June 06, 2012
Now if Madonna would only age gracefully and get off the stage entirely, both of them might actually service the peace and acceptance they champion. Right now they only appear to be the tools of corrupt, power-hungry political puppeteers who use celebrities to gain attention. In the meantime, if everybody stayed in their own sandbox and the lunatics stayed in the asylum where they belong, maybe the world would actually be a more peaceful and accepting place.
Singers who misinform the public with crude political messages and half-baked attempts to save the world take all the fun out of music. If only people such as Madonna and Lady Gaga focused less on the message and more on the music, there might be something worth listening to on the FM dial.
Few musicians can get away with singing about controversial political ideas without losing fans and making fools of themselves, because most of them don”t have the brains to grasp even basic political concepts.
Imagine George W. Bush singing a karaoke version of “Eye of the Tiger.” That’s how musicians look when they attempt to get political.
All this intermingling of art and politics has me so irked and confused, I might start singing about it.
Art and politics have in many ways always been inextricably linked. But singers such as Madonna and Gaga cannot be compared with writers such as Alexander Pushkin, nor should they assume they are qualified to take similar liberties against the establishment.
Exploiting her own celebrity in the service of some half-baked political idea like Madonna does is irresponsible. Pop stars and movie stars should keep out of politics and concentrate on their day jobs. Leave the art to the artists, the politics to the politicians, and the thinking to those who can actually think.
