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June 24
Na turbulência de mensagens mediáticas em que todos os dias mergulhamos (e somos mergulhados), que faz a diferença?
Que imagens sabem superar o conformismo de muitos modos de informação/desinformação?Uma vez mais, Madonna convoca-nos para esse universo em que se joga a coexistência do particular e do universal, do individual e do colectivo.
O seu novo teledisco, da canção Hey You, composta para os concertos do Live Earth (7 de Julho), é um pequeno grande exemplo de como é possível lidar com imagens correntes, reintegrando-as num discurso pessoal que tem tanto de emocional como de político, recordando-nos que o político não é uma "purificação" da emoção, mas sim uma via específica de apropriação das suas intensidades.
Madonna não aparece no teledisco.
Escusado será dizer que essa auto-exclusão é tão significativa quanto seria a sua inclusão (porventura mais).
Mostrar-se faz parte das regras de uma estrela: pela sua presença, através das suas imagens, uma estrela é alguém que assina visualmente o seu próprio trabalho.
Ora, Madonna não só não aparece como encena Hey You como uma vertiginosa peça de... telejornal.
Somos confrontados com imagens que, directa ou indirectamente, remetem para o tema central do Live Earth: o aquecimento global do planeta Terra e as hipóteses de, politicamente, contrariar os seus efeitos, criando novas condições de existência.
Mais ainda: retomando uma marca visual do teledisco de American Life (2003), as palavras da canção surgem encenadas através de sucessivas bandeiras nacionais, num jogo (concreto e abstracto) de simbólica internacionalização.
São quatro minutos de glorioso entertainment.
É o tempo suficiente para compreendermos que as mudanças de atitude passam também pelos modos de representação do mundo e dos seus laços interiores.
Vemos figuras míticas (John Lennon, Luther King, Einstein, etc.), a par de protagonistas da actual cena política internacional (George W. Bush e Nicolas Sarkozy, entre outros).
O seu envolvimento com imagens que lembram os desequilíbrios económicos e ambientais produz um misto de panfleto e objecto contemplativo, aliás sublinhado pelo apelo a não desistir, a explorar as alternativas que (ainda) nos restam: "Hey you / Don't you give up / It's not so bad / There's still a chance for us.
" Realizado por Johan Söderberg e Marcus Lindkvist (o primeiro ligado à montagem de alguns trabalhos anteriores de Madonna e à produção visual de 'The Confessions Tour'), o teledisco de Hey You funciona como um radioso acidente no interior do nosso audiovisual: faz-nos ver que mesmo as imagens mais repetidas podem ser reinventadas.
João Lopes
(crítico )
.
Fonte:
June 22 Back in the mid-80s, Warner Music launched a series of remix albums as a bonus release to complement the catalogues of their big acts. These albums collected together the popular 'Extended Remixes' which were popular on singles at the time, and the albums were known as "12"ers". Simply Red and Phil Collins are examples of Warner artists who released 12"ers albums.
But why wasn't there one by Warners' biggest act of the 1980s? Madonna was well known for her dance mixes of her multiple hits yet no 12"ers album appeared for sale by her.
Well - they planned to release one! It was to be called Madonna - "12"ers+2"
In fact, they got to the stage of designing artwork and choosing the tracklisting to make it! Madonna's album was to collect the Extended 12" Mixes of six of her biggest hits from her first two albums, together with the standard versions of two non-album cuts 'Ain't No Big Deal' and 'Into The Groove' (the +2 from the title) and release the package in garish red and yellow abstract artwork celebrating the recently completed Virgin Tour.
The tracklisting was to run as follows :
Side One
1. Ain't No Big Deal
2. Dress You Up (The 12" Formal Mix)
3. Angel (Extended Dance Mix)
4. Lucky Star (U.S. Remix)
Side Two
1. Into The Groove
2. Material Girl (Jellybean Dance Mix)
3. Borderline (U.S. Remix)
4. Like A Virgin (Extended Dance Remix)
There is only one known copy of the Japanese promo cassette of this mysterious release - and that is in the collection of yours truly - no other issues have been documented to date. Here's the fold-out sleeve design and the actual cassette (courtesy of 991.com).
thanks
www.madonnatribe.com
www.991.com
June 19 My Collcetions "TourBook 1985-2006"
visit my collection in:
June 18
New Madonna Music Video "Hey You"
| EXCLUSIVE] Confessions Tour Dancers to perform with Madonna at Live Earth!
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Drowned Madonna has been informed that the Confessions Tour dancers will perform with Madonna at London's Live Earth concert on July 7.
Unfortunately, Mihran Kirakosyan, Jason Young and Reshma Gajjar won't be able to make it. They are on tour with Ricky Martin and they have a show on that same day.
Furthermore, if things don't change, Parkour practioners will NOT perform with her.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, we have just heard that also Tamara Levinson will NOT be able to make the Live Earth. We will miss her! We remind you that there's still the possibility that other dancers will be added to the list of those who can't make it.
| Nesw:
*RUMOR*
EL ELENCO DE MADONNA DICE ESTAR ENOJADO CON ELLA POR SU ACTITUD.
MADONNA EMPEZO A DIRIGIR SU PRIMER PELICULA FILTH AND WISDOM CON LA ASISTENCIA DE UNA ELITE DE ESPECIALISTAS EN LA MATERIA.
SIN EMBARGO ESTOS HAN EXPRESADO ESTAR DECEPCIONADOS POR LA ESTRELLA
"ES EL DEBUT DE MADONNA Y NO VA NECESARIAMENTE BIEN" DICEN.
SU EQUIPO ES DE LO MEJOR , ELLA LO ELIGIO, Y ELLOS DUDAN QUE QUE PUEDA HACERLO
ASI TAMBIEN ESTA ACABANDO CON LA PACIENCIA DE SU EQUIPO DEBIDO A SUS DEMANDAS.
"ESTA CERCA DE CONVERTIRSE EN UNA PESADILLA, NO KIERE HACER NADA POR SI MISMA, SI QUIERE AGUA, QUIERE KE SE LA TRAIGAN, PIENSA QUE AUN ESTA EN ALGUNO DE SUS TOURS, DONDE ELLA ES EL CENTRO DE ATENCION.
-DICEN UNA FUENTE CERCANA-
EL STAFF DE MADONNA RESIENTE SU COMPORTAMIENTO, YA QUE ELLA NO ESTA TRABAJANDO CON EL RESTO DEL EQUIPO.
The crew on Madonna's film are angry with her attitude and lack of skill, it has been claimed.
The singer has begun shooting her first film as director, titled Filth And Wisdom, with the assistance of scores of top industry specialists.
However, a source at the set in London has apparently told how colleagues have been disappointed by the star.
"It is Madonna's first stab at directing and it's not going particularly well," he told the Daily Mail. "Her team are very experienced — she only picked the best so they doubt she’s up to the job."
The singer is also trying the staff's patience with her attitude and demands, the insider added.
"Madonna is only a little short of being a nightmare. She won’t do anything herself. If she wants water, she tells someone to get it for her. She thinks she is still on one of her world tours, where she is the centre of the universe.
"Madge’s very experienced staff resent her behaviour because she isn’t working as part of a team."
THANKS:
Madonnamustbemyluckystar
Directed by Madonna and Johan Soderberg
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Reparto / Cast
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Richard E. Grant:
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Profesor Flynn / Professor Flynn
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Stephen Graham:
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Harry Beechman
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Eugene Hutz:
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A.K.
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Vicky McClure:
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Juliette
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Ade:
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DJ
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Olegar Fedoro:
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Padre de A.K. / A.K.'s Father
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Shobu Kapoor:
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Mujer de Sardeep / Sardeep's Wife
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Gogol Bordello:
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Ellos mismos / Themselves
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Clare Wilkie:
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Chloe
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Francesca Kingdon:
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Francine
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Tim Wallers:
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Mr. Frisk
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Holly Weston:
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Holly
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Inder Manocha:
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Sardeep
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George Keeler:
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Hombre débil / Frail Man |
IMDb (Internet Movie Data Base) has updated new details about Madonna's FILTH AND WISDOM shot movie. The running time is 45 minutes; written by Dan Cadan; Madonna and Nicola Doring are executive producers; cinematography by Tim Maurice-Jones; casting by Daniel Hubbard; production design by Gideon Ponte; costume design by B. and the company is Exposure/HSI. The cast is listed up.
IMDb makes a note as since this project is categorized as being in production, the data is subject to change.
Also, according to MadonnaTribe, the currently release is set in February 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival
THANKS: DROWNEDMADONNA.COM
MADONNAME.COM
MadonnaMe. Madonna’s self-titled first album was originally going to be tittled LUCKY STAR. A cover was even created for it. Can you tell us anything about Madonna’s LUCKY STAR cover art proof? The process, the reason for it to be ruled out, who designed it…
John. Back in 1983 when Madonna signed to Sire, she hired her good friend Martin Burgoyne to create the cover art for her debut LP. You probably recognize his work from the 12" Maxi single sleeve for BURNING UP, b/w PHYSICAL ATTRACTION. Unfortunately, Madonna rejected his sleeve art in favor of a shot from the recently completed photo session with Gary Heery.
The Burgoyne LUCKY STAR proof is not only historically important, but It gives us an early glimpse into Madonna's control over her career and image…and her undeniable fashion instincts. She's classic Madonna on Burgoyne's sleeve art. But even at the time, his art seemed a bit retro in it's simple hand tinted, Warholish, NYC Lower East Side punk/art influence. While the black & white Heery photos that eventually were used on the sleeve set the tone for her imagining to date…strong, sophisticated, cutting edge and sexually charged.
At the time, I was working as a production artist/junior designer in the WARNER BROS. RECORDS, Art Dept. I was assigned the task of helping Martin create the package sleeve mechanical.
Front
Back
http://www.madonname.com/news.htm Here are some screen captures from HEY YOU music video.
Towards A General Descriptive Ontology of Madonna
"Borderline" Madonna and John "Jelly Bean" Benitez (Sire 1983) - will there ever again be such a perfect gem of a record? * With its faux faux glitzy production it's the song of innocence lost and deception…"something in your eyes is making such a fool of me"…baby (implied) Everyone knows that song if not as a tinny sound in their ears then, more likely, a distinct and real actual event in their life. Don't listen to the B side: Physical attraction - EVER!
Anyways - it set me back a fiver at a record fair in Dublin a while ago. "Are you interested in more Madonna stuff?" asked my man. "No this is the only good thing she ever did" says I (a thin, white lie as "Holiday", "Justify my love", "Ray of Light", "Erotic", "Hung Up" and quite a few others ain't half bad) Too late! Already he pulls out a gigantic poster.
Immediately I realize that he has mistaken both the intensity and the nature of my interest. I remember getting a loan of a Madonna documentary a few years back. It was bizarre. A parade of very, very worried New Yorkers. Those whom she had lived with, played with, worked with and so on. My God they still hadn't recovered! Each and every one of them was touched with a very faint mark…A tiny blue eye shadow pencil dot of disappointment hovering over them. And They all said something like:
"I thought she loved me…" "I thought she was gay…" "I thought she was my friend" "I thought she was in our ska band…" "I thought she was a real punk…" "I thought… I thought… I thought"
But hey fuck it maybe; possibly, just one of them looked in any way genuine as a human being (I seem to recall a black fella - sound engineer – possibly) Lets fact it which of them in the glittery underwear hell of the New York nineteen eighty something – who didn't think that they "had her" on mission? To use and abuse in some way on their knicker twisting burst up, up and out of it –to belly button level at least. They thought that they were on the user friendly end of the power trip. And she beat them at their own game! Ya wake up one morning and La Ciccone has fled…She's had you!
Borderline is my favourite Madonna tune but the very, very last tiny bit of it is possibly my favourite record fade out… EVER. You know it –The bit where she she switches to "la da de da de da la da de da" – listen again if the DJ spins it all the way through (they never do – fuckers…). The scary thing about it is that her voice beautifully deepens and widens from the affecting but tinny tone of the rest of the record. It's almost as if forty-something Maddser has taken control over the twenty-something Maddser.
But that's it! Madonna is like poor old Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse five. She has come unglued in time.She exists now, then and in the future. She slips on through easily.
So that's how she did it! Shit they never had a chance!! She has had her entire life over and back to continuously play the game again and again – to win again and again…Each time she plays better and better and she each time she wins better and better.
Something in her eyes is making such a fool of you. Just try to understand…understand. You've given all you can. But she's got the best…of you now…
font http://soundtracksforthem.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html
June 08
FABULOSA ENTREVISTA PARA LA VANITY FAIR DE USA EDICION ESPECIAL DE JULIO.
traducida por "miguel" o sea "yo"
ENTREVISTA VANITY FAIR EN ESPAÑOL
Vanity Fair Edicion Especial Julio “Africa”
Madonna primero visitó Malawi en abril de 2006, desde entonces ha estado allá 2 veces mas, incluyendo en octubre del 2006, cuando adoptó a su hijo David, quien en ese entonces sufría de malaria y neumonía. A través de su fundación “Raising Malawi”, ella esta dando soluciones reales a la gente de Malawi, especialmente a los niños, también trabaja en un documental sobre los huérfanos en Malawi.
La conversación fue con el Dr. Jim Yong Kim, fundador de ”Partners in Health” organización que provee de medicina y servicios sociales a los enfermos con menos recursos en todo el mundo, sus campañas han incrementado el tratamiento contra el SIDA.
Madonna: mucha gente me pregunta: “por que escogiste Malawi”? a lo que siempre digo “Malawi me escogió a mi”, Victoria Keelan una mujer de negocios nacida y educada en Malawi, me contacto a través de una amistad diciéndome: “mira, si tu estas en el asunto de ayudar niños, tenemos millones de huérfanos aquí en Malawi, el problema es una locura. Es una emergencia, necesitan tu ayuda. “Ella se intereso en mi por mi organización “Espirituality for kids” , la cual ayuda a niños con escasos recursos en todo el mundo, ya sea Palestina, o Los Angeles, Nueva Orleáns después del huracán Katrina, o el Bronx, Miami, o la Ciudad de México, en cualquier lugar.
Debo aceptar que al principio no sabia ni donde estaba ubicado Malawi cuando escuche la situación que había ahí. Había escuchado sobre las pandemias de Sida en la región del Sahara y países mas conocidos como Etiopía o Rwanda, pero no Malawi. Así que me eduque y no podía decir no, me pareció una buena idea.
Dr. Kim: Cuando fue tu primer viaje?
Madonna: Hace 1 año en abril, he estado ahí solo 3 veces, pero ha pasado mucho en 1 año. Estoy sorprendida, por que tu sabes que estas cosas requieren mucho tiempo y trabajo, es grandioso regresar y ver que el cambio ya se esta manifestando, pero una vez que quitas las piedras y se empieza a ayudar a otras personas, es como una avalancha viniendo detrás de ti, parece no tener fin. Pero cuando ves los frutos de tu labor, crees que es posible.
Dr. Kim: Algo que hemos aprendido es que has tenido muchas y agradables victorias, eso es lo que te mantiene moviéndote.
Madonna: Así es, me encontré muy enojada cuando visite a algunas familias o gente sola viviendo con Sida a las que supuestamente estábamos ayudando, encontré traductores y me entere que estaban recibiendo la medicina equivocada, eso en verdad me hizo salir de mi.
Esas pequeñas cosas a veces me bajan el animo, pero entonces te das cuenta que hay otras muchas cosas buenas que están pasando, las villas están en mejores condiciones, se están levantando mas centros para los huérfanos, así que tienes que enfocarte en las cosas que se han concretado.
Hay algunos niños a los que puedes ayudar al construir un orfanato, un lugar al que puedes ir, hay comida, donde tendrán salud y educación, a su vez ellos pueden irse y estar con su familia natal.
Hay otros niños que no tiene donde vivir , están en las calles y tu tienes que buscarles un lugar donde vivir, o mandarlos a alguna escuela privada, otros solo necesitan apoyo psicológico para afrontar el estar viviendo con su familia. Nadie parece darse cuenta de lo que es perder a tus padres y que es lo que pasa por la cabeza de estos niños, si ellos son el futuro de ese país, se necesita hacer algo al respecto. Se que tu estas tratando con alcoholismo y huérfanos, hay muchos aspectos que tienen que resolverse para elevar el nivel de vida de alguien.
Dr. Kim : Mencionaste alcoholismo, tenemos mucho en Rusia, es uno de los mayores problemas, es en lo que mas estamos trabajando.
Madonna: Creo que hay una pequeña diferencia entre Moscú y África en algunos aspectos. Has escuchado sobre los orfanatos ahí -Moscú-?
Dr. Kim: OH Dios si, es terrible.
Madonna: en cierta manera es mas deprimente.
Dr. Kim: Estuve con el Director General del World Center Organization, el ha estado los lugares mas deprimentes de todo el mundo, uno de ellos fue en un orfanato con niños enfermos de Sida en Moscú, es el lugar mas problemático emocionalmente hablando en el que ha estado. El empezó una organización con el dinero que reunió al vender los regalos que había recibido de varios presidentes.
Madonna: Que bien, Dios lo bendiga.
Dr. Kim. Los huérfanos en general Madonna, debo decirte...tengo un niño, es la cosa mas dolorosa que puede haber.
Madonna: no puedo aceptarlo, es difícil ver sufrir a alguien, pero lo es mas ver sufrir a los niños. Ver niños en el suelo, sobre orines y con moscas volando a su alrededor es inaudito, y así era el orfanato del cual vino David, estoy feliz de decir que ahora ese lugar ya no es así, pero es devastador, hay otro lugar donde hay niños que son VIH positivo y no pesan mas de 3 libras, no tienen mas de 1 año. Tu abrazas a estos niños y piensas, como puedo ayudarlos, como puedo mejorar sus vidas, cual es su futuro, es una experiencia inolvidable.
Siento que todos deberían tener un día sabático e ir a Moscú y África y trabajar en los orfanatos donde hay verdadero dolor, entonces te sentirás ridículo por quejarte de todo. Todos necesitan ese tipo de prueba.
Dr. Kim: Creo que la segunda cosa sería cuando los padres no pueden alimentar a sus hijos.
Madonna: Si, ellos no pueden alimentar a sus hijos, y entonces están obligados a alimentar a sus hijos, o solo sentarse a ver como mueren de hambre. Es impensable esto cuando vez todo lo que tenemos.
Los huérfanos son digamos mi centro ahora, los niños son mi centro ahora, así que te pregunto, desde tu perspectiva, cual es tu aporte a la ayuda de huérfanos?
Dr. Kim: a través del tiempo , hemos pasado de construir orfanatos para los niños con Sida,
Nos hemos concentrado mas en la prevención de huérfanos, cuando la gente pregunta , que es lo que mas necesitan los huérfanos? Ellos necesitan mas que nada a sus padres, son huérfanos por el Sida, así que estamos tratando fuerte sobre el tratamiento contra el Sida.
En el 2000 o 2001 mucha gente decía, no es posible el tratamiento en África, esos 30 millones de personas tendrán que morir, esto es muy agradable, le gente decia : No es posible, olvidémoslo, olvídenlo y déjenlos morir. Así que nos enfocamos en darle tratamiento a la gente, la otra cosa es no solo darle lo básico para vivir, darles un hogar agradable, estas cosas son realmente importantes.
La mala noticia es que hay demasiados huérfanos y tenemos mucho trabajo que hacer, no solo es construir mas orfanatos, es mas complicado que solo eso.
Las buenas noticias es que hay dinero proveniente de todo el mundo, es solo un pequeño porcentaje de lo que gastamos en basura y entonces podemos contribuir en algo.
Madonna: si solo pudiéramos gastar menos dinero en matar gente y gastar dinero para salvar gente.
Dr Kim: Por que no
Madonna: Parece tan simple
Dr Kim: He puesto mi mirada en lo que estas haciendo en Malawi, que te gustaría ver ahí en los próximos 5 años? Cual es el resultado que quisieras ver con “Raising Malawi”?
Madonna: primero que nada quisiera saber que estamos dando una mano contra la pandemia de Sida, algunos dicen que estamos estancados, y que los números hablan de que no hay desarrollo, hable con una mujer encargada de un ministerio para mujeres y niños y ella dice que de acuerdo a estudios, es imposible realmente saber cuanta gente esta enferma, porque es muy alto el nivel de VIH positivo. Aun si ellos lo saben, no te lo dirán, la otra cosa es que no se puede hacer un censo real, si vas a las villas u orfanatos y preguntas cuanta gente infectada vive aquí, te dirán: 70 o 75 por ciento, y al preguntarles, cuanta gente ha sido examinada, dirán, aun ninguna! Así que no hay elementos para hablar de números en contra de este trabajo.
No es suficiente hacer mas vacunas retrovirales, o educación superficial, aun hay que pelear en contra de practicas tradicionales, que sobre todo en los lugares mas remotos aun las hay, creen que las enfermedades que tienen fueron por magia o algo así, aun cuando les das la cura y se recuperan, creen que aun están enfermos.
Madonna: para mi lo mas importante aparte de dar las necesidades físicas.- educación, salud, ropa comida- cambiar la mente de la gente y educarla, y lo mas importante, darles el poder de creer en si mismos y autosuficiencia. Quiero continuar viendo cambiar y crecer, quiero ver a chicas con educación, creo que las mujeres son el futuro de África, odio ser sexista, pero he entrevistado a mujeres, y viendo las grabaciones para el documental que estoy por terminar, quienes están haciendo los cambios reales son las mujeres, ellas son el futuro, así que por eso quiero ver chicas con educación.
Después de que los ingleses vinieron y se fueron de Malawi, después de 3 décadas de dictadura y años de corrupción por parte del gobierno, creo que la gente en Malawi se pregunta: como puedo hacer una diferencia en mi país? No soy nadie, no tengo nada que decir, no tengo mi punto de vista.
Quiero trabajar en este complejo de inferioridad, quiero hacer que la gente crea en si misma, “enpoderarlos”, eso es lo que realmente quiero ver en 5 años, quiero verlo crecer en todas las áreas, no puedes ir aun lugar y decir: “OK voy a componer esto con una sola solución”, eso es tonto e imposible.
Dr Kim: que piensas de que mas norteamericanos se envuelvan es estos problemas?
Madonna: Esa es la razón de mi documental, quiero que la gente se sienta inspirada, llamar a la acción, eso es lo que quiero hacer.
Los norteamericanos viven en una burbuja, la mayoría lo hace, digo esto desde mi casa de Londres, pero soy norteamericana, y he pasado el mayor tiempo de mi vida ahí, somos muy privilegiados como norteamericanos, y es fácil olvidarse de los problemas del resto del mundo y pensar que tus problemas son los mas importantes. Aun los mas pobres de USA viven mejor que la gente pobre de otros países. Recuerdo haber sido pobre y vivir en las calles de Nueva York, pero aun así podías conseguir un dólar e ir a KFC , sabes a lo que me refiero?
Ser pobre en África es algo que simplemente los norteamericanos no pueden entender, parte de mi reto es mostrarles la realidad y sacudirlos, debes tener compasión, pero como la película de Al Gore, no es suficiente con sacudirlos, dales soluciones, invitarlos a verse envueltos en la forma que ellos puedan, ya sea trabajo voluntario o dar algo de su salario y hacerles conciencia de a donde quieren que vaya su dinero, tienes que encontrar maneras de que la gente se envuelva.
Mírame, sabia lo que pasaba en África, y he contribuido con dinero a través de los años, pero hasta que no vas y tienes la experiencia , es algo que solo ves a lo lejos y realmente no te afecta, así que no te sacude y no te ves envuelto.
Dr Kim,. Como vas a mezclar tu arte junto a esto? Ves estas 2 cosas juntas?
Madonna: estoy haciendo un documental sobre los huérfanos en Malawi, no es solo Malawi , es toda África, ya que Malawi comparte los problemas de otros países, hacer una película es una forma de arte, creo que conectare a la gente de esa manera, como madre y humano en esta tierra, quiero que la humanidad de la gente salga y se interconecte, no es solo hacer que la gente baile, sea feliz y que sienta un escape, es que la gente escuche y aporte algo importante, con el éxito que he tenido y la posición en la que estoy, la gente esta escuchándome así que, mas vale que tenga algo importante que decir.
June 06
Saving Malawi’s Children
Madonna first visited Malawi in April 2006. She’s been there twice since, including a trip last October to adopt her son, David, who was then suffering from malaria and pneumonia. Through her Raising Malawi organization, Madonna is helping to foster sustainable solutions for the Malawian people, especially its most defenseless children. She’s also working on a documentary about the orphans of Malawi.
Below are excerpts from her conversation with Dr. Jim Yong Kim, a founder of Partners in Health, which provides medical care and social services to the world’s poorest patients. Dr. Kim is currently based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University. He works to bring good medicine to people without access; his campaigns have helped increase aids treatment in Africa eightfold.
Madonna: A lot of people ask me, “Why did you choose Malawi?” I always say that Malawi chose me. Victoria Keelan, a businesswoman who was born and raised in Malawi, contacted me through a mutual friend and said, “Look, if you’re in the business of helping children, we have over a million orphans here in Malawi, and the problem is insane. It’s an emergency. They need your help.” She reached out to me because I do a lot of fund-raising for an organization called Spirituality for Kids, which helps children in impoverished conditions everywhere in the world, whether it’s Palestine, or East L.A., or New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, or the Bronx, Miami, Mexico City—all over the place.
I must admit that I didn’t really know where Malawi was when I first heard about the situation there. I had certainly heard about the aids pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, and in more well-known countries like Ethiopia and Rwanda. But not Malawi. So I educated myself, and I couldn’t say no, and it just seemed like a good idea. I sort of dove in.
Dr. Kim: When was your first trip?
Madonna: A year ago April. I’ve only been there three times, but so much has happened in a year. I’m thrilled because, as you know, it takes a lot of time and a lot of work to get things done. It was great to go back and see so many things manifested. But once you start turning over rocks and reaching out to help people, there’s a whole avalanche coming right behind it. And it seems never-ending. But when you see the fruits of your labor, you feel like it’s possible.
Dr. Kim: One of the things we’ve learned is that you’ve got to take lots of joy out of small victories. That’s what keeps you going.
Madonna: Yes, and you have to stop fixating on things, too. I found myself getting really angry when I went into [the slums] and was visiting families or single people living with aids who we’re supposed to be helping with home-based care. I would talk to people through translators and find out that they were getting all the wrong medication. That drove me bonkers, and I almost ripped my hair out. Those little things get me down, but then you realize there are all these other great things happening: the Millennium Villages have surplus crops, and orphan-care centers are being built. So you have to focus on the things that are getting done.
There are some kids you can help by building orphan-care centers they can visit during the day. It’s a place to go, and there’s food; they can have their health needs taken care of, and they can get an education. And then they can go home and sleep with their extended family. There are other orphans who are in such dire straits—they’re living on the streets, and you need to find foster homes for them, or you need to send them to private schools. And some kids just need psychosocial support to deal with the fact that they’re living with their extended family. But no one’s addressing what it feels like to lose your parents, and what’s going on in the heads and hearts of these kids. If they’re the future of the country, then we need to do something about it.
I know that you’re dealing with everything from alcoholism to orphans. There are just so many issues that need to be dealt with to raise up the level of someone’s existence.
Dr. Kim: You mentioned alcoholism. We deal with that a lot in Russia—it happens to be one of the biggest complications in treating TB there. We’re doing a lot of research on alcoholism and TB.
Madonna: I think there’s very little difference between Moscow and Africa in some respects. Have you heard about the orphanages there?
Dr. Kim: Oh, God. They’re just terrible.
Madonna: It’s way more depressing in a way.
Dr. Kim: When I was at W.H.O. [the World Health Organization], the director general had been to every single depressing place in the world. And the one place that just ripped his heart out was an aids orphanage in Moscow. It was the most emotionally troubling place he’d ever been to. He started a fund-raising campaign—he sold all the gifts that had been given to him by all these different presidents. He put all the money into a Russian orphanage.
Madonna: Oh, well, God bless him.
Dr. Kim: Orphanages in general, Madonna, I have to tell you … I have a child. And it’s just the most painful thing in the world even walking in there.
Madonna: I can’t take it. I can’t take it. It’s difficult to watch people suffer, but it’s so hard to watch children suffer. To see children lying on the ground in a daze, in a pool of urine with flies buzzing around their heads. It’s unfathomable, and this is what the orphanage that David came from was like. I’m very happy to say it’s not like that now, but it’s just devastating. And there’s another nursery we go to where a lot of the children are H.I.V.-positive, and they all weigh about three pounds, and they’re all a year old. You hold these children and you think, How can I save them all, how can I make their lives better, what is their future. It’s an unforgettable experience. I feel like everybody needs to take a sabbatical and go to Russia and Africa and work in orphanages and really witness true suffering. And then you’ll just feel ridiculous for ever complaining about anything. Everybody needs that kind of reality check.
Dr. Kim: I think the second-worst thing I see on a regular basis is when parents can’t feed their children.
Madonna: Yes, when they can’t feed their kids—and then what they’re pushed to do to feed their kids. Or just to sit and watch your child die of starvation. It’s unthinkable when you consider how much we have.
Orphans are sort of my main focus—children are my main focus—so I have a question for you. From a health-care perspective, what is your approach for helping orphans?
Dr. Kim: Over time people have gone from just building orphanages around the aids epidemic. They’re focusing more on preventing a generation of orphans. When people say, “What do orphans need the most?,” I sometimes say, tongue in cheek, “Well, they need their parents more than anything else.” So many children are being orphaned because of aids. That’s why we push so hard for aids treatment.
Not too long ago, probably in 2000 or 2001, there were a lot of people who were still saying, “H.I.V. treatment is just not possible in Africa. All those 30 million people are just going to have to die.” These are very nice, well-meaning people who sort of said, “It’s not going to happen. Just forget about it and let them die.” That’s one of the things that we took on. We insist that people get treated. The other thing is that people need the whole range of services—not just basic health care, but help related to early childhood development, and whether they have a loving household. Those things are also really important.
The bad news is that there are a lot of orphans, and we have a lot of work to do. There isn’t a single straightforward answer: “Well, if they just had orphanages …” No, it’s going to be a little bit more complicated.
But the really, really good news is that there’s plenty of money in the world to do these things. It just takes a small percentage of the money we spend on junk—and then we can invest it. There’s more than enough money to do these things.
Madonna: If we would just stop spending money on killing people and start spending money on saving people?
Dr. Kim: Why not?
Madonna: [Laughs] It seems so simple.
Dr. Kim: I’ve looked at what you’re doing with Raising Malawi. What would you like to see happen in the next five years? What do you want to see there as a result of the work of Raising Malawi?
Madonna: First of all, I’d like to know that we’re getting a handle on the aids epidemic. Some people say that we’ve stabilized it, that the numbers are not increasing. I spoke to a woman who is the director of the ministry responsible for women and children’s development, and she said that, according to studies, it’s impossible to really know how many are sick, because there’s such a stigma attached to being H.I.V.-positive. If people know they have it, they don’t tell you. And the other thing is, it’s so hard for a lot of people to get tested. If you go into most villages and orphanages and ask, “How many of the people in this village are infected?,” they’ll say, “Oh, 70 to 75 percent.” Then you ask, “Well, how many people have actually been tested?,” and they say, “Not even one!” So it’s very hard to gauge, and there are a lot of elements that work against it.
It’s not enough to just make ARVs [anti-retrovirals] more accessible; it’s not enough to help diversify their crops; it’s not enough to bring in the educational component, whether it’s health education or just education in general. You still have to deal with traditional practices, which, especially in the more remote of Malawian places, have a huge stronghold. Some people still think that their illnesses are curses and spells that other people have put on them. Even if you give them a cure and they get better, they’ll still insist it was a spell somebody put on them.
Dr. Kim: Paul [Farmer, the medical anthropologist who works to raise the standard of health care for the world’s destitute] tells this great story about a woman he was treating for TB. She came every day, took all her medicines, and got better. Being an anthropologist, he was compelled to ask her, “What do you think caused your tuberculosis?” And she had this long explanation that had everything to do with sorcery. So Paul said, “But if you believe sorcery caused your TB, why did you take all your medicines?” And she put her hand on her hip and said, “My dear, are you incapable of complexity?” People think that if medicines are making them better, you should do that and talk to the voodoo priest. Cover all your bases.
Madonna: To me, the most important thing—aside from meeting people’s physical needs, whether that’s education, health care, clothing, food, a roof over their heads—is changing the mind-set and educating people. And most of all, most important, is empowering people and making them self-sustaining.
I want to continue to see that aspect changing and flourishing and growing. I want to see girls with educations. I think women are the future of Africa. I hate to sound like I’m being sexist, but I interviewed a lot of women, and found, while watching a rough cut of my documentary, which is very far from being finished, that the people who are really doing the most to effect change in Africa right now are all women. They’re the future. So I want girls everywhere to get an education.
After the English came and went in Malawi, after three decades of dictatorship and several more years of corrupt government, I feel like everyone in Malawi is walking around with this feeling like, “How can I make a difference in my country? How can my point of view be heard? I’m a nobody, I don’t have any say, I don’t have a point of view.” I want to get rid of this inferiority complex. I want to help them to believe in themselves, to empower them. That’s really what I want to see in the next five years. I’d love to see growth in all areas. You can’t just go into a place and say, “O.K., I’m going to fix it with this one solution.” That’s naive and impossible.
Dr. Kim: What do you think it’s going to take to get more Americans engaged with all these problems?
Madonna: That’s part of the reason I’m making the documentary. I want people to be moved, to feel called to action. That’s what I want to do.
Americans live in a bubble, for the most part. I say that from my house in London. [Laughs] But obviously I’m an American, and I’ve spent most of my life there. We’re very privileged as Americans—it’s easy to forget about the rest of the world and to think that your problems are the most important problems. Even poor people in America live better than poor people most everywhere else. I can remember being poor and living on the streets in New York back in the day. But you could still scrounge up a dollar and go to Kentucky Fried Chicken, you know what I mean?
Being poor in Africa is something people in America can’t relate to. Part of the challenge is bringing that reality to people and moving them. You have to arouse compassion. But, like Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, it’s not enough to raise awareness. You have to give people solutions, and you have to invite them to get involved in whatever way they can, whether that’s doing volunteer work or taking a portion of their salary and figuring out where they want that money to go. You have to find ways to inspire people to get involved.
Look, it happened with me. Obviously, I know what’s going on in Africa, and I’ve contributed money to various funds over the years. But until you go there and you see it and experience it, it just feels like a problem that’s somewhere in the distance, and it doesn’t really affect you. So you’re not moved to do anything about it.
Dr. Kim: How are you going to bring your art together with this? Do you see the two efforts coming together somehow?
Madonna: I’m making a documentary about the orphans in Malawi. And it’s not really about just Malawi; it’s about all of Africa, because Malawi shares a lot of the same problems with other countries. Making a film is an expression of my art, and I believe I’m going to connect to people that way, as a parent and a human being of this world. I want to appeal to people’s sense of humanity and interconnectedness. I feel like I have the platform I’m standing on for a reason. It’s not just to make people happy and get people to dance and sing, to feel an escape. It’s also to get people to listen and to bring important issues to the forefront. With the success I’ve had and the position I’ve earned in the world, people are listening to me, so I’d better have something important to say.
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Dear Friend,
I recently joined AGLOCO because of a friend recommended it to me. I am now promoting it to you because
I like the idea and I want you to share in what I think will be an exciting new Internet concept.
AGLOCO’s story is simple:
Do you realize how valuable you are? Advertisers, search providers and online retailers are paying
billions to reach you while you surf. How much of that money are you making? NONE!
AGLOCO thinks you deserve a piece of the action.
AGLOCO collects money from those companies on behalf of its members. (For example, Google currently
pays AOL 10 cents for every Google search by an AOL user. And Google still has enough profit to pay
$1.6 billion dollars for YouTube, an 18-month old site full of content that YouTube’s users did not get paid for!
AGLOCO will work to get its Members their share of this and more.
AGLOCO is building a new form of online community that they call an Economic Network. They are not
only paying Members their fair share, but they’re building a community that will generate the kind
of fortune that YouTube made. But instead of that wealth making only a few people rich, the entire
community will get its share.
What's the catch? No catch - no spyware, no pop-ups and no spam - membership and software are free
and AGLOCO is 100% member owned. Privacy is a core value and AGLOCO never sells or rents member information.
So do both of us a favor: Sign up for AGLOCO right now! If you use this link to sign up,
I automatically get credit for referring you and helping to build AGLOCO.
Thanks
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