In Crip Theory, Robert McRuer calls Madonna a queer theorist. I’m inclined to agree.
I’m gonna break the cycle
I’m gonna shake up the system
I’m gonna destroy my ego
About Michael J. Faris
Assistant Professor of English with research areas in digital literacy, privacy and social media, and queering rhetorics.
This blog serves as a place to think through things, record thoughts, share interesting stuff, and hold conversations. Welcome!
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I’ve always been impressed with the song “Human Nature” by Madonna. It’s definitely just a tad queer.
Hi Michael,
I watched this the other day and had a pretty mixed response. I liked certain aspects of the video, but I have some reservations about the violence. Did that bother you at all?
Lisa
Yes, the violence did bother me — especially the racialized violence. Evil seems to be represented as two “others” — the raced other (here, Asian “totalitarians” perhaps) — and the “dark” other that is a double or within the self.
I was more struck by some (though not all) of Madonna’s lyrics in the song than by the video in itself. It’s visually appealing, I believe, mostly because it draws on our cultural narratives of race, internal struggle, violence, and, of course, James Bond.
The video is no means an ideal.