Over her 30 years in the business, it cannot be denied that she has been deemed as a love to hate figurine. The more years that pass, the more we realise that what Madonna was doing at the time was either relevant or a very good thing therefore it can be seen as she is being underappreciated. Let me take you through a few ideas.
During the 1980s, she was one of the primary activists in raising awareness of HIV, feminism, homosexuality, religion and race equality. The danger of HIV lacked concern and Madonna raised awareness of this through actively speaking about it in concert, dedicating songs to her friends and encouraging people to use condoms. With regards to feminism, she is one of the first women to take full control of their musical career and opt what to do next - she was at the forefront for empowering women to become more comfortable as sexual beings without being judged by an older generation - remember the days of Justify My Love, Express Yourself and Erotica? These all potentially laid the foundations for women of our generation to embrace sexuality and know that it's ok to show some skin and your curves. Now look at our generation, teenage cute popstars like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Britney Spears, who all at first had a cute pop persona dived into a more erotic, sexy reinvention for their music yet they barely receive any negative criticisms. Essentially, when someone steps into an unfamiliar zone, people criticise. Now everybody is making a song about being a strong person or about sex and people are so cool about it. Madonna essentially picked up the sledgehammer and smashed the metaphorical judgemental wall of society, giving the future generations the ability to love themselves more.
In 2005 and 2009, Madonna decided to adopt from Malawi two children that were both suffering in extremely poor conditions, suffering from pneumonia, with relatives plagued by HIV and Malaria and gave them a proper home, support and education and love. This is something that they most likely would not have gotten had they grown up in the poorest country in the world. Madonna has not done this as a public stunt, it is because she is passionate about helping others. Don't believe me? She released in 2008 a documentary on the children of Malawi, documenting the harsh truths of the LEDC. In addition, she has created several charities such as the Ray of Light foundation and Raising Malawi. Since 2005, she has been able to build 10 schools and hospitals for children in order for them to have a potential future and to protect them from danger. In addition to this, she has made visits to the Philippines to see the local nurseries and the orphanages.Take a look at many legends that have graced our planet - Michael Jackson, Elvis, Britney, Whitney Houston, Kurt Cobain...One thing they all have in common - drugs. They all have promoted the idea both directly or indirectly that living the rock star lifestyle provides you the ultimate dream - drugs, sex and money. What happened to them? Essentially, most of them have passed due to drug use, have jeopardised their longevity of their career or have come to a standpoint where anything they do now will never be good enough. As for Madonna, at the age of 57, she still lives which in rock star years is like fossil years! No one has ever come this far to having over 4 decades worth of success with no sign of stopping. Whilst she has tried drugs in her youth, she is human for god sake, she has gone around showing off how amazing it is or gone off the walls and ended up in rehab! Instead, we see her exercising non stop, still producing top notch music, promoting exercise and healthy diets and looking like she is not a day over 40. Her dance moves and routines on tour prove how significant she is and the hard work she implements. Her fitness levels are probably higher than our generations' teens put together. You try looking like that at 57 and working out as hard. At that age, many people say 'enough!' - retire in the countryside and have a nice occasional cruise from time to time. Madonna is clearly not finished.
Madonna started her career from nothing. She came from an extremely poor background where she was learnt that hard work ethic gets you places. She stuck to her studies throughout her adolescent life and then pursued a career in New York, one of the largest cities in the world with only $35. This is no exaggeration. She slept in stranger's houses and worked in Dunkin Donuts for a living as well as doing the thing she dreamt of doing the most - dancing. One of the worst experiences she had was that she was raped and held at knife point in the city. None of this got in her way, as a rape victim and someone who was alone in a whole new environment she managed to make become one of the biggest inspirations to women and men.
Essentially, even before that, she had lost her mother to cancer at the age 5. This was one of the hardest things for her to endure and this pain never went away until the birth of her first child began cementing her heart back together. Her life has never been easy but essentially she hasn't just thrown in the towel either. She carried on living, surviving and being the person she is. That is what people should strive to do, to achieve greatness regardless at how much hatred is thrown at you because essentially you are not here to please anyone - you are here on this earth to make yourself and only yourself happy.
When looking at the Brits, despite people found this hilarious, many people failed to see the true powerful message behind that song and that performance. Fall down, you don't just lie there, you get up and continue. No one could have been more embarrassed than Madonna falling off the stage and so many people would have cried and cancelled the show however she got up and carried on like a champion.
Essentially, looking at her life in general she is the mother of 4 who manages to balance her time with both her children, her health and her music career, which many people struggle to do and usually sacrifice one of them. The fact that Madonna is so hard working is a testament and should be inspiring our generation to reach for our goals and stars and not give up at the age of 20 and become a couch potato.
