Monday, August 27, 2012

Madonna's "MDNA Show Manifesto" Defends Using Guns on Tour: Do You Agree?

As we speak, Madonna is en route to my city- Philadelphia, to launch the North American leg of her "MDNA World Tour".  In advance of her arrival, she has released a statement to the local Metro defending one of the most controversial parts of her tour...the use of fake firearms in concert.  Here is a portion of that statement:

"It's true there is a lot of violence in the beginning of the show and sometimes the use of fake guns - but they are used as metaphors.  I do not condone violence or the use of guns.  Rather they are symbols of wanting to appear strong and wanting to find a way to stop feelings  that I find hurtful or damaging.   In my case its wanting to stop the lies and hypocrisy of the church,  the intolerance of many narrow minded cultures and societies I have experienced throughout my life and in some cases  the pain I have felt from having my heart broken".

Gun violence is (unfortunately) not a new problem.  However, the topic is quite timely due to increased U.S. media coverage following several mass shootings in the past few weeks- Aurora, CO, Oak Creek, WI, and New York, NY.  The issue of gun violence has reached crisis levels in Philadelphia where Madonna will be performing.  A new open source journalism project called http://guncrisis.org/ "contends that there is an epidemic of homicide by gunfire in Philadelphia and similar cities".  They are seeking solutions.

The solutions being sought by GunCrisis: Philadelphia and others involve taking a public health approach to gun violence.  The recent high profile shootings have produced several well-written pieces about gun violence and what we need to do next:
Tell me what you think:

Do you believe that the gun "saturation" goes beyond those in our homes to include those used for entertainment?  E.g., Guns in movies or video games; Madonna's concert props

Is Madonna successful? Does using guns as a metaphorical image help her reach her goals and battle against hypocrisy and intolerance?

In addition to those listed above, what other strategies should we incorporate into a public health approach against gun violence?

1 comment:

  1. I'll give my opinion on one of those questions. I think that Madonna isn't achieving her goal. For one, I don't really look to Madonna for critiques on society. She's not exactly my type of musician, but I doubt I would go to a pop-concert looking to be educated about anything. I would go for entertainment.

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