I don’t think Dan was ready for the dramatic narrative and powerful imagery in this video. He was reacting to this like it was Express Yourself or Cherish. This was Madonna’s most politically charged music video and cemented her status as a serious artist. Even Justify My Love & Erotica bow to this video.
@@CircusInto I agree with you besides, it's interesting to see how they see all very literal and get confused, and are unable to see the whole thing like a metaphor of many things happening in US society at that time.
The Catholic church was so outraged, cos she was dancing in front of burning crosses and kissing a black saint in the middle of the church, that Madonna was accused of blasphemy and excommunicated by the Vatican, excommunicated by the Pope himself. Now, about the meaning: the song uses a literary genre called "mystical poetry". The mystical poetry depicts the relationship between a person and God as a romantic and even erotic relationship, where God is the beloved and the person is the lover. Mystical poetry was born within the Sufi writers (Sufism is the mystical side of Islam). One of the greatest mystical poets was Rumi. Later on, the mystical poetry was adopted by Christian poets. The main one was Saint John of The Cross. He wrote poems addressing his love for God as a burning desire of becoming one with his beloved. In this video Madonna illustrates 2 of Saint John's most famous poems: "The Dark Night of The Soul" and "Burning Flame of Love". In that poem he describes his love for his God as if he was surrounded by burning crosses. So, Like a Prayer is a mystical song and the video illustrates that. Of course the catholic church misunderstood the message. PLEASE REACT TO "EXPRESS YOURSELF"
I love these two videos from you, because I'm an old queen, a 40 year old gay man who has LIVED, and so watching younger gays discover the sacred texts of what brought us up is fascinating. I'll be honest, it shocks me somewhat that you have not seen these videos before. I guess learning about gay history is not longer taught in classes, I am convinced that when I went to Gay School, this was the first semester. Remember that "Like A Prayer" contains the KKK symbolism of burning crosses, the Black Jesus, the interracial relationship. It was groundbreaking, and you perhaps have not realised that the ground you walk on has been broken by so many people before you. BUT, I can't criticise you for not knowing everything about gay past. I think culture is different now, you live in a 24 hour cultural world which is full on memes, Tik Toks, trends, and fashion. You've not had chance to sit down and revise, which means you've not learned about the classic Hollywood films which contained so much code for gay men to feel comforted, you've not learned about those cult documentaries - The Queen, Grey Gardens, Paris is Burning - which celebrate the greatness of camp and persecution of our true selves. I really like your reaction videos, and this Madonna learning curve is brilliant. Because you are from a certain generation of gay men who feel comfortable and have modern life VERY front and centre. But I urge you to revise what you can. Because you need to know about the journeys taken in the past to make it easy for you to finger-click and spill the T. A whole world is out there beyond the Drag Race slogans and fashion labels. Here's to it.
OMG well said. Like, these young boys are reaping the benefits from past gays that litterally died begging for some peace in a world with more respect, and these same boys have no clue or give the right credit for it. Sad.
The video has layers and layers of powerful symbolism. The Madonna character witnessed the violent assault of a woman by a group of thugs and took refuge in the church. The Statue is typical of Catholic Saints. The stigmata wounds of her hands when she picked up the assault weapon were a metaphor for how racial injustice adversely affects every one. Dan, you are one of the few young people who picked up RIGHT AWAY most of the underlying symbolism.
It's quite sad... just because everything has to be somewhat funny, silly, controversial and scandalous in order to be recognised as cool and noteworthy ... who cares if there is deeper meaning behind or even try to understand e.g. contest. Better to play stupid crazy, as information, background and history research (even for topics like music of filmography) are too much hard work to handle.
Just before Madonna released this video, she filmed a commercial for Pepsi. I forgot whether they paid her 3 or 5 million dollars. There was so much controversy over this video and Pepsi never aired the commercial but Madonna kept the money
Patrick Strong it was 5 million & like you said , she kept that, lol. I remember the controversy this video had... which only made me love the song & her even more, lol.
Burning crosses, miscegenation, Black Jesus, stigmata, American prison system, and a fab song, the list goes on. Madonna’s Like a Prayer delivered for the culture.
Man, after witness a crime scene, and see that an innocent guy (a black guy) went to jail, she seeks guidance in the church. There, a saint gives her a "message" telling her to follow her heart and to the right thing. Then, she goes to the police and helps to free him. PS: the whole videoclip works as a Play, where sometimes an actor can play more than one role. Madonna was talking about racism in1988, and how the the church is so hypocritical, and somehow the black guy is behind bars even when he is a saint. Dude, Madonna was and always be a legend! Respect. (sorry about english,
I get so sad watching this generation, there is no deep thinking or ability to extract a cultural meaning from something like this video, for it’s time and even now.
I’m so grateful to grow up with Madonna. We needed her in the 80’s. She was literally the gay angel from heaven. She fought got us like no other and her actions still pave certain paths today. She truly changed the world.
The best music video she ever made hands down, and the controversy it caused was unreal, this was back when artists were afraid to speak their minds and tackle world issues...Madonna changed that. She took controversial to another level but did it for the right reasons - to make people open their minds and wake up! Love to see you react to the original (not edited) version of Americal Life and to Bad Girl
We always held our breath as a new Madonna song/video was released. You knew she was gonna slap your face off. She always delivered, never wavered and the religious right has tried foolishly to take her down. Don't mess with The Queen.
I love watching your RPDR reaction videos, so after these past couple of videos i gotta show some respect and love! Thank YOU for educating the children who don’t know who Madonna is and what she did for our generation. It’s crazy to read comments comparing her to new artists without understanding the doors she opened for us! One way to understand this is through her videos. If i may recommend, do “Erotica” and “American life” (the original video not the censored one). And thanks again for this! All the love ❤️🙏
I mean, I guess it's 'good' that people don't know what a burning cross means, but I mean, learn your history, folks. And sadly, the topics M raised in this video are still going on today. This was BLM about 30+ years before the movement. How are we still in this mess?
In all fairness, people had been outraged about social injustice for a very long time. The difference here was that it was the first time someone with such a wide audience used their platform in this way. The only people who thought it was controversial were the bigots/intolerant in society who liked things the way they were. They were incensed that Madonna dared to criticize them. The rest of society reacted with a collective eye roll that these people thought it was controversial.
Oh.. Burning crosses is something the KKK used to do in the lawns of Black people or people sympathetic to them. So they tie in with the storyline of the black man being wrongly accused of murdering the woman. This video was making a statement about the problem our country has with racism and prejudice.
lumariadp You are obviously 100% correct in you comment but I also thought that the fact that she was white and the actor was black never even crossed his mind or was an issue for him is progress.
I absolutely love seeing young folks discover things that were so monumental to pop culture. It also helps mark the progress we've made and the progress we still have yet to make.
The more I watch this video, the more things I notice. God the Father: the Statue (Just like a child, you whisper softly to me) God the Son: the black man, who like Jesus was "crucified" (eg. arrested for a crime he didn't commit) God the Holy Spirit: the woman in the choir, who inspires Madonna's character to do the right thing You can also say that the murdered woman is God the Son because she was stabbed on the same side where Christ was stabbed on the cross after his death. One thing a lot of reaction videos get wrong is that the murdered woman and Madonna's character are the same. They're not. Madonna's character was a witness, the woman has a completely different actress who shows up in the curtain call at the end of the video.
I always thought it was an odd casting choice to put another black haired white woman as the victim of the crime, when M was brunette in this video. I mean, it's clear M is witnessing the murder and is not the victim, but if people aren't paying close attention I can see why they'd be confused.
She's still banned in Nebraska till this day. The cops would stop her performances of Like a Virgin and Prayer all over the country it was a wild time in the 80s.
Its a music video with themes that challenges views on christianity and the view of Jesus held by the church. It has a powerful message on race and for women relative to an often oppressive religion. In 2020 this isn't too crazy but for the 80s this was a big deal. Madonna pissed off the entire Catholic church with this.
You’re watching a pop culture classic here, so the whole ‘not getting it oooh sis yass slay mama’ schtick comes off as plain stupid. Also you don’t exactly look like a spring chicken...so overall, it’s not a good look on you.
Lmao!!!!!🤣😂🙌🌈 my thoughts exactly. Girl, you're not 20yrs old.... the fact that you look 35 and are acting like the super twink yazzzz queen poster girl is a bad look. You can be funny while reviewing, but you come off as just stupid. The gays today smh... with that hand clinch bird flap...ugh!!!! Apparently all the hard work gays my age had to go through was to allow these kids( still think he's closer to that aarp than he's letting on) to just be vapid
Lorenzo Antonio no, he's acting moronic and trying to act as if he's a on fire gurl... he's clearly pushing 40, and probably out of work, having nothing to do with this pandemic
You should react to Michelle Visage's old group Seduction, when she was giving Madonna realness, which is why I think the runway was a night of 1000 Michelle Visages, "Heartbeat" was my jam back in the day, lol.
Alyssia Melange - Seduction a fantastic album. Heartbeat, Nothing Matters Without Love, You're My One And Only, Two To Make It Right I was jammin to this album as well as Expose's album. Love these lady trios.
This 'react' of one of the greatest music videos was excruciating to watch. The entire concept and symbolisms of this video seemed to be lost of this dude.
considering what's going on in America (literally right now) it's crazy that you didn't pick up on the message of this video and her own wise nature...that she was shedding light on these issues 30 years ago
This is something for you Dan that I found online: Madonna described 'Like a Prayer' as the song about a passionate young girl "so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life." Inspiration for the track also came from the Catholic belief of transubstantiation, the change of essence by which the bread and wine offered in the sacrifice of the sacrament during the Mass, become, in reality, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. She later changed the context of the song so that the lyrics had dual meaning. While the song may have seemed superficial and about sexuality and religion on the surface, the song actually had different meanings intended to provoke reaction from her listeners.
“Back in the day”. ?!?!?!? I laughed then cried because I was in college during the controversy. LOL. I think you should watch Human Nature. Not for a video reaction but I think there are some things in it that Hansy might want you to do to him. 😜
My all time fave is Express Yourself, followed closely by Human Nature. HN has such intricate choreography and stunning visual effects (Madonna's expertise). No matter much how time goes by, her works still speak for themselves!
The statue is a Saint based on the Saint Martin de Porres that patron saint of mixed race people. It was a comment of racism at the time, including religious iconography of the crying of a statue, stigmata of bleeding hands. The burning crosses were very much something the KKK did. It showed the racism of a wrong black man imprisioned the way that Saint Martin fought for equality in the Church as black and native people were not recognised as full members before his time. He was Dominican and the guy who played him is the actor form Cool Runnings :)
Madonna won both ways. Massive hit and Pepsi had just done an ad with her but pulled it after the release of like a prayer. She sued Pepsi and won millions
This is the greatest and best pop song/video of ALL time. The whole thing, the controversy and stuff with Pepsi is legendary, and nothing will ever come close to it
Basically from what I understood from my Mom (which you touched on), at the time, the burning crosses and the fact that (subjectively) the man she's letting free/making out with is dressed similar to Jesus is why it was 'controversial' (Plus the fact that some bigots were losing it that the 'Jesus' figure was played by a black guy). Not anything overtly 'shocking' to us in 2020, but at the time the bigots/ religious groups were losing their collective crap, and even though I'm not the biggest Madonna fan, I love her for that. xD
Here’s a little sidebar of trivia, the black actor in the video is named Leon. Some of you might recognize him from the Real Housewives of Atlanta! He’s Cynthia’s ex and her daughter Noel’s dad.
It is hard for me to watch your reactions, it looks like no one in your Group would explain to you the hypermasculinity of the 80's, the racial profiling, and the sacrum profanum conflicts. Maybe it's my age, or my European up bringing... But that is very sad for me.
No shade, but I took more from this video watching it for the first time as an 8 year old than you did.. 🤦♂️ Stigmata, social injustice, racism, white privilege, blasphemy, hypocrisy, metaphors -it's all in there & it caused such a shit-storm in 89 when it was released. Although to be fair the world is a very different place to what it was like in the 80s... Madonna can educate you though! 👍
I honestly think it hasn't changed much at all... we're still dealing with a lot of this ish. The BLM movement started because the racism and police injustice that this video criticizes is still going on today. America is fucked, and just as divided as it ever was.
Thanks for sharing. I would like to recommend a chinese singer Hua Chenyu "A New World". He is a singer & composer that can sing & compose many styles of music. He write or rearrange with a song with pop, rock, rap, classical and so on. I haven't see any singer perform many type of music like him. Listen his performance is same like watch a team. Last year, he just held 3 consecutive nights concert on 15-17 Nov with 50,000 audience each. The sales of his new digital album recently released is more than 1 Million within 3 days. He is the top singer in China that you should not miss out.
Hua Chenyu is so unique and talented. Each of his songs has a different style and special meaning."A New World"is a unique rock full of Positive Energy .Worthy of appreciation.Can't wait to hear Hua Chenyu. Thank you for your recommendation.
Love your recommendation. Hua Chenyu is incredible! This is the title song of his fourth album, which he has just released. I really like the feeling that this song brings me to stand on the peak and look out. His music is very thoughtful and spiritual. The rap and high notes at the end of the song give people goose bumps. Please check it out.😊
I love that these guys are appreciating Madonna's work. I love seeing younger gays finally seeing how influential and iconic Madoon is. But MAN, are all baby gays this naive? I need to have faith in the future.
THERE IS ONLY 1 REASON SHE IS THE QUEEN OF POP, BUT FIRST YOU NEED TO START WATCHING HER VIDEOS FROM THE 80'S AND 90'S. (I WILL SUGGEST PAPA DON'T PREACH, AND SEE WHY GIGI WAS THE WINNER OF THE RUSICAL, EVEN THOUGH I LOVED JAIDA'S NUMBER.) YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO LISTEN TO THE LYRICS. IF TAKE A LOOK A LOOK AND LISTEN TO ALL HER MUSIC SHE WILL EXPERIENCE SOMETHING NEW ON EACH ONE OF THEM.(POP, BALLADS, SEX, ELECTRONICA AMERICANA, DISCO, ECT) THERE IS ONLY 1 ARTIST (BESIDES CHER),THAT AFTER 40+ YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY IS STILL ACTIVE RECORDING , TOURING, RE-INVENTING HERSELF IN EVERYTHING THAT SHE DOES. I CAN GO ON BUT, YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND UNTIL YOU AT LEAST WATCH HER VIDEOS. THEN YOU MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION. BUT REMEMBER ONE THING, WHO'S THE QUEEN OF POP? IT'S MADONNA BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The meaning behind the video was intended to bring awareness to racial bigotry and injustice. Instead the controversy was a black Jesus and burning crosses that sent the Catholic Church in an uproar. At the time Pepsi sponsored the song in their tv ad commercial, until they saw the video. Child! Thats when the S really hit the fan. Pepsi dropped her, but once again, being the Diva she is, sued and got her royalties in the end. Yes ma’am!
I think you got the gist of it but to clarify: the Catholic church was up in arms because she kissed a saint and showed herself with stigmata while some black people were offended by the burning crosses (which is a symbol of racism and used by the KKK to terrorize blacks in the south and which M was obviously using to speak out against racial injustice). Some black critics accused M of appropriating gospel music and black culture, and on top of all of that people threatened to boycott Pepsi (which premiered the song in a commercial and was her tour sponsor) so they cut ties with M after paying her $5 million. You should react to "Vogue," "Express Yourself" or "Erotica" next.
Instead of attacking him as ignorant - share the knowledge. The key symbols he mentioned and was unsure about were: The ‘burning cross’ which was a reference to the Ku Klux Klan (and yes, in part ‘religion’), the ‘cutting’ were stigmata or wounds of crucifixion, kissing the feet - is an act of humble veneration, the ‘statue’ was a depiction of a black saint (although many believed it was a representation of Jesus). In the video a visual and symbolic parallel is created between the Saint behind gates in the grotto and the man unjustly arrested for a crime (the murder of a woman) he did not commit. Madonna had a spiritual awakening in the church - hence the rapturous dancing, choir, supernatural stigmata and vision of the Saint kissing her after she opened the gates. This experience gave her the strength to act as a witness, tell the truth, stand against racism and ensure the man in jail was released.
Other controversial Madonna videos that are definitely worth checking out are “American Life (Unedited Version)” about politics in America, “What It Feels Like For A Girl” about female empowerment, and other epic vids of hers that are just worth reacting to: “Nothing Really Matters”, “Papa Don’t Preach”, and “Frozen”
Majority of her videos caused controversy. If you had paid attention to the beginning you wouldn't have been confused. Still, cool that the younger generation are discovering Madonna!!
I get not knowing all cultural relevance as a 20 something but how the hell did this generation grow up not knowing who Madonna was? A good comparison being I didn’t know everything about ABBA or David Bowie or Elton John BUT I knew they were icons and I knew they were massive and I knew some of their music. It’s like the world didn’t exist before 2010 for young people nowadays. So messed
I don’t think Dan was ready for the dramatic narrative and powerful imagery in this video. He was reacting to this like it was Express Yourself or Cherish. This was Madonna’s most politically charged music video and cemented her status as a serious artist. Even Justify My Love & Erotica bow to this video.
Totally
‘She cut herself’ lol it’s called the stigmata and has a specific religious meaning 🤦🏻♂️.
@@CircusInto I agree with you besides, it's interesting to see how they see all very literal and get confused, and are unable to see the whole thing like a metaphor of many things happening in US society at that time.
It’s catholic, biblical. Refers to the spikes through Jesus when he was nailed to the cross. Take a class boy, lol
The Catholic church was so outraged, cos she was dancing in front of burning crosses and kissing a black saint in the middle of the church, that Madonna was accused of blasphemy and excommunicated by the Vatican, excommunicated by the Pope himself. Now, about the meaning: the song uses a literary genre called "mystical poetry". The mystical poetry depicts the relationship between a person and God as a romantic and even erotic relationship, where God is the beloved and the person is the lover. Mystical poetry was born within the Sufi writers (Sufism is the mystical side of Islam). One of the greatest mystical poets was Rumi. Later on, the mystical poetry was adopted by Christian poets. The main one was Saint John of The Cross. He wrote poems addressing his love for God as a burning desire of becoming one with his beloved. In this video Madonna illustrates 2 of Saint John's most famous poems: "The Dark Night of The Soul" and "Burning Flame of Love". In that poem he describes his love for his God as if he was surrounded by burning crosses. So, Like a Prayer is a mystical song and the video illustrates that. Of course the catholic church misunderstood the message. PLEASE REACT TO "EXPRESS YOURSELF"
I absolutely love your reactions to her music. You get it. Finally, someone intelligent, and seemingly attractive. Stay well friend.
@@jeffhilbert6212 well thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy my insights. I hope he reacts to Express Yourself. That video is full of meaning.
Always the best comments are yours. Isn't it time for you to make your own TH-cam channel analyzing Madonna's videos. You should
@@marianoprato7971 thank you! You know... I thought about it. Maybe I could.
@@NocturneSoul you should ! You have the first follower here. By the way you speak Spanish, don't you?
I love these two videos from you, because I'm an old queen, a 40 year old gay man who has LIVED, and so watching younger gays discover the sacred texts of what brought us up is fascinating. I'll be honest, it shocks me somewhat that you have not seen these videos before. I guess learning about gay history is not longer taught in classes, I am convinced that when I went to Gay School, this was the first semester. Remember that "Like A Prayer" contains the KKK symbolism of burning crosses, the Black Jesus, the interracial relationship. It was groundbreaking, and you perhaps have not realised that the ground you walk on has been broken by so many people before you.
BUT, I can't criticise you for not knowing everything about gay past. I think culture is different now, you live in a 24 hour cultural world which is full on memes, Tik Toks, trends, and fashion. You've not had chance to sit down and revise, which means you've not learned about the classic Hollywood films which contained so much code for gay men to feel comforted, you've not learned about those cult documentaries - The Queen, Grey Gardens, Paris is Burning - which celebrate the greatness of camp and persecution of our true selves.
I really like your reaction videos, and this Madonna learning curve is brilliant. Because you are from a certain generation of gay men who feel comfortable and have modern life VERY front and centre. But I urge you to revise what you can. Because you need to know about the journeys taken in the past to make it easy for you to finger-click and spill the T. A whole world is out there beyond the Drag Race slogans and fashion labels. Here's to it.
I am a 41 straight woman from south América (Perú) and I got all the references when I was a teenager!!! It was HUUUUGE!!!
Thank you for putting into print what I've always wanted to say about millennials/gen z. (41 year old here)
"Sacred texts." I love that so much.
OMG well said. Like, these young boys are reaping the benefits from past gays that litterally died begging for some peace in a world with more respect, and these same boys have no clue or give the right credit for it. Sad.
The video has layers and layers of powerful symbolism. The Madonna character witnessed the violent assault of a woman by a group of thugs and took refuge in the church. The Statue is typical of Catholic Saints. The stigmata wounds of her hands when she picked up the assault weapon were a metaphor for how racial injustice adversely affects every one. Dan, you are one of the few young people who picked up RIGHT AWAY most of the underlying symbolism.
There is a difference between being playful and funny and being just plain ignorant..... Really dude?
agree
It's quite sad... just because everything has to be somewhat funny, silly, controversial and scandalous in order to be recognised as cool and noteworthy ... who cares if there is deeper meaning behind or even try to understand e.g. contest. Better to play stupid crazy, as information, background and history research (even for topics like music of filmography) are too much hard work to handle.
@@MiguelAngel-su8qo really sad
Each person will react in their own way. Dan tried quite hard to make sense of an incredibly complex work of art.
Hadn´t seen it before?? what did they teach you at school Dan? I need talk to your principal :P
Failed Gay Iconic Moments 101 xD
Just before Madonna released this video, she filmed a commercial for Pepsi. I forgot whether they paid her 3 or 5 million dollars. There was so much controversy over this video and Pepsi never aired the commercial but Madonna kept the money
Patrick Strong it was 5 million & like you said , she kept that, lol. I remember the controversy this video had... which only made me love the song & her even more, lol.
And with all of this controversy she got a lot of free publicity and it helped to promote her single and album Like a Prayer.
I was aired outside the usa
It was aired once during the Cosby Show. I taped it.
Burning crosses, miscegenation, Black Jesus, stigmata, American prison system, and a fab song, the list goes on. Madonna’s Like a Prayer delivered for the culture.
Man, after witness a crime scene, and see that an innocent guy (a black guy) went to jail, she seeks guidance in the church. There, a saint gives her a "message" telling her to follow her heart and to the right thing. Then, she goes to the police and helps to free him. PS: the whole videoclip works as a Play, where sometimes an actor can play more than one role. Madonna was talking about racism in1988, and how the the church is so hypocritical, and somehow the black guy is behind bars even when he is a saint. Dude, Madonna was and always be a legend! Respect. (sorry about english,
this dude's level of intellect should restrict him to reacting to peppa pig videos only
I get so sad watching this generation, there is no deep thinking or ability to extract a cultural meaning from something like this video, for it’s time and even now.
Excess bitchy queeniness is a cover for real emotions. Everything is a drag show.
Awe, you missed the entire point but thanks for the effort! Muah!
Ok,,,,bible much ..sigh
@@lifeisthedash what are you even saying? That Saintsgumbo needs to read the Bible?
Or that the reviewer needs to?
Just. What.
#MakeSense
I’m so grateful to grow up with Madonna. We needed her in the 80’s. She was literally the gay angel from heaven. She fought got us like no other and her actions still pave certain paths today. She truly changed the world.
The best music video she ever made hands down, and the controversy it caused was unreal, this was back when artists were afraid to speak their minds and tackle world issues...Madonna changed that. She took controversial to another level but did it for the right reasons - to make people open their minds and wake up! Love to see you react to the original (not edited) version of Americal Life and to Bad Girl
We always held our breath as a new Madonna song/video was released. You knew she was gonna slap your face off. She always delivered, never wavered and the religious right has tried foolishly to take her down. Don't mess with The Queen.
I love watching your RPDR reaction videos, so after these past couple of videos i gotta show some respect and love!
Thank YOU for educating the children who don’t know who Madonna is and what she did for our generation. It’s crazy to read comments comparing her to new artists without understanding the doors she opened for us! One way to understand this is through her videos.
If i may recommend, do “Erotica” and “American life” (the original video not the censored one).
And thanks again for this! All the love ❤️🙏
You're not dumb, your generation just doesn't really analyze things and understand symbolism the way we did in GenX.
I mean, I guess it's 'good' that people don't know what a burning cross means, but I mean, learn your history, folks. And sadly, the topics M raised in this video are still going on today. This was BLM about 30+ years before the movement. How are we still in this mess?
You must be a very shallow person to not understand what’s going on in this video.
Dan she is one of a kind and changed not only music but the world
React to Papa don't preach by madonna and you'll see why Gigi deserved the win....
The guy is based on Saint Martin. Madonna kissing a saint and showing burning crosses and the racial undertones was too hot for the old establishment.
you must to educate yourself to understand this video, catholic imagerie and significance, the place of the black community at that time...
In all fairness, people had been outraged about social injustice for a very long time. The difference here was that it was the first time someone with such a wide audience used their platform in this way. The only people who thought it was controversial were the bigots/intolerant in society who liked things the way they were. They were incensed that Madonna dared to criticize them. The rest of society reacted with a collective eye roll that these people thought it was controversial.
Oh.. Burning crosses is something the KKK used to do in the lawns of Black people or people sympathetic to them. So they tie in with the storyline of the black man being wrongly accused of murdering the woman. This video was making a statement about the problem our country has with racism and prejudice.
lumariadp You are obviously 100% correct in you comment but I also thought that the fact that she was white and the actor was black never even crossed his mind or was an issue for him is progress.
Long live the Queen😍👑👏
I absolutely love seeing young folks discover things that were so monumental to pop culture. It also helps mark the progress we've made and the progress we still have yet to make.
Keep up with madonnaher catalog is so vast and iconic 👑👑👑
The more I watch this video, the more things I notice.
God the Father: the Statue (Just like a child, you whisper softly to me)
God the Son: the black man, who like Jesus was "crucified" (eg. arrested for a crime he didn't commit)
God the Holy Spirit: the woman in the choir, who inspires Madonna's character to do the right thing
You can also say that the murdered woman is God the Son because she was stabbed on the same side where Christ was stabbed on the cross after his death. One thing a lot of reaction videos get wrong is that the murdered woman and Madonna's character are the same. They're not. Madonna's character was a witness, the woman has a completely different actress who shows up in the curtain call at the end of the video.
I always thought it was an odd casting choice to put another black haired white woman as the victim of the crime, when M was brunette in this video. I mean, it's clear M is witnessing the murder and is not the victim, but if people aren't paying close attention I can see why they'd be confused.
She's still banned in Nebraska till this day. The cops would stop her performances of Like a Virgin and Prayer all over the country it was a wild time in the 80s.
This guy must have zero neurons LMAO
Do "Vogue" from the MTV 1990 Awards. It's a stellar and iconic performance.
Just imagine, during this time, interracial relationships were not widely accepted. You weren’t able to date Hanzy.
Jungle Bunny interracial relationships were widely accepted in USA in the 80’s? Like homosexuals are widely accepted through USA?
How amazing that one women turned the world upside down. I bought this album and 12" when it came out. And yes that was a black Jesus!
Hey I just found your channel while listening to Madonna I love your vibe ❤️ I subscribed 💕
Its a music video with themes that challenges views on christianity and the view of Jesus held by the church. It has a powerful message on race and for women relative to an often oppressive religion. In 2020 this isn't too crazy but for the 80s this was a big deal. Madonna pissed off the entire Catholic church with this.
You’re watching a pop culture classic here, so the whole ‘not getting it oooh sis yass slay mama’ schtick comes off as plain stupid. Also you don’t exactly look like a spring chicken...so overall, it’s not a good look on you.
M O yeah, pretty stupid indeed. Looks like some tired ass 35 year old who just came out and is making up for lost time.
M O whoa. You’re just. Wrong.
Lmao!!!!!🤣😂🙌🌈 my thoughts exactly. Girl, you're not 20yrs old.... the fact that you look 35 and are acting like the super twink yazzzz queen poster girl is a bad look. You can be funny while reviewing, but you come off as just stupid. The gays today smh... with that hand clinch bird flap...ugh!!!! Apparently all the hard work gays my age had to go through was to allow these kids( still think he's closer to that aarp than he's letting on) to just be vapid
Hey, Chill out Ol' MO! He's doing his HERstory!
Lorenzo Antonio no, he's acting moronic and trying to act as if he's a on fire gurl... he's clearly pushing 40, and probably out of work, having nothing to do with this pandemic
Not knowing Madonna’s iconic songs/videos make me feel you have a “F” in the school of live.
Like is culture LOL 😂
🔥🔥Madonna sooner or later from the Oscar 1991 ! It’s amazing!!! Please see it until the end . The most iconic performance in history 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
I really wanna see you reacting to more Madonna videos, I can't wait!!
After this, you guys MUST react to the live version from the Sticky & Sweet Tour.
GET READY TO BE BLOWN AWAY BY THE INTENSE PERFORMANCE!!!
React to Vogue from the VMAs. Your edges will be SNATCHED.
You should react to Michelle Visage's old group Seduction, when she was giving Madonna realness, which is why I think the runway was a night of 1000 Michelle Visages, "Heartbeat" was my jam back in the day, lol.
Alyssia Melange - Seduction a fantastic album. Heartbeat, Nothing Matters Without Love, You're My One And Only, Two To Make It Right I was jammin to this album as well as Expose's album. Love these lady trios.
@@FirstYT40 OMG, loved Expose as well!
Madonna was so powerful by that time that she did a video with burning crosses cause she can and she wants.
This 'react' of one of the greatest music videos was excruciating to watch. The entire concept and symbolisms of this video seemed to be lost of this dude.
considering what's going on in America (literally right now) it's crazy that you didn't pick up on the message of this video and her own wise nature...that she was shedding light on these issues 30 years ago
Facts
This is something for you Dan that I found online:
Madonna described 'Like a Prayer' as the song about a passionate young girl "so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life."
Inspiration for the track also came from the Catholic belief of transubstantiation, the change of essence by which the bread and wine offered in the sacrifice of the sacrament during the Mass, become, in reality, the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
She later changed the context of the song so that the lyrics had dual meaning. While the song may have seemed superficial and about sexuality and religion on the surface, the song actually had different meanings intended to provoke reaction from her listeners.
OMG hahahaha 3:15 I loved your reaction!!
“Back in the day”. ?!?!?!? I laughed then cried because I was in college during the controversy. LOL. I think you should watch Human Nature. Not for a video reaction but I think there are some things in it that Hansy might want you to do to him. 😜
My all time fave is Express Yourself, followed closely by Human Nature. HN has such intricate choreography and stunning visual effects (Madonna's expertise). No matter much how time goes by, her works still speak for themselves!
My favorite Madonna songs will always be Into The Groove, Ray of Light, and Hung Up.
The statue is a Saint based on the Saint Martin de Porres that patron saint of mixed race people. It was a comment of racism at the time, including religious iconography of the crying of a statue, stigmata of bleeding hands. The burning crosses were very much something the KKK did. It showed the racism of a wrong black man imprisioned the way that Saint Martin fought for equality in the Church as black and native people were not recognised as full members before his time. He was Dominican and the guy who played him is the actor form Cool Runnings :)
Madonna won both ways. Massive hit and Pepsi had just done an ad with her but pulled it after the release of like a prayer. She sued Pepsi and won millions
Sherry's part in the Rusical was actually longer, but they edited it out. If you wanna hear her full verse, listen to the song on Spotify
TAKE. A. BOW.
You should react to it if you haven't heard it. Best Madonna song hands down.
That song has a twin:
“You’ll See”
This is the greatest and best pop song/video of ALL time. The whole thing, the controversy and stuff with Pepsi is legendary, and nothing will ever come close to it
Basically from what I understood from my Mom (which you touched on), at the time, the burning crosses and the fact that (subjectively) the man she's letting free/making out with is dressed similar to Jesus is why it was 'controversial' (Plus the fact that some bigots were losing it that the 'Jesus' figure was played by a black guy). Not anything overtly 'shocking' to us in 2020, but at the time the bigots/ religious groups were losing their collective crap, and even though I'm not the biggest Madonna fan, I love her for that. xD
I must be in an alternative universe. I could have sworn you've done this already with Handsy
I have those memories too
Here’s a little sidebar of trivia, the black actor in the video is named Leon. Some of you might recognize him from the Real Housewives of Atlanta! He’s Cynthia’s ex and her daughter Noel’s dad.
"Oop, there's a burning cross,"..."happy Easter bitches". Lmao. No words.
You're hilarious.
This is the one I also requested u do its my fav and wow!
She is the Queen of Pop!
That african american guy / statue symbolized Jesus christ
Her Pepsi deal commercial was pulled because of this video. Fun fact it was aired once during the Cosby Show.
I played this on repeat and thought i was the stigmata madonna lol
I love the controversy and her vision of love is love❤🙌
#legend #icon
It is hard for me to watch your reactions, it looks like no one in your Group would explain to you the hypermasculinity of the 80's, the racial profiling, and the sacrum profanum conflicts. Maybe it's my age, or my European up bringing... But that is very sad for me.
CHOKING ON MY CHOKER LMFAOOOO
Ok. Now you need to watch Who's that Girl. Perfect Madonna movie and the soundtrack is bomb.
To understand Jan and Gigi's Madonna looks and performances better, look at the music videos, 'Lucky Star' for Jan, and 'Papa Don't Preach' for Gigi.
No shade, but I took more from this video watching it for the first time as an 8 year old than you did.. 🤦♂️ Stigmata, social injustice, racism, white privilege, blasphemy, hypocrisy, metaphors -it's all in there & it caused such a shit-storm in 89 when it was released. Although to be fair the world is a very different place to what it was like in the 80s... Madonna can educate you though! 👍
I honestly think it hasn't changed much at all... we're still dealing with a lot of this ish. The BLM movement started because the racism and police injustice that this video criticizes is still going on today. America is fucked, and just as divided as it ever was.
Thanks for sharing. I would like to recommend a chinese singer Hua Chenyu "A New World". He is a singer & composer that can sing & compose many styles of music. He write or rearrange with a song with pop, rock, rap, classical and so on. I haven't see any singer perform many type of music like him. Listen his performance is same like watch a team.
Last year, he just held 3 consecutive nights concert on 15-17 Nov with 50,000 audience each. The sales of his new digital album recently released is more than 1 Million within 3 days. He is the top singer in China that you should not miss out.
Hua Chenyu is so unique and talented. Each of his songs has a different style and special meaning."A New World"is a unique rock full of Positive Energy .Worthy of appreciation.Can't wait to hear Hua Chenyu. Thank you for your recommendation.
Love your recommendation. Hua Chenyu is incredible! This is the title song of his fourth album, which he has just released. I really like the feeling that this song brings me to stand on the peak and look out. His music is very thoughtful and spiritual. The rap and high notes at the end of the song give people goose bumps. Please check it out.😊
A Nee World is not merely a song. It has a deeper meaning to Hua Chenyu and his fans. He is bringing us to a New World of music.
Very amazing performance.Please check link below and you won't disappointed.
"A New World"
th-cam.com/video/p3C3LtKdbQc/w-d-xo.html
Prince plays guitar in this.
The message is race, social injustice, Catholicism, St. Augustine, oppression and any other isms
I love that these guys are appreciating Madonna's work. I love seeing younger gays finally seeing how influential and iconic Madoon is. But MAN, are all baby gays this naive? I need to have faith in the future.
THERE IS ONLY 1 REASON SHE IS THE QUEEN OF POP, BUT FIRST YOU NEED TO START WATCHING HER VIDEOS FROM THE 80'S AND 90'S. (I WILL SUGGEST PAPA DON'T PREACH, AND SEE WHY GIGI WAS THE WINNER OF THE RUSICAL, EVEN THOUGH I LOVED JAIDA'S NUMBER.) YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO LISTEN TO THE LYRICS. IF TAKE A LOOK A LOOK AND LISTEN TO ALL HER MUSIC SHE WILL EXPERIENCE SOMETHING NEW ON EACH ONE OF THEM.(POP, BALLADS, SEX, ELECTRONICA AMERICANA, DISCO, ECT) THERE IS ONLY 1 ARTIST (BESIDES CHER),THAT AFTER 40+ YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY IS STILL ACTIVE RECORDING , TOURING, RE-INVENTING HERSELF IN EVERYTHING THAT SHE DOES. I CAN GO ON BUT, YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND UNTIL YOU AT LEAST WATCH HER VIDEOS. THEN YOU MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION. BUT REMEMBER ONE THING, WHO'S THE QUEEN OF POP? IT'S MADONNA BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CLUELESS TO THE MAX!
The meaning behind the video was intended to bring awareness to racial bigotry and injustice. Instead the controversy was a black Jesus and burning crosses that sent the Catholic Church in an uproar. At the time Pepsi sponsored the song in their tv ad commercial, until they saw the video. Child! Thats when the S really hit the fan. Pepsi dropped her, but once again, being the Diva she is, sued and got her royalties in the end. Yes ma’am!
I think you got the gist of it but to clarify: the Catholic church was up in arms because she kissed a saint and showed herself with stigmata while some black people were offended by the burning crosses (which is a symbol of racism and used by the KKK to terrorize blacks in the south and which M was obviously using to speak out against racial injustice). Some black critics accused M of appropriating gospel music and black culture, and on top of all of that people threatened to boycott Pepsi (which premiered the song in a commercial and was her tour sponsor) so they cut ties with M after paying her $5 million.
You should react to "Vogue," "Express Yourself" or "Erotica" next.
she lost a multi-million dollar Pepsi commercial deal due to this video.
If you haven’t watched it yet watch Papa Don’t Preach.
Like A Prayer came out on March 3, 1989
You have to watch Madonna's Open Your Heart video
Instead of attacking him as ignorant - share the knowledge. The key symbols he mentioned and was unsure about were: The ‘burning cross’ which was a reference to the Ku Klux Klan (and yes, in part ‘religion’), the ‘cutting’ were stigmata or wounds of crucifixion, kissing the feet - is an act of humble veneration, the ‘statue’ was a depiction of a black saint (although many believed it was a representation of Jesus). In the video a visual and symbolic parallel is created between the Saint behind gates in the grotto and the man unjustly arrested for a crime (the murder of a woman) he did not commit. Madonna had a spiritual awakening in the church - hence the rapturous dancing, choir, supernatural stigmata and vision of the Saint kissing her after she opened the gates. This experience gave her the strength to act as a witness, tell the truth, stand against racism and ensure the man in jail was released.
Other controversial Madonna videos that are definitely worth checking out are “American Life (Unedited Version)” about politics in America, “What It Feels Like For A Girl” about female empowerment, and other epic vids of hers that are just worth reacting to: “Nothing Really Matters”, “Papa Don’t Preach”, and “Frozen”
Dude. Really???
Dan be like Haleluyerrrrssss
The Pope threatened to ban Pepsi from the Vatican because of this video 😂.
MY FAV MADONNA SONG 😭😭😭😭
He is A BLACK Jesus Can thats one reason why it was a big deal
It was not Jesus, the saint was inspired by Martin de Porres the patron saint of mixed-race people.
Majority of her videos caused controversy. If you had paid attention to the beginning you wouldn't have been confused. Still, cool that the younger generation are discovering Madonna!!
OK.... I love the dancing earring!!!
Yas! We all love a Jewellery Queen
Her latest music video ''God Control" one of her most controversial music videos ...
Somehow I find this so disrespectful!
It’s not JUST A STATUE. It’s black Jesus!
Guys please you need to react mandona soon or or later at the Oscars !
Do wanna see something so surreal from 90's? See her Bedtime story music video and get ready to have your mind blown!
You literally missed the entire point of this music video.
Madonna Vouge! It may not be controversial but it's EPIC!
for 1989 it was pretty contriversial
All of her stuff was always causing people to flip but it was what the world needed
I get not knowing all cultural relevance as a 20 something but how the hell did this generation grow up not knowing who Madonna was? A good comparison being I didn’t know everything about ABBA or David Bowie or Elton John BUT I knew they were icons and I knew they were massive and I knew some of their music. It’s like the world didn’t exist before 2010 for young people nowadays. So messed