Thursday, April 22, 2010

Madonna Earth

So Happy Earth Day! The girls and I'll be at the Rave at 4:45 p.m. watching Oceans, and I cannot wait! I know, Nerds Unite (again). But it's really not like that. OK, it is, but it's more a tradition that started last year.

I love love love movies, right? And I would live in the movie theater if I could, but that's ridiculous. Still, I'm always looking for something good the girls and I can see. In that spirit, I don't know if anyone remembers last year Disney made a big deal about their movie Earth. If you went to see it on Earth Day, they'd plant a tree for every ticket sold.

So naturally we went. It was gorgeous and beautiful, and ... there was a circle of life moment that took us a few hours to get over. Wah wah waaahh... I felt bad about that.

When I was a kid, grown ups were always showing us movies like Bambi and Old Yeller and Dumbo and Where the Red Fern Grows, and I swore that I would never, NEVER! watch another movie that starred an animal again as long as I lived...

Well, we got over Earth, and before the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie, they had a trailer for Oceans. Now I gotta tell you guys, I like the earth, but I LOVE the ocean. So I'm totally psyched.

I'm also hoping it'll be harder to get emotionally attached to a squid than say, a bear. (Of course, they'll probably make it Flipper or something. I'll let you know.)

Bonus: For every ticket sold today, Disney's donating a dollar to save the coral reefs. So... looking for something fun to do?

As for Madonna, well, you might've caught this week's Glee, which was devoted to her legacy. Richard said some of his secretaries were surprised that they were uncomfortable letting their kids watch it because it was too provocative.

At first I was empathetic and wondered if maybe there should've been more warning. But then I thought some more, and c'mon, people. This is Madonna we're talking about. Remember her? The one who got kicked out of the Catholic church by His Holiness himself? The name should've been warning enough.

Richard wondered how much she got paid for allowing them to use her songs. I wondered how much she paid them for making it look like there was actually a method to all her exhibitionism.

I was in middle school when Madonna was really getting big, and my parents were super strict. I mean, they worked hard to shelter us, bless their hearts.

I love my parents. And I knew every word to every Madonna song ever released. Even some that weren't released. And of course, I saw all the videos.

I try to remind myself of this as my little ladies creep closer and closer to their tweens. You can only protect them so far. And then they leave you and go to school/dance/art/friends'/etc.

Sigh.

When you think about it, parenthood is just one long journey into never sleeping again. Seriously. They're born, up all night. They move to "big girl beds," up all night. Even now.

Richard and I were having this big discussion last night about whether it's fair to attribute positive social change to Madge and all her silly antics when in walks Catherine--who'd been tucked in an hour before, mind you. She saw a UFO from her window.

I had to let Richard take that one. He's the SciFi nerd.

Then they'll start dating and driving, holy cow, no sleep. Then college... 

And that's how it goes, teenage girls. If that isn't an abstinence lesson in and of itself, I don't know what is.

OK, I'm just kidding. I don't know the magic formula. Is it right to shelter kids from sexual messages? Or should they be viewed as conversation starters. Of course, it all depends on maturity level, I know. Ultimately, while that Glee episode did push the envelope (much like its subject), the overall message was positive.

There's a lot of talk that kids are exposed to too much sexuality today. I grew up with Prince and Madonna and Duran Duran... My parents had the Rolling Stones and the Doors, Woodstock and Studio 54... my grandparents had Marilyn Monroe and Rosalind Russell...

So I'm not sure it's fair to say that.

I wasn't a sexually active teen, but some of my friends were. And we all knew what each other was doing and talked about it. (Ugh! Did I mention parenthood equals no sleep?)

Get me outta here. On a more positive note, I finished the new book!

Now before you spray coffee on your computer, it's not completely finished. The story's there all the way to the end, but I really pushed through it fast. Now I'm going back and filling in details at certain spots. And I really like it!

I'm also super excited that I actually came up with a completely new, standalone work that isn't part of the previous series. It's very encouraging. I just might be a novelist after all. Now if I could just get somebody in the publishing world to agree...

Still waiting on that front. Have a great weekend, guys. Next post, Monday~

5 comments:

Pam said...

Well said LTM! Yes I have a teenager and cringe every time he switches on the radio.....but then again, as a teen of the 80's I knew the words to "funky cold medina".....I'm sure my parents cringed too!

JRichard said...

Answer: Madonna is not and has never been any vehicle for "positive social change." What she has been, and is not any more, is a symbol of worldly illness. Madonna's message has always been a warning: The punishment for misogyny is a beautiful, charismatic, powerful, angry woman. Punishment and cure are not the same.

As you know, I think Glee is similarly a symbol of worldly illness. Sexualization of teenagers for voyeuristic titillation is horrifically cynical. I enjoyed the stage-show performances in the Madonna episode, but I still think a show like Glee registers punishment for our culture's schizophrenia regarding homosexuality. "Here you go, Christian Right---you don't like gay marriage? Here are a bunch of sexually active, partially gay teens. AND WE ARE RECRUITING!"

I'm not offended by the gayness as much as by the cynicism that underlies the production of the show. As opposed to, for example, a true television show about ideas, like L O S T.

LTM said...

Pam--I know! Funky Cold Medina AND Wild Thang. And don't forget George Michael. Only, I'd already guessed he was on the other team, so I knew it wasn't my sex he wanted...
JRM--there was clearly not a show choir/glee club at *your* HS... LOL!!! And I'm not sure it's a show about sexualization of teens. Only like three are sexually active. But your comment is super-interesting. I'll have to think about this. (Is that what the UFOs derailed? ;o)

Ex-pat Odessa said...

WAIT, JRM, you dissin' LOST????

Totally feelin ya on how do you dealk with all the sexuality. I mean what they show on the TV back there is NOTHING!! We were having quite a time with Izzy for a few months turing her undies into thongs! Yes, she wanted to be like the women she was seeing in commercials, videos, etc. as we surf the channels.

LTM said...

Odie--there is def. no L O S T hating in JRM's post. I think his point was, we get the celebrities we deserve. (Sort of like the gov't we deserve.)

As for sexual msgs, I know. VS commercials are game changers. We didn't have that as kids.

In other news, have you seen the hilarious Old Spice ad? Good stuff~ :D