We look firstly into one
of Madonna’s most famous and controversial music videos, Like a Prayer (1989). At a glance, the video portrays a storyline
at which Madonna is a witness to a homicide where a woman is murdered by a
group of white men. One from the group notices her and looks at her with
murderous intent. Then, a black guy, who also witnessed the incident, ran over
to offer help to the woman. While at the same time, the police arrived and the
group of white men bailed, causing the black guy to get accused and arrested
instead. Madonna, having witnessed the whole thing, ran from the scene of the
crime, into a church where she sees a crying statue of a black saint. She
approaches the statue and sings:
“I hear your voice,
It’s like an angel
sighing,
I have no choice I hear
your voice,
Feels like flying,”
The scene shows Madonna’s devotion as a
Christian, needing to do what’s right that is hand in hand with the Catholic
belief that God is always watching. She then moves to the pew where she lies down
and sleeps as the lyrics of the song plays in the background:
“I close my eyes,”
In her dream, she is falling.
“Oh
god, I think I’m falling,
Out of the sky,
I close my eyes,”
She is then saved by a black woman in robes that
throws her back up as the line,
“Heaven
help me,”
plays in the background. As such, the woman symbolises heaven telling Madonna to do what
is right. Still in the dream, she kisses the feet of the statue that now looks
like the accused man. He walks out of the gate, and whispers to her,
“Like
a child,
You whisper softly to me,”
He
kisses her forehead,
“You’re
in control,
Just like a child,
Now I’m dancing,”
He
walks out of the church, leaving Madonna behind,
“It’s
like a dream,
No end and no beginning,”
Madonna
picks up an Athame,
“You’re
here with me,
It’s like a dream,”
She
cuts her hand, drawing blood. The cuts look like stigmata, yet another
religious symbol. The cuts look like holes in which Jesus had when he was being
nailed to the cross to death. This may be a metaphor for guilt or sin that she
would have if she did not make the right choice.
The visuals are then focused on the choir and moves on to
show the actual sequence of the homicide, clearly showing that the black man
has been framed. The scene changes to Madonna dancing in front of flaming
crosses. Shortly after, the scene is of the choir again, singing and dancing
together with Madonna, scenes of Madonna making out with that black man is
added in alternating points. She then wakes up, and confesses to the police
that the man is innocent and the police releases him.
The video ends with the whole cast of the music video bowing
as if in a Broadway show. This seems to show the audiences that everyone has a
role to play in life, very much like a theatre performance. In addition,
Madonna is shown as a heroine that saves the victim of a misunderstanding
because of his race. This is also a portrayal of Madonna’s stand in feminism.
However, the symbolism in this particular music video
doesn’t end here, taking the whole video in consideration, we also evaluate the
music video to be in support of black rights. The video plays on the existing
stereotypes showing to the audience what they think may not always be what are
true. Moreover, in relation to racism, Madonna has also used the flaming
crosses –a symbol associated with the Ku Klux Klan a white supremacy group that
terrorised the blacks during the 1960s, to further emphasise racism. She even
went as far as to portray interracial relationships –something controversial
during that time, nearing the end of her music video.
Nevertheless, it is not just the hidden meanings about
racism that makes the video so controversial. It is the relation between the
racial, the religious and of course, sex. In actuality, her song contains a
dual meaning, one being of pure religious intent, and the other, purely sexual.
(Taraborelli, 2001) This can be seen especially in the chorus where Madonna’s
lyrics read:
“When you call my name
it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I
wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I
can feel your power
Just like a prayer you
know I'll take you there,”
Another
scene that may portray the same relationship is the way Madonna and the statue
reacts to one another, added with the make out session near to the end. In
addition to this, the combination of the gospel feel of the choir, the pop beat
of the drums and base, and the rock-ish sound of the guitar enhances the
mysterious feel of the song. This causes the song to have a slightly darker
tone despite the gospel feel of the song.
The controversy that this video had created had reportedly
caused the Vatican to condemn the video while the religious protested to it
claiming that her videos are “satanic”, causing her to also lose a contract
with Pepsi. (Macgregor, 2008)