You can think what you want of the “Queen of Pop”. One thing is certain: Madonna (63) is always good for a scandal.
SHE showed how to stay in conversation not only with music, but also with breaking taboos. Whether a lesbian kiss with Britney Speras (39) live on stage, a love number with a black Jesus in “Like A Prayer” or kneeling naked over a dog in her illustrated book “Sex”.
NOW Madonna is once again decorating a scandalous photo series: For “V magazine“She recreates the death of Marilyn Monroe († 36)!
One music icon portrays the other. It goes without saying that Madonna pulls out all the stops. But the severe criticism of your shoot is just as expected. Is THAT still art at all?
A user on Twitter writes about this photo: “When you consider how Marilyn died, this is simply tasteless”Photo: Steven Klein for V Magazine
The role model for the current shoot
At first glance, the new photo series looks very typical of Madonna: She presents herself as sensual and wicked in the photos Femme fatalethat looks like an ageless fictional character thanks to the extreme image processing.
The pictures of the Madonna shoot are a new staging of the last photo session by Marilyn Monroe: In 1962 Bert Stern († 83) photographed the legendary blonde for the Vogue photo series “The Last Sitting”. Among other things, Monroe posed naked in a room at the “Bel-Air” hotel in Los Angeles.
A very similar photo also exists in the original 1962 shoot “The Last Sitting” with Marilyn MonroePhoto: Steven Klein for V Magazine
“It was a once in a lifetime experience,” said Stern in 2010 in the documentary “Bert Stern: Original Madman”. There was no instruction that Marilyn should undress. “One thing led to another.”
That was in 1962, six weeks before her death.
Madonna presents herself in similar outfits and poses in the “V Magazine” series, lolls in rumpled sheets like the “Some like it hot” star, plays sensually with pearl necklaces and cuddles up in a fur stole.
The singer wanted more
But Madonna goes one step further in her current collaboration with “V Magazine” by not only reinterpreting motifs of her longtime idol from the legendary star shoot, but also copying Monroe’s last tragic moments from real life.
In some pictures from the current Madonna shoot, numerous pill bottles can be seen next to the bed, as well as a phone. In one photo, the singer is lying on the side of the bed, wearing only fishnet tights, high heels and satin gloves, her face cannot be seen.
Was Madonna re-enacting Marilyn Monroe’s final moments to deliberately provoke?Photo: Steven Klein for V Magazine
“Lying naked on the bed, face down”
According to the official Los Angeles Police Department report, Marilyn Monroe was found “naked on the bed, face down, holding a phone” on August 5, 1962. Official cause of death: an overdose of sedatives that the then 36-year-old is said to have administered herself.
In fact, the photos of the location of the corpse resemble those from the current shoot in a terrifying way.
Not a shooting, but a sad reality: Marilyn Monroe was found dead on August 5, 1962 in this rumpled bed in her bedroom in Los Angeles. She died the day before. When she was found, she is said to have been holding the telephone receiver in one hand and an empty bottle of sleeping pills in the otherPhoto: dpa
Horrified reactions
Many fans find the photo campaign tasteless. One Twitter user wrote: “This is not an homage. You are using the death of a beautiful woman for your advertising. Disgusting tasteless. “
Another user writes: “It’s disrespectful to Marilyn. Why should one want to re-stage someone else’s death? “
That’s what the photographer says
Star photographer and video director Steven Klein (56), who worked with Madonna at an early age and later with megastars such as Lady Gaga (35), Kanye West (44) and Nicki Minaj (38), commented on his artistic intentions in a press statement behind the project like this: “We were not interested in these photos (This refers to the original recordings by Bert Stern, editor’s note.) to be adjusted exactly. We wanted to explore the relationship between photographer and model, the friendship, but also the artistic process, how art can imitate life and vice versa. “
When he sent Madonna the templates from Bert Stern, she was moved by the “bright shining fragility” of Marilyn Monroe at this moment in her life. “So we decided to find a hotel room and try to capture the connection between the star and the camera.”
Madonna herself posted the pictures on her Instagram account a few days ago, but has not yet commented on the fans’ criticism.
The photos of the Madonna shoot
Looks deep: Madonna in “V Magazine”Photo: Steven Klein for V Magazine
The diva is surrounded by a security teamPhoto: Steven Klein for V Magazine
Another point of criticism from many fans: the extreme image processing. A fan writes with a wink on Twitter: “I was wondering why there was no more Halloween make-up. Then I saw the photos – Madonna bought everything “Photo: Steven Klein for V Magazine
Madonna has been fascinated by Marilyn Monroe since her youth, and she kept imitating her looksPhoto: Steven Klein for V Magazine
Art figure MadonnaPhoto: Steven Klein for V Magazine
Madonna photographed by Steven Klein. Did the star photographer personally chase the photos through the soft focus?Photo: Steven Klein for V Magazine