I am saddened, not only for my beloved Patriots' loss yesterday but also by some of the comments I've been reading directed at Madonna's Superbowl half-time show. Mainly I am saddened by the pure ageism and misogyny that are so obvious in the venomous rantings of anonymous people out there in the cyber-world. Anonymous people are so ready to spew hate, as if there are no consequences for putting that negativity out there. Just because you cannot be identified, that does not make you not accountable. The world works in mysterious ways. You know who you are. God knows who you are. The Universe knows who you are.
Anyways, back to Madonna. I posted an article a couple of weeks back. The most striking thing I took from the article, and what I wholeheartedly agree with, is that Madonna's biggest crime is that she aged in a pop world where aging is forbidden.
People say she should hang it up, she should act her age, she's ugly, she's talentless, she's desperate, she's plastic, she belongs back in the 80's, she belongs in a crypt, she should die already.
The woman is 53. She defined pop music. She is the very model by which pop stars are made these days, for better or worse. She's a self-made woman. She made the most of what she got. She is the world's popular singer, all done without being blessed by a God-given voice like Mariah's or Celine's or Whitney's. That's like being the world's successful mathematician without having a knack for numbers. Everything that she's got is forged by sheer will and determination. She didn't fall by the way side as a drug addict or an alcoholic. She works out like a fiend. She has a million tasks. She's a legendary hard worker. She shows up. She tries new things.
Isn't that what you want people to do? Isn't that the right way to age - instead of closing up shop and retiring into obscurity and oblivion? In life, shouldn't you always fight - not for fame or fortune but for relevance? Shouldn't you always make sure your work matters in whatever work you do? Shouldn't you always scratch and crawl your way to be heard? You can mess up, you can fail on catastrophic levels, but that's okay as long as you get back up and do it all over again. You don't cheat, and you earn your last breath.
Most of us haven't one-thousandth of her guts or gumption or discipline. We would fold like a tent under the slightest pressure or setback. We would retreat. We would think ourselves less worthy as we grow older. The world is for the young, we would think. The world slowly closes in on us. Life slowly closes in on us. And we accept that as truth, as inevitable. We walk away from the fight, the fight against time, the fight against social and cultural expectations, against the odds. We go on the internet anonymously and take cheap shots. We don't add anything to the world. We are cowards.
Madonna is definitely not a coward. She wins.
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