Class Notes

11.22.02

By: Sean De Roon


For Class:
Quiz 10
Madonna & Gender
Outrageous Act

Quiz 10 Questions:
1) According to Mitsuye Yamada in “the Invisibility is an Unnatural Disaster,” what is the stereotype of an Asia-American woman?
2) Why does Yamada entitle the article “the Invisibility is an Unnatural Disaster”? What does that mean in the context of her argument?
3) In the video Still Killing us Softly, Jean Kilourne suggests that the attitudes portrayed in advertising contribute to a culture of violence.

Madonna & Gender
Quick Background of Madonna:
* Originally form bay city Michigan
* Mother died of breast cancer when she was young and is said to have influenced Madonna a lot.
* She is only 5’ 4”
* 1976 came to New York to start her carrier
* Woks out Two and a half hours a day
* Produced 50 videos
* Married twice
* Two kids, Lourdes and Rocco
* Books and Theses have been written about her

Showed Videos “Hey Mister D.J.” & “What it Feels Like to be a Girl”
In the video: “Hey Mister D.J.” it starts by Madonna hailing a limo. Her and her two friends travel around town dressed in fir coats and expensive jewelry. Then they stop and are turned into cartoon super heroes who stop some male criminals. Then they make a trip to a strip club where Madonna and her friends seem to have a good time with these female strippers. Then they all get into the cab along with the strippers. With the strippers in the front seat with the driver and Madonna and her friends in the back they drive for a little longer. Then the video ends with a joke from the limo driver.
In the next video: “What it Feels Like to be a Girl” Madonna drives a muscle car with an elderly lady in it around town. Madonna goes on a binge of destruction by first causing a car accident and then steels money from a man at an ATM by tasering him. Next she pulls up to two male cops and pulls out a gun, but it turns out it was just a water pistol. After that she drives threw a street hockey game hitting some of the players, she steels a car wile blowing up a gas station. In-between these seens there are shots of Madonna getting change from behind. Her tattoos are shown and she puts on a bullet proof vest. The last seen of the video is her driving with the elderly lady into a metal pole and seeing the car’s front end rap around it.
Discussion:
The First Video, “Hey Mister D.J.”
* Madonna looks and acts like a pimp or rapper.
* Men drive the cars and guard the doors but do not do much else.
Second Video, “What it Feels Like to be a Girl”
* Did not perform regular women like behavior.
* Very destructive and enraged actions.
* All the violence was directed at men.
* The old lady got excited at watching car crashes
* Madonna helps out the old lady a lot. EX) putting on her seat belt and helping her to the new car

Additional web sites on Madonna:
musicvideos
ifilm
madonna

Term Paper Due 4:00 Monday the 25th of November in Comm108
Outrageous Act due in class Monday the 2 of December