Liz Smith on Hollywood
From Liz Smith’s column.
“ONE should always be a little improbable,” said Oscar Wilde.
Dear Oscar . . . He would have loved our longtime friend Madonna. So, about her new video, titled, “Hollywood,” let’s revert to the “See Dick and Jane run” genre.
See Madonna look like Jean Harlow . . . See Madonna look like Jennifer Lopez . . . See Madonna bounce luridly on a ball . . . See Madonna getting an erotic massage . . . See Madonna in makeup she hasn’t worn since 1985 . . . See Madonna work the ballet bar . . . See Madonna caressing herself (Enough already!) . . . See Madonna get Botox shots in the face with a real needle, etc. (The needle is real. I don’t know about the Botox.)
Yes, it’s all here in the new video that is, by turns, amusing, chaotic, sexy, glam, trashy, inexplicable. But in the hands of cinematographer Jean Baptiste Mondino, it is quite beautifully done. This is the video and the very danceable single that should have launched Madonna’s “American Life” album that came out about two months ago.
This latest effort – a kaleidoscope of personas – is probably how Madonna’s fans want her. But, of course, the reason for music videos escapes me.
I always want something good to last more than four minutes!
Oh, at the end, we see Madonna in black and white, fulsomely overdressed, hitchhiking. To me, this seemed like an homage to her infamous “SEX” book in which she hitchhiked naked, save for heels and a purse. A coda, perhaps, to a complicated career?
