Was readin' the NYT yesterday and there was an article in there- '60 times Madonna changed our culture'- and it looked rather inticing so I scanned through it. Yup- the authors of the piece (multiple) listed 60 ways in which she had made her mark.
I liked Madonna's early MTV videos, back when MTV videos were kind of cool, they were more amateurish and not so slickly produced like everything is now, so formula!
Madonna had her finger on the pulse of whatever women had on their minds, which was stuff I could've cared less about, so she wasn't such a big influence on me, or on a lot of men, tell the truth. Madonna was all about representin' something to women, and so here goes, I'm going to comment on a few things that the NYT listed and give my take, from a guy perspective.
Nah. Ain't gonna go there. Too much work! A lot of what she did impacted people in ways I don't really know about, understand, or it doesn't apply, so what's the use? I did find out that she was a driven, passionate woman who made a ton of money and basically ruled the world before the likes of Britney and Taylor and Beyonce but go to any of her concerts? Not me.
Madonnna is a superstar that got big through the support of an audience that I'm never a part of, never have been a part of, so what does she have to do with me? Nothing. Her life has been stage and dance, a whirlwind of publicity and parties, as off limits to me as the White House or any executive boardroom. I like her, though, she seems to be a positive person.
She may have set examples for women to follow- which were ahead of their time, timely, or controversial- but as far as I'm concerned she could have been broadcasting from the moon or her own personal country somewhere all this time. We're in the same region of space, we're both physical, but that's about all I can find between us that is similar.
Yawn. Another day, another two thousand adoring fans.
Nainoa Shizuru- Unsplash.com
Ditto Prince and Michael Jackson, when they were alive, the Rolling Stones, Liz Taylor, Taylor Swift, Drake, Pitbull, Kanye West, Tiger Woods, LeBron James, all of them sooooo distant from my world that it borders on the ridiculous.
I read about them, see them on the news and find out what they're up to, watch 'em on SportsCenter, maybe a documentary will come up on Netflix about them but what, really, does it matter? You start seeing that your life is a finite thing and....
....oh, that's it, isn't it? Figured it out this morning. The reason the article was titled '60 times Madonna changed our culture' is because Madonna's 60th birthday was yesterday. She's a contemporary of mine! (Jeez do I hafta be reminded of that again?). I'll be hittin' that milestone soon and I'll tell you what- when you get to be around that number you care about what is going on in the world less and less. Oh, you still care, you always do, and will, that won't go away, it's just that it all won't seem so important. No matter if you succeeded wildly or lived a quiet, obscure life, it won't matter.
An old guy told me once, long ago, that the number one thing that was important in life was your health. I scoffed (I was in my early 20's at the time). "MONEY is the most important thing in life!" I adamantly replied (what the hell do you know?).
To that he just shook his head, as if I had totally missed the mark. "When you get to be my age, you'll see what I mean" he said, before we parted ways.
That encounter has always stuck with me, and the truth of it has become more and more apparent over time. The longer you're healthy, the longer you will live to experience things. Doesn't matter if you're on stage being adored by thousands or sitting at home petting the cat it's experiences that make up a life. Money is nice, don't ever discount its ability to enable you to live comfortably, but time is your real enemy. Without health, your final experience will come sooner.
Let the superstars have their money, their fame, their parties. There is nothing you can do about that anyway. Enjoy your time while you're here. Stay healthy. Work out. Eat well. Get plenty of rest. Doing that will keep you around longer.
Gratitude is the attitude.