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Why Madonna isn’t fascinating anymore

Why Madonna isn’t fascinating anymore
Why Madonna isn’t fascinating anymore
Why Madonna isn’t fascinating anymore

Human Behavior Expert and Celebrity Life Coach Patrick Wanis, PhD, answers a reporter’s in-depth questions about Lady Gaga, Madonna and the social and artistic impact each one has had. This is Part 4: Why Madonna isn’t fascinating anymore For Part 3: Can Lady Gaga remain relevant the way Madonna has? click here: https://patrickwanis.com/blog/lady-gaga-remain-relevant-madonna-has/

Natalia: Okay. You mentioned before that Madonna could not possibly be dethroned by Lady Gaga just because like Madonna, she has been around for 30 years, whereas Lady Gaga popped up four years ago; and we did establish that Lady Gaga is just one permanent Halloween costume, whereas Madonna has evolved. However, some believe that like Madonna, she is like reaching the end of her career, like she doesn’t generate the controversy, the excitement that she did when she was younger, when she was starting, whereas Lady Gaga, she just fascinates all the time because she is just shocking you all the time.

So where has Madonna – I really want to say “gone wrong” – but, what happened? Why isn’t she as fascinating anymore? Is it because she has been around for so long? What has changed that makes us not care so much?

Patrick: It’s very simple. First thing is with Lady Gaga, Lady Gaga has theatrical costumes. So she can always keep creating lots of theatrical costumes, but yes, eventually, people get tired of just seeing more and more theatrical costumes unless she has meaningful powerful music.

Madonna, on the other hand, is still trying to be controversial. She is desperately trying to be controversial so she says silly things like she made a controversial comment about Obama, the black president.

Natalia: Obama being a Muslim, yes.

Patrick: Just so she could get attention. Then she showed her nipples in a concert in Italy.

Natalia: In Turkey.

Patrick: Or in Turkey, somewhere she showed a nipple. So she is still trying to be sexual and trying to be controversial and dramatic and shocking, but it doesn’t match her because we know she is older. She is no longer 20 or 30 or 40. She is over 50, even though she looks good. She also doesn’t have the same energy that she used to have, and you noticed that in the Super Bowl Concert she looked almost like an older woman trying to walk. She didn’t walk with confidence. Then recently, she fell over at a concert.

The challenge for Madonna is that she doesn’t have anywhere else to go. She is refusing to say, “I created this; I did all of this; I’m satisfied with this; I might just do some performing for my fans to keep giving them what they want,” meaning the famous songs. But she hasn’t come up with new music or new messages. That’s why she can’t evolve.

What her greatest mistake would be is to keep trying to be constantly relevant, constantly fresh and constantly provoking and shocking. That’s not the right thing for her to do. Every artist has to accept that they need to change and they need to evolve, and sometimes that means not performing anymore. Sometimes that means taking on a new role.

Madonna is now a mother and here she is showing her nipples at a concert. It doesn’t match. Now, does she have to follow traditions? No, she doesn’t. She can do whatever she wants. But we still look at her and say it just doesn’t feel right to us anymore. Yes, she is a great performer. She puts on a great concert. But trying to shock for the sake of shocking makes her look more like she is a cartoon character or a caricature of herself, meaning she is just being extreme and saying silly things that are not meaningful, they are not artistic, they are not relevant, they are not appropriate, they are not timely. They are not authentic or organic – they are fabricated to shock, not designed or born from inspiration.

The same thing applies to many artists that need to accept I’m not 21 anymore; I’m 51 and I can’t scream all the time “I can’t get no satisfaction.” So when Mick Jagger sings, “I can’t get no satisfaction,” it doesn’t make any sense, because when that song came out, it was about a teenager, a 21-year-old saying, ‘I’m frustrated but with life. I can’t get satisfaction. I go and do this. I go and have sex with a girl.’

Click here for Part 5 of the interview – Artists who refuse to grow up and evolve:  https://patrickwanis.com/blog/artists-singers-refuse-grow-evolve/

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