hier volgt mijn analyse van het artwork van het COADF album, dat gebasseerd is op de film/musical Tommy. Hieronder het hoe en waarom omtrent dat idee, MET visuals.
I know it was mentioned previously that Madonna's COADF album shoot was based on the movie "Tommy". And we all know Madonna and know that she didn't just do that for the sake of the pretty visuals. Here I'll present proof as to why it's so obvious and natural that she would use that movie as a guideline for the COADF album artwork. I mean the story of the movie "Tommy" poses a VERY distinct paralel with Madonna's own life before and during the COADF album. Let me try and explain:
First the story for the film version of Tommy in a nutshell:
Tommy is the fictitious biography of Tommy Walker. Tommy's father, Captain Walker, had been listed as missing in action during World War I, but he returns unexpectedly in 1921 kills his wife's new lover in front of the seven-year-old Tommy. Tommy's mother and father enjoin him that "you didn't hear it, you didn't see it ... you won't say nothing to no-one", and Tommy retreats into deafness, dumbness, and blindness as a consequence. He has a vision of a tall stranger dressed in silvery robes with a golden floor-length beard, and the vision sets him on an internal spiritual journey, learning to interpret all physical sensations as music. During the remainder of his childhood Tommy's parents seek out various treatments and cures for him, while Tommy suffers sexual and physical abuse at the hands of several extended family members. On Christmas, his parents despair about the fate of Tommy's soul, as they realize he is unaware of Jesus or prayer. However, Tommy learns to play a pinball machine and soon becomes the master of the game and an international celebrity. His parents eventually locate a doctor who promises a "miracle cure", but all tests indicate that Tommy is actually capable of sight, speech, and hearing, and that his condition is due to an "inner block". Tommy is finally cured when his mother, frustrated that Tommy seems only to see his own reflection, shatters the mirror in a fit of rage. Tommy's cure becomes a public sensation and he attains guru-like status. Thereafter he assumes a quasi-messianic mantle and tries to lead his fans to an "enlightenment" like his own (requiring followers to play pinball while wearing eyeshades, earplugs, and a cork), but the heavy-handedness of his cult and the exploitation of its followers by his family and associates causes his followers to revolt against him.My perspective on this in relation to Madonna:
Storywise Tommy is much like Madonna's life, of course not literally but you'll know what I mean. Madonna has said time and time again that she was "trapped" in a certain state of mind, obsessed with the superficial aspects of life, glamour/fame etc, etc. Battling with her own religious demons, dogma's and questions. Then after releasing herself from the "inner block" she found hapiness and was "cured" of this mindset (thanks to kabbalah? ). She then set about to share this enlightenment with others (promoting kaballah in various ways, among them the "American Life" album) becoming a public sensation and getting guru-like status for her own "cult" with "merchandise", books, red string etc. But then due to the money factor and people getting sick and tired of the overkill of indoctrination and focus on that aspect of her life people started to revolt and call what she considers her saviour a cult and craze and question her sanity. I think Madonna's use of the movie "Tommy" is a sarcastic comment and view on what happened to her the last couple of years before "COADF". How many times has she not said that "she's been blind, but now she has seen the light", JUST like Tommy.She visualized it by using several style elements from the movie Tommy, in which you can see tommy and his mother for instance going from church group to church group (one even adoring and praying to statues of Marilyn Monroe), seeking refuge in drugs (the acid queen), and eventually Tommy starting his own cult based around pinball, using that pinball as a trademark sign used in "religious symbols", merchandise etc, etc. You could even go as far as to say that the discoball she is holding in several shots is a refference to the pinball Tommy is holding and adoring in "Tommy".
Here are some visual relations between the movie Tommy and the COADF artwork:
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pinball versus discoball on display
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Tommy can only see his true self in the mirror, but it's also his "cage". The position of the mirrors for the COADF shoot is an exact replica of certain shots in the movie "Tommy".
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Tina Turner as the acid queen, Madonna in the exact same outfit, also dancing wildly. Also look at the handwritten writing on the tina turner single cover. Look familiar?
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In the movie a mirrored effect was used in certain scenes, which was also used in the LIWB footage for the Koko performance
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Tommy's mother, consumed by superficial things such as good looks, clothes, glamourous lifestyles etc at one point resides in a completely white room, as does Madonna in part of the COADF shoot
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Later, when she breaks Tommy's curse/cage she is seen wailing across the room trying to get HIM and herself out of their current state of being. Madonna is also seen throwing herself at the door...
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After Tommy's cage is broken and he is back to normal again and starts his cult, Tommy's mother abandons all the things she was so consumed by. She rejects superficial things and goes through life without make-up, fancy clothes and hides her hair under a scarf. Which reminded me of this picture of Madonna from the shoot
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Registreren. Ook kun je spoilers niet lezen als je een ban hebt.I hope that explains a few things for people unfamiliar with the movie Tommy. I can recommend you to rent or buy the movie and watch it on dvd and you'll be amazed by the parallels!
ROB