Sometimes art imitates life, and other times art is changed by life.

In light of the war in Iraq, MADONNA has made some last-minute edits to
her upcoming video for "American Life."

"We have our dream version, but it's not the right time for it," she
said Thursday. "We've been planning the video for months and months and
months, and we didn't know everything that was going to be happening in
the world [when we first did it]."

Director Jonas Akerlund shot the video with Madonna in Los Angeles the
first week of February (see "Madonna Defends Her Violent 'American Life'
Video").

While the clip was always supposed to feature Madonna and overweight
dancers in military fatigues creating chaos at a fashion show, and while
Madonna was always supposed to toss a grenade at the end, there were
several endings filmed.

"It turned into a [short] film," she said. "The original version was
like 10 minutes long. We had lots of stops in the music and lots of car
chases and conversations with people, and it kept going on in the end.
And we realized we were getting a little carried away. So we had to edit
it for time. Then we had to get rid of all the 'F' words."

The biggest challenge for Madonna was reshaping the video in a way that
was entertaining, thought provoking and didn't compromise her artistic
integrity.

Many have interpreted the video to be an angry protest of Operation
Iraqi Freedom, but that's not exactly the case. Madonna considers
herself a pacifist, but like many Americans she's conflicted about U.S.
military action in Iraq.

"Saddam Hussein is a guy we just want to get rid of," she explained. "So
there's a part of the video where I'm carving 'Protect me' into the
wall, and you could almost feel like I want to go there and kick some
ass and protect all those beautiful children and innocent families and
people that have been tortured for years. But do I have the solutions?
No. Do I have the answers?
No. I'm just completely freaked out by what's going on there like
everybody else."

There are three points Madonna hopes to make with the video for
"American Life." The first and most obvious is that regardless of
whether or not she supports Bush, war is a cosmic bummer.

"War is a manifestation of everybody," she said. "We have our personal
karma and we have a global karma. So for me, it's about trying to get a
message out that if we want peace and love in our life, then we have to
make it happen in the world.

"The ending of the video is really important," she continued. "I throw
this hand grenade. ... But it gets caught. And the one who catches it
takes something that could be violent and destructive and takes the
destruction out of it by turning it into something else. That's my hope
for an alternative, not only to this war, but all wars. Also, I hope
that I've also gotten across [the idea that] the soldiers that have gone
over there are flesh and blood.
They're real people, and my heart goes out to them, and I want them to
all come back in one piece."

The second idea the former Material Girl wanted to express is that
materialism is superficial.

"We chose the setting of a fashion show because that's the epitome of
superficiality. They're not trying to be anything except 'Let's
celebrate the surface.' Fashion is fun, and I respect that, but at the
end of the day people take that stuff a little too seriously. So it is
easy to poke fun at that, especially when you juxtapose it against the
real things that are happening in the world.

"No matter how many distractions we put up for ourselves, whether it's a
fashion show or reality TV shows or a hot contest, what's happening in
the world is still going on, and the ugliness and the chaos and the pain
and the suffering is immense. So it's a statement about our obsession
with the world of illusion."

Such commentary may seem absurd coming from someone who was once the
biggest icon of pop culture, but Madonna said she's learned some
valuable lessons over the course of her career.

"I fought for so many things," she said. "I tried so hard to be number
one, stay on top, look good - to be the best. And now I realize that a
lot of the things that last and the things that matter are none of those
things."

Madonna intentionally chose chubby dancers for "American Life" because
she wanted to show that conventional ideas of beauty are flawed and even
damaging.

"The girls I used are big, real, voluptuous girls, and they're
beautiful," she said. "I wanted to explore that taboo as well, because
you don't know people that have fat rolls as attractive. You just don't
see that, and that was important to me. There are people going, 'Will
you love me more if I'm thin?
Should I remodel myself for your approval?' "

"That's so crazy. I have fat rolls. When I first started out, everyone
was like, 'Wow, she's chubby. That's cool.' And then I started getting
really into working out, and there were a lot of people that were bummed
out because I think I was a role model for chubby girls. And now I'm a
role model for chubby girls again. I've gone back to my roots."

-Jon Wiederhorn, with additional reporting by John Norris

I'm encouraged once again. I was afraid that the video was going to be some idealistic, yet unrealistic "war is bad and it shouldn't happen no matter what, ever" type of message. Glad that she realizes the reality of the world, unlike so many of her contemporaries (those in the media, and many who are not). Her comments have won me over.

I say, "go on with your bad self, Madonna"

AaronFantastic said:

One thing that always impresses me about Madonna is that,during interviews,she always sounds very intelligent and well-informed.Unlike many other artists and celebrities,Madonna always knows exactly what she is talking about.No cryptic statements,no double-speak,no eccentric posturing.She strikes me as an artist who,despite her enormous fame, and success,is still living in the real world (unlike,say,Michael Jackson).

I read the same article today and I think she is very honest and not saying that she knows everything. It's obivious she is no fan of G.W but admits that we should get rid of Saddam. Even if you're not for the war, I doubt she are in support of Saddam! The video sounds really interesting to me but I'd like to see the long verison too. I figure it will be a DVD single.

And while many people thought the special edition of "American Life" the album was going to contain a DVD with the title single, I don't think that's right. I just read that WB said it was only going to be special packaging (think about the CD wallets for the last few Madonna discs). If that's the case, I'm going for the regular disc now. What a waste of money that would be but I've heard that hardcore fans buy both verisons/

btw,the "American Life" video premieres on VH-1 Friday April 4 at 10:00 PM,as part of their "Madonna Speaks" special.No word yet on when MTV will air the video.I really hope the un-edited version pops up someday,maybe on a future DVD.


ALL of the information on the new CD,including the lyrics to all the songs,can be found on Madonna's official site.

www.Madonna.com



I have to say,the lyrics are REALLY interesting,to say the least.


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[This message was edited Sun Mar 30 12:12:18 PST 2003 by DavidEye]

hahahahahaha!
the words "Madonna" and "artistic integrity" in the same sentence...too funny!

I dig her comments here, and the video does sound pretty cool. I'm glad they decided to edit it (those short films where the music stops so they can have car chases and stupid conversations get really old...)

When did Madonna ever have "fat rolls"? Looking at the old videos, I don't see any indication of that...

jtgillia said:

While Madonna was never really fat,she looked a little chubby during the 1985 'Virgin' tour.

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

There you go again,with your lame Madonna put-downs.The irony is that,when her new CD comes out,your ass will be rushing out to buy it too...lol...say what you will about Madonna,there is no denying that she's got you hooked.

DavidEye said:

as much as I support&Respect Madonna How you gonna talk about MJ? Ask Garth Brooks or anybody&ain't nobody else in the Music Business Done as Much through out the World for Children&things than Michael Jackson!Michael takes Journeys&Truly Gives Back.Mike got His Issues but ain't nobody gonna say MJ Doesn't Care&doesn't give Back.MJ has done far more than Madonna Every Has on World Issues&Given back.Don't take no Cheap Shots on Michael.

I'm gonna have the phrase "fat rolls" stuck in my head forever now lol.

If she really wants to make short films, and have people take them seriously, she should probabbly stop trying to make them "entertaining" and just worry about the message itself.

DavidEye said:

Oh my god she looked so fine on that tour unlike Who's That Girl where she looked emaciated. She looks good now though physically.

DavidEye said:

she's got me hooked, yeah, but i'm sure i will burn the cd and not actually buy it. i did that with music and die another day...probably do it again.

mistermaxxx said:

Oh no,the MJ police are after me

I know that MJ has done alot for the world and for children,and charities,etc.But it is also true that,for the most part,he is out of touch with reality.I am a huge MJ fan just like you are,but let's be real here.Madonna is WAY more in touch with the real world than Michael is.She is not a prisoner of her success.She's an adult and she behaves like an adult.Unlike MJ,who is stil clinging to his childhood,hiding away at his Neverland ranch.