American Life is the ninth studio album by the Queen of Pop, released in April 2003. A month earlier, the first single of the same title, which promoted the new release, could be downloaded from the Internet. Even before its premiere, the song aroused great controversy among listeners in the artist’s home country. And not because of Madonna’s rapping, but because of the tone of the song in which the artist criticizes the American way of life and the dream of America’s greatness. All this coincided with the outbreak of the war in Iraq, which the artist also wanted to refer to in the clip for this song.
Madonna presents an uncensored music video only after 20 years
Madonna caused a media storm, already announcing the video for “American Life”. In the clip, the state of the country was to be compared to a fashion show, and the criticism of war, politics, and American thinking was to be very visible in it. The artist herself called it: “the most shocking anti-war statement in the history of show business.” However, when she noticed that the single was doing poorly in the home market, Madonna gave in to the pressure for the first time in her career and withdrew the announced version of the music video.
Over the following weeks, a censored version of the clip was played on television, in which the most problematic scenes (eg with the George Bush doppelgänger, for example) were cut out, but it still aroused aversion. Therefore, on April 17, 2003, a new music video was premiered, in which you can see only the singer dressed in a uniform with various national flags in the background. The clip was considered boring and banal, and the single’s results did not improve at all.
Now, more than twenty years later, Madonna surprised all fans by posting the original, controversial version of the music video on YouTube. The main theme of the clip is a military fashion show, in which models in gas masks and half-naked soldiers pass by victims of war – mutilated children and people deprived of limbs. On the other hand, in the audience sits the idle cream of society, in which the show does not arouse any emotions. In addition, all this is interspersed with real footage from the war. The clip ends with Madonna throwing a grenade at a crowd of people.
It can be boldly admitted that the singer was right and a very strong anti-war narrative is visible in it, which also arouses admiration in 2023. However, it certainly does not arouse as much emotion as it did twenty years ago. The music video is directed by Jonas Åkerlund, who has worked with Madonna in the past and later. He also has a lot of music videos of the biggest international stars, such as Lady Gaga, Ozzy Ozbourne, Britney Spears, The Rolling Stones, Metallica and David Guetta.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
