Mrs. guy Ritchie
(a.k.a. Madonna)
The recent Milan concert by Mrs. Guy Ritchie
(formerly known as Madonna) was a predictable hit,
and Mrs. Ritchie will certainly duplicate that success
in London. She is, after all, undeniably a fine
performer, and her successes are not surprising.
What is surprising is that she has gone back to using
her former appellation (Madonna) after having declared
herself, proudly, to be, henceforth, "Mrs. Guy Ritchie."
That occurred in a letter she wrote to the Los Angeles
Times Calendar during the Eminem brouhaha. In it,
Mrs. Ritchie upheld Mr. 'Em's right to be given a Grammy.
In doing so, she claimed his lyrics were not offensive
to gay men and women, especially Lesbians; instead, she
claimed that his violent words were satirical and funny.
What she might have done would be to uphold his right
to be honored for his music (as many people, including
gay people, who oppose censorship do, if he deserved the
honor), while declaiming the inflammatory lyrics (as people,
including gay people, do who oppose censorship but uphold
the right to call bigotry by its name), lyrics which Mr.
'Em, adding giddy silliness to his odd posturing, now
claims are the result of Tourrette's syndrome. To
show that she is beyond all sexual-political considerations,
Mrs.Guy Ritchie showily signed her letter to the Times
as "Mrs. Guy Ritchie." Her stance would
have carried real emphasis if, now and hereafter, she
billed her concerts as performances by the said Mrs. Guy
Ritchie. Eventually, then, we might have a CD of
"Mrs. Guy Ritchie's Greatest Hits." Too
bad that this talented performer doesn't restrain her
words to her singing.
John Rechy
Los Angeles, California
June 2001

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Original material by John Rechy appears
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