.
"[Madonna is] the most powerful woman ever to walk the face of the earth."

"As Madonna once said, I'm tough, I'm ambitious and if that makes me a bitch, that's what I am. Pretty sure she stole that line from Sue Sylvester. No, really. I said it first."

"You don't deserve the power of Madonna. you have none of her self confidence, her power over her body or her sexual magnetism. Simply put, you have all the sensuality of those pandas down at the zoo who refuse to mate. "
Now invoking Madonna as a Goddess is hardly without precedent. Frankly, Madonna did it herself, The Madonna, The Virgin Mary, she took these archetypal strong images of female power and ran with it for fun and profit. She's a fantastic example of how taking an established theme and archetype that resonates with your personality and the personal narrative you wish to embody in fiction or non-fiction.

With 30 years of music and pop culture supremacy under her belt, invoking Madonna has a potency that internationally speaks to feminine power, and if she's not a full fledged Saint of the Zeitgeist yet, she's certainly beatified.

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