Madonna's video for "Bad Girl" (directed by David Fincher, released in 1993) finds Madonna playing a character by the name of Louise Oriole, who we see in a series of unhealthy, self-destructive relationships and behavior. Louise is watched over by an angel (played by Christopher Walken), but even his efforts aren't enough to prevent Louise from meeting her tragic fate. Originally inspired by the film Looking for Mr. Goodbar with Diane Keaton, "Bad Girl" showcases where Madonna was in her personal life at that moment in time. While Louise becomes a metaphor for Madonna's failed romantic relationships (up until that point), she also demonstrates Madonna's own fear of death.

In the video, we find Louise going from one night stand, to another, and another. We first see her with a co-worker, whom she is aware is married, then with a bartender, and finally when she tries to go on a date with what we assume is a "healthy" man, she rejects him. Instead, she is drawn to a man with black hair and black jacket (whom she can only see a dark silhouette of, sitting at the bar), and she follows him as he leaves. The man then opens the door of the bar to the street for Louise, where the light from the street is not only bright, but peaceful (symbolizing that Louise is walking to her death, or "the light").

Up until 1993, Madonna had been in a series of well photographed and written about relationships with two men: Sean Penn (whom she married in 1985 and divorced in 1989), and Warren Beatty (whom she was with during 1990). Both of these men had their own dark reputation. While being married to Madonna, Sean Penn had been violent and confrontational with the media, and according to various reports, this violence had infiltrated into his relationship with Madonna. In fact, Madonna even wrote a song called "Till Death Do Us Part" for her Like A Prayer album in 1989 where she sings of an abusive relationship. Warren Beatty had a history of being both a womanizer and a gigolo, bringing his own darkness to Madonna's romantic life.

By Madonna wanting to live forever, and doing everything within her power to do so (exercising like a madwoman, eating an incredibly regimented diet, always appearing aesthetically younger than her years, consistently trying to stay current and prominent in pop culture, etc.), she confirms her own fear of death.
The opposite of our fate as human beings, is the fate of the gods, which is immortality. Madonna, in her obsessive need to defy aging and the unforgiving hands of time, is clearly afraid of dying. While Louise's finds her self-destructiveness in her addiction to sex, unhealthy men, alcohol, and cigarettes---Madonna's self-destructiveness seems to lie in her need to be immortal and never be forgotten.

The role of the angel plays a prominent role throughout the entire video. While the film Looking for Mr. Goodbar didn't have such a character, David Fincher (the director of the video) gives the story a new twist by introducing the angel. The angel, it seems, represents Louise's unconsciousness. The angel is repeatedly attempting to seep into Louise's consciousness via various actions. He blows out her cigarette at one point while she's in a restaurant for example. At another point, he dances on the footsteps to her apartment (the outside/footsteps of her apartment representing Louise's unconscious domain where he exists, while her apartment/the inside of her home represents Louis's conscious domain where he doesn't exist). In the most powerful moment of the video, he finally presents himself to her before she is about to die. Time stops when Louise's angel appears before her. Louise is confused, but after he kisses her softly on the lips, she realizes her pain and hurt is coming to an end, and she throws herself back on the bed in relief and acceptance.

On a conscious level, the insertion of the angel in the video may have been the director's wish to add a new dynamic to a story that had already been previously told in film. Unconsciously, though, the director was possibly attempting to send a message to Madonna, and the behavior she was participating in at the time. David Fincher was rumored, at one point, to be romantically involved with Madonna and he probably saw the unhealthy patterns in Madonna's personal and professional life. While a more traditional version of intervention may not have worked on Madonna, the angel seems to have been a more radical approach at intervention. If the message from the director seeped into Madonna's psyche, it's unclear at this point. Although Madonna has been married for the past seven years, her husband is well known for being macho-centric, and the films he has directed such as Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Revolver all explore pervasive themes of violence and death. Furthermore, at this point, Madonna continues to obsessively ensure she remains a prominent figure on the pop culture landscape---she's still moving at warp speed in her career, having launched three worldwide tours in the last six years, and released approximately the same number of albums within the same time frame.

Whatever Madonna's ultimate fate will be, we can only speculate. But, in the video for "Bad Girl", Louise Oriole gives us an inside look into who Madonna was at that particular moment in time. To err is human they say, and as Louise shows, Madonna is no different.

---Cristian Gonzales

"cristian_nyc" on MadonnaTribe.