Is Madonna Redefining What It Means to Age in Pop Music? (Album Review: 'Madame X')

A few weeks back, when Madonna released her latest studio effort, the sonically eclectic but highly experimental Madame X, diehard fans were of course along for the ride. The album is “a wild, political, romantic ride through world music” wrote at least one critic and longtime diehard. The Guardian commended Madonna’s “solid confidence in her own aesthetic decisions,” among other generally positive reviews. But a new Madonna album also meant the same age-old commentary surrounding just that—her age. Criticisms over Madonna still attempting to push boundaries into her sixties is nothing new. It’s been around since she was in her thirties, if not longer. But if we take a closer look at the current commentary surrounding Madonna—pretty much the only person worthy of the title Queen of Pop—it seems we’ve somehow let her down by allowing an era-defining, groundbreaking star who has contributed more to popular culture than anyone else in recent memory to become perceived as a has-been and even a desperate wannabe. Where did everything go wrong?

As far as the current discourse goes, I suppose the recent perceptions of Madonna is not entirely surprising, given that the age of social media and staunch political correctness has ushered in another age of un-forgiveness, especially surrounding celebrities. Whether we like it or not, age defines a majority of the politics around pop music, and whether Madonna likes it or not, her age has come to define most of her current image—much to her disdain, and to that of her fans. She’s “being punished” for continuing to work, in her own words—something that other stars that once would have been considered her peers do not have to worry about. Elton John, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, Cher, and even Shania Twain have since continued being successful past their so-called heydays as “nostalgia” acts, something that Madonna continues to be hell bent on avoiding. On one hand, it’s admirable of her to continue refusing to fit into one set format, one set genre, or one set image, no matter how old she is. But on the other, it’s not surprising that Madonna’s efforts at continuing to play what is called a “young person’s game” has managed to alienate her from both her original demographic, and the current youth-oriented audience that new and fresh pop music is largely marketed to. In a way, Madonna has gotten so good at not fitting into the format that she almost doesn’t fit in anywhere anymore—which, for a pop culture icon and the Queen of Pop, means we must have failed her somewhere along the way.

Madonna in the music video for "Medellín," Madame X's lead single (Photo: Vevo)

As much as we all wish we could justify our supposed inability in investing in Madonna anymore on things like she’s not interesting anymore, she’s boring, or she’s not doing anything we haven’t already seen before—all those things are untrue. It’s undeniable that anyone else, either on the current pop scene or a past one, has made an album as uniquely bizarre as Madame X. We can all say what we want, but there’s no denying that there are few other artists in history who have continued to create stunningly provocative visuals—just watch the music video for “Dark Ballet” if you don’t believe me—consistently throughout their career without ever faltering. But some listeners just can’t seem to invest in Madonna the same way anymore, no matter what she does—and Madonna has taken notice. Unlike other era-defining icons who all came to accept that they didn’t have anything to prove anymore, the Queen of Pop now thinks of herself as an underdog again—a narrative and image that only alienates her further. Maybe Madonna could have managed to usurp ageist expectations and commentary by her talent and ability to push boundaries and someday achieve a new hit single on the Billboard Hot 100, but she has instead decided not only to play the underdog card, but to pointlessly feud with Lady Gaga and chase new trends that don’t always fit her. As if ageism wasn’t enough, Madonna has managed to make her instincts come across as not as “on point” as they once were—which can only be expected when you’re trying your damnedest, no matter how old you are, to play a “young person’s game,” a.k.a. pop music, when you’re not young anymore.

The trouble regarding Madonna’s role in youth culture really only began within the last decade, given that her final two studio albums with Warner Bros., Confessions on a Dancefloor (2005) and Hard Candy (2008), still generated genuine commercial success with singles that received mainstream airplay and attention. It was only once she returned with MDNA in 2012, an EDM-focused album and her first release under a three-album deal with Interscope Records, did she begin receiving polarizing reviews that said she was “horribly clichéd” and trying too hard to sound like a teenager—and her newfound collaborations with Nicki Minaj did not help her case. Rebel Heart (2015), while lyrically and vocally stronger than MDNA, also spent an outrageous amount of time trying to establish her in the new era of 2010s pop—one where Madonna assumed that kids listening to music on their iPhones wouldn’t have heard of her. The end result was tracks like “Bitch I’m Madonna,” another collaboration with Minaj that made Madonna sound like she cared more about her ego than trying to relate to a new generation of youth-oriented music. She came across as leeching off the influence of people like Nicki Minaj or Ariana Grande in order to brag about herself, and suddenly Madonna appeared to become more self-referential and more self-obsessed than ever before—in a way that came across more as narcissism than empowerment. On Madame X, she wants us to believe she is a victim and a survivor who has overcome torture, and despite her still-provocative visuals, their religious imagery appears to be an ode to the “Like a Prayer” days. Madonna wants to project stamina and resilience—which she does—but her white privilege and occasional cultural appropriation leads to ego-driven vulnerability emerging between the lines.

From the music video for "Crave," featuring Swae Lee (Photo: Interscope)

I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a global icon who, even now, has managed to generate cross-generational popularity and success, especially in the ever-changing confines of popular culture, to accept that she no longer holds the proverbial keys to the castle. Especially in the digital age, trendsetters come and go remarkably fast. What’s cool today might no longer be cool by tomorrow morning. But still, there’s no one as ruthless as Madonna to have lasted this long, continuing to push boundaries that nobody even knew were there. If anything, Madonna has come to prove that her biggest strengths are in fact persistence and resilience. She became our punching bag because no one else had the persistence or resilience to be. Most of her original peers eventually decided to grow up (Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, or Pat Benatar), faded away altogether (Belinda Carlisle or Sheena Easton), or have since died (Michael Jackson, George Michael, Prince, or Whitney Houston). Even Cher, who has managed to retain relevancy in a new era of RuPaul’s Drag Race fanatics, appears to have made peace with her diminished role in youth culture, given her nostalgically campy album of ABBA covers from last year. “There are no living role models for me,” Madonna told British Vogue earlier this year. “Because nobody does what I do. And that’s kind of scary.” Her only living equal would probably be that of Janet Jackson, whose own career suffered a decline for the better part of the 2000s following the infamous nip-slip, and the puritanical reactions and banishments that followed. But even she managed to get a single on the Hot 100 last year, and both Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez—both nearing fifty and who both don’t take nearly as much heat as Madonna does—are still viewed as hard-working and successful. Could Madonna be redefining what it means to age in pop music? Maybe, but that remains to be seen. And even if she was, Madonna probably wouldn’t get the credit for that, either.

In the last decade, Madonna has, on more than one occasion, made it difficult to be a fan of hers. Being a fan also means having to defend her questionable decisions or comments, and sometimes those things are merely beyond defense. But as hard as she makes it, the fact that she’s still around and still managing to push whatever boundaries she can find by producing an album as experimental and strange as Madame X just goes to show that she clearly does possess stamina, persistence, and resilience. Where she continues to fall short is wanting to have it both ways: she wants to be the Queen of Pop and hailed as such, but she also wants to be the scrappy underdog whom youth culture will embrace, and that is only pushing her further away from a narrative of relatability. If anything, all the time spent talking about how Madonna is still going at sixty means we haven’t stopped long enough to realize how interesting she still is. Personally, Madame X doesn’t work for me. It’s a bit too bizarre and sonically messy for me to invest in it, but even with the ego-driven, self-referential lyrics and imagery, I can appreciate that Madonna is still going the extra mile all these years later. I believe that she would still be going the extra mile even if she wasn’t working overtime to keep herself relevant. Where we have truly failed Madonna is that we continue to spend too much time doubting her talent and abilities as she’s gotten older, because if we were to remove the ageism and pop music politics, I think we would all have a bit more of a window into the interesting and groundbreaking artist she still is.

Summer Reading Guide: 2019 Edition

When the warm weather of summer arrives, it often brings vacation time, and vacation time often brings extra time to catch up on your reading! But it can be unnecessarily difficult to decide what you are in the mood to read, especially when you don’t want to waste your lovely extra reading time trying to decide, or forcing yourself to read something that you are not enjoying. In hopes of remedying the difficult decision of choosing the right books to read this summer, this is my guide to picking the right titles for the right mood.

If you are in the mood for something funny and relatable...

I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott

Published earlier this spring, Mary Laura Philpott’s heartwarming book of essays covers everything from anxiety, becoming an adult, existential angst, the ups and downs of married life, and the realization that sometimes following all of the rules laid out in your head gets you to the exact opposite of where you want to be.

Nobody Cares by Anne T. Donahue

A candid, funny, real, and relevant collection of essays about the messiness of being alive in your twenties and thirties: school, jobs, mental health, productivity, and failure, to name only a few topics. These essays are a salute to the “beautiful disasters” we can all be at times. Anne T. Donahue is the voice inside your head, if that voice was incredibly witty, funny, and profound (a.k.a. the inner voice we should all aspire to have). The title of the book is a great reminder of something that we all often forget: nobody really cares what we are doing, whether we look good or bad, whether we go to this party or that, which can be a really freeing realization—especially when you’ve spent most of your life trying to convince people that you are a capable and functioning human being. Above all, Nobody Cares feels like a warm hug from someone who’s been there and is here to tell you it’s going to be fine.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby

The perfect read for introverts who are just so damn tired of defending themselves from being called anti-social, Samantha Irby’s We Are Never Meeting in Real Life is an expression of thoughts and feelings most of us introverts have said in our heads from time to time, but rarely out loud. Irby covers everything from her rough upbringing, to dating and relationships, to her general dislike of the general population (relatable) and, to quote the back cover, “sometimes you just have to laugh, even when your life is a dumpster fire” (agreed).

I Know What I’m Doing, and Other Lies I Tell Myself by Jen Kirkman

A hilarious, gratifying, and relevant reading experience for anyone who ever feels like they’re the biggest mess on the planet and have to pretend they have anything figured out (so, basically, everyone). Kirkman tackles, through her own stories, the ridiculousness that society forces upon us sometimes, and how sometimes we have to learn how to flip the bird to those things and try to figure out our own lives as best we can.

If you are in the mood for historical fiction...

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts

Finding Dorothy is a historical novel that fictionalizes the true history behind the inspiration for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz books, as told by the author’s wife, Maud Baum. The story follows Maud throughout two different time periods; her youth and young adulthood when she meets and marries L. Frank Baum in the mid to late 1800s, and the production of The Wizard of Oz film adaption by MGM over the course of 1938 to 1939. After hearing about the film adaption of her late husband’s beloved story, Maud decides to work her way into MGM in hopes that she will be able to see the script and recommend any necessary changes, especially surrounding the character of Dorothy. Her eye is also soon caught by a young Judy Garland, whose safety she fears for on the MGM lot given her outstanding talent but very young age. Maud’s instinct to protect young Judy is driven by another young girl she knew who also didn’t get a happy ending; a young girl we learn about throughout the novel. Finding Dorothy is very entertaining for anyone who has grown up either watching The Wizard of Oz (one of the most seen films in history), or also reading the books on which the film was based.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

The Broken Girls is a historical mystery, and it’s very well done. The book takes place within the past and the present: Vermont, 1950 and Vermont, 2014. In the small town of Barrons, Vermont in 1950, there is an infamous boarding school for the girls that no one wants; the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming—until one of them mysteriously disappears. In Barrons in 2014, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister’s death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case. When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past—and a voice that won’t be silenced.

If you are in the mood for reading about pop culture...

Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear…and Why by Sady Doyle

Trainwreck takes a look at how our society and culture spends an outrageous amount of time calling women “crazy” or “unhinged” just for expressing human emotions, even at the expense of their own popularity or, worse, their careers. The author creates a compelling feminist argument throughout the entire book that stands up no matter where she draws your attention: famous men can be violent alcoholics, abuse their loved ones, or suffer from multitudes of mental illness and the impact of their work can still draws more focus than their personal life, but women who experience even the slightest of personal struggles are publicly remembered better for being a trainwreck than for being a gifted singer, actress, artist, etc. Thus, the double standard. Sady Doyle also does an excellent job of literally proving that the trainwreck phenomenon has been around for as long as women have existed, and traces and relates historical female figures like Mary Wollstonecraft, Charlotte Bronte, and Billie Holiday to “problematic” female stars better known in our contemporary conscious, such as Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Paris Hilton, and Miley Cyrus. Doyle also shows that, for as long as women have existed, they have been pushing the boundaries of what it means to behave, and it’s amusing that quite literally nothing has changed in our current popular culture.

I’ll Be There For You: The One About Friends by Kelsey Miller

For anyone who has seen Friends backwards and forwards six thousand times, can recite every episode, and has come to wonder why the beloved series is still so popular 25 years later, Kelsey Miller’s I’ll Be There For You takes a look at how Friends has managed to transcend age, nationality, cultural barriers, and even its own dated flaws. It’s an insightful and entertaining look back at one of the most successful television shows in history that is sure to delight any and all pop culture enthusiasts.

90s Bitch: Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality by Allison Yarrow

Allison Yarrow’s 90s Bitch ponders the question of how we got to where we are today in our media and culture, and in order to answer that question, she says we have to rewind the VHS tape. 90s Bitch takes a look back at the 1990s in all its glory: the rise of third-wave feminism and what that seemed to mean for girls and women, the mixed messages sent about female empowerment by media and culture in the ‘90s, as well as insightful recounts of infamous American political scandals that marked the decade (Monica Lewinsky, she says, was demonized mostly because she was an adult woman who had sex and liked it). Yarrow also looks back at the stories of the decade’s unruly female trainwrecks, such as Tonya Harding, Roseanne Barr, and Princess Diana, and traces the media’s treatment of them to where we ended up today in media and culture. That and so much more are explored in 90s Bitch, an eye-opening read to anyone who grew up in the ‘90s and lived to tell the tale.

Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View by Ramin Setoodeh

Ramin Setoodeh, journalist and a senior editor at Vulture, decided to take an insightful and juicy look back at the history and impact of the daytime talk show that singlehandedly redefined how media and culture came to view both the talk show and daytime TV: The View. Spending 3 years conducting interviews with former and current co-hosts, producers, directors, and everyone in between, Setoodeh shines a spotlight on an important history of an important television show with details scarcely found elsewhere, making it a must-read for all pop culture enthusiasts and anyone who has ever found themselves enchanted by a heated discussion on The View over the years. But don’t be fooled—Ladies Who Punch might be marketed as and sound like a juicy tell-all, and on some level it is, but it’s also a very well written and very well researched account of a pop cultural touchstone.

If you are in the mood for an insightful, heartwarming memoir...

In Pieces by Sally Field

In Pieces is the powerful new memoir by the one and only Sally Field, who chronicles her life from her tumultuous upbringing, to the early days of her acting career, to the breakthroughs that would define her as the icon and powerhouse we know and love today. I loved Sally Field before I read her book, but now my love has turned to admiration, as she is a true inspiration in every sense of the word. In Pieces is also an emotional journey of healing wounds from long ago, especially in regard to Field’s relationship with her mother and her sister. The book doesn’t ever lose sight of the fact that it’s not only about Field’s career or her life as an actress; it’s about her life and all that has encompassed it. The end result is incredibly moving and powerful, and I recommend to any fan large or small of the beloved actress and icon.

Wildflower by Drew Barrymore

Wildflower is one of my favorite celebrity memoirs. I’ve read it twice because I love it so much. It contains several stories written by actress Drew Barrymore, with topics ranging from her rough upbringing, to being on her own after being emancipated at 14, to skydiving with Cameron Diaz. It was one of those memoirs where you just want to keep reading and reading because the stories are so interesting, so enveloping, and yet written so casually that you’d think Barrymore is an old friend she’s catching you up over a cup of coffee on a breezy summer afternoon. I also really admire the mature stance that Barrymore takes in Wildflower regarding her unconventional upbringing and infamous personal struggles as a teenager and young adult, merely explaining that she didn’t have a normal family nor normal role models and had to figure out who she was on her own with no clear image of how to do that.

Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up by Naya Rivera

An honest and fun-loving memoir by Naya Rivera, best known for her role as Santana Lopez on Glee. She takes us through her youth as a struggling child actress, insecure teenager, misadventures as a young woman, and some intriguing behind-the-scenes stories from her Glee days. It’s also a coming-of-age story about a young woman being honest with herself and her readers on some of the mistakes she’s made, because growing up is messy. It’s a great read for anyone who loved Glee, but also for anyone who has struggled to find their footing as an adult.

Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame by Mara Wilson

A memoir in essays written by the former child actress whom ‘90s kids will best remember from Mrs. Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street, and Matilda, Mara Wilson takes readers on a journey into her life while she was in the spotlight, and what she’s been up to since her decision to retire from acting as a preteen. But Where Am I Now? is more than that; it’s a story of a young girl who always felt out of place as a child on a movie set full of adults, the realities faced by most child stars when they aren’t cute anymore, and a lifetime spent not feeling worthy of being compared to everyone’s favorite fictional genius girl. It’s a raw and eye-opening look at not only life beyond Hollywood, but a human being trying to finally feel like enough.

A Lotus Grows in the Mud by Goldie Hawn

Whenever I go through iffy periods with anxiety I look to memoirs because I find it’s like someone telling you a series of stories, which I find helpfully distracting. In A Lotus Grows in the Mud, Goldie Hawn tells all different kinds of stories from all the different times in her career, from landing Private Benjamin to getting lost on a road trip to Las Vegas in the mid ‘60s with only her dog until a solider on leave helped her and she never saw him again. Hawn also brings up how, in the ‘70s, some called her a star who gave liberated women a bad name, because she was blonde and bubbly and, of course, got typecast as such. She sets the record straight and says even if all she ever wanted to be was a wife and mother growing up, all she ever wanted was to be happy, regardless of what became of her life, and I really enjoy that message. Hawn also interlaces her chapters with these cute little musings of stories or other writings she calls “Postcards,” which is refreshing.

If you are in the mood to read the book and then see the movie...

Room by Emma Donoghue

I avoided Room for so long because I just didn’t think I could handle reading something fictional that has been in the news several times over the last decade, but it ended up turning into one of my all-time favorites. Room is told through the perspective of 5-year-old Jack, whose entire world is a space called Room, where he lives with Ma. Ma, unwilling to disappoint Jack with a life she cannot give him, allows Jack to believe that the rest of the world exists only on television. The only other person Jack has ever seen is “Old Nick,” who visits Room at night while Jack sleeps hidden in a wardrobe. Old Nick brings them food and necessities. Jack is unaware that Old Nick kidnapped Ma when she was 19 years old and has kept her imprisoned for the past seven years. Old Nick regularly rapes Ma; Jack is the product of one such sexual assault. At the beginning of the book, Jack has turned five, and Ma soon learns that Old Nick has become unemployed and is danger of losing his home to foreclosure. Fearing for their lives, Ma decides that Jack is old enough to learn the truth, and explains that everything on television is in fact real and exists outside Room, as well as the fact that Old Nick kidnapped her and he now needs to help them escape. The film adaption, starring Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, is not one of those movies where you won’t understand its full effect if you haven’t read the book (but you should obviously still read the book). The story was built for the screen in a really illuminating way, and is actually a rare case of the movie filling in some blanks and question marks from the book: after all, the book is narrated entirely from the perspective of a 5-year-old boy who has never left a space called Room. While it does offer a new and unique perspective that serves the story better than if Ma had narrated, I was still intrigued to know how an adult would perceive Room as opposed to a child who has only ever known this space as his entire world. It only reminds how absolutely heartbreaking the story is, but somehow heartbreaking in a good way. Love is truly all we need.

Riding in Cars With Boys: Confessions of a Bad Girl Who Makes Good by Beverly Donofrio

Riding in Cars with Boys is the 1992 memoir by Beverly Donofrio, chronicling her life after she became pregnant as a teenager in the early ‘60s—she married the father out of social obligation, experienced a messy marriage, and refused to let anything get in the way of her dreams of becoming a writer. The book was adapted into a film in 2001, starring Drew Barrymore and Steve Zahn. Both the movie and the book are good, but the book offers much more insight and a much more realistic account of the events. It just goes to show that not all problems are solved by getting married and playing house, that sometimes children do better with only one parent, and that you are never too old to become who you want to be.

Boy Erased by Garrard Conley

Boy Erased is Garrard Conley’s deeply compassionate yet deeply disturbing memoir of dealing with his homosexuality in an ultra-religious and Christian fundamentalist town and family in Arkansas, right in the middle of the Bible Belt. He writes about how, after he was outed to his parents in college, he was given the choice of either attending mandatory ex-gay conversion therapy, or lose emotional and financial support from his family. He also writes about and examines his father, a Baptist pastor, and disappointing his family and church as a whole. Though he tells his story in a consistent personal narrative style, Conley also indirectly addresses the intolerant and repressive environments that countless LGBTQ youth have had to endure, specifically those raised in the deeply religious and socially conservative American South. A film adaption, starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Troye Sivan, came out in 2018 and captures the disturbing but important essence of the story—shining a light on these extremely harmful programs that too many young people have been put through, all in the name of homophobia masked by religion and called love.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Bernadette Fox has vanished. When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Bernadette is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces—which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where’d You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are and the power of a daughter’s love for her mother. A film adaption starring Cate Blanchett is due out in theatres this summer, so now would be the time to check out the book!

50 Years Later, Why Judy Garland and the Stonewall Riots Still Matter

This June marks 50 years, an entire half-century, since the death of beloved performer and icon Judy Garland. It also marks 50 years since the Stonewall riots—an uprising that occurred at the Stonewall Inn in Lower Manhattan, then an infamous underground gay bar, where a seemingly normal police raid occurred in the early hours of June 28, 1969. Since homosexuality was still illegal as well as considered deviant social behavior and a recognized mental illness at that time, police raids of known gay bars were routine and brutal. But this time was different; the patrons didn’t go quietly. In fact, they fought back, and they fought back hard—so hard that the night in question is now considered to have singlehandedly jumpstarted the modern gay rights movement that have brought us our contemporary battles for LGBTQ equality. The link between Judy Garland and the Stonewall riots may not seem clear to all readers, but it’s an important and controversial one—and a link that remains relevant and still matters today.

Although Judy Garland is best remembered for roles in a variety of MGM musicals throughout the 1930s and 1940s, most of her lifelong personal struggles began with the film studio. Even though Judy was always of a healthy weight, MGM always insisted she was too fat to be a star and her appearance and image was constantly manipulated by film executives, which significantly impacted her self-esteem (studio boss Louis B. Mayer infamously referred to her as his “little hunchback”). Diet pills, combined with amphetamines that the studio forced many of their young actors to take to fulfill nearly impossible work demands, is believed to have severely contributed to Garland’s lifelong struggle with drug addiction. In addition to being completely reliant on prescription medication, Garland was plagued by self-doubt into her adulthood, and despite groundbreaking professional success, she needed constant reassurance that she was talented and attractive—all of which is generally thought to have been caused by her early days at MGM.

Although Garland saw further professional success in her later years, including an Academy Award-nominated performance in the Warner Bros. remake of A Star is Born in 1954, record-breaking concert appearances, a successful run as a recording artist with Capitol Records, her own Emmy-nominated television variety show, and sporadic film appearances for the remainder of her career—it’s arguable that her dismissal from MGM in 1950 left her career tainted for the remainder of her life. Patriarchal interpretations of her unreliability and erratic behavior combined with her own lack of control with alcohol and substance abuse made it practically impossible for her to replicate the success she saw with MGM as a child and young adult, despite the fact that she always had numerous celebrity friends and supporters to come to her defense. Her struggles with drugs and alcohol let alone a list of failed marriages became legendary, paving the road for her multiple momentous comebacks. 

From the time she was a bankable star in countless MGM musicals, Garland had resonated with gay men. Her campy performances and musical numbers laid the groundwork, but it would be her personal and professional struggles that knocked her down more times than anyone could count that would make her a bonafide gay icon—and the fact that she kept standing back up after being knocked down resonated profoundly with an LGBT community which had no fundamental rights, were considered mentally ill, and driven underground. In the years before being openly gay was even remotely available, Judy Garland was already an icon and a symbol of strength and resilience for the gay community. She even inspired the term “Friend of Dorothy”—gay slang that dates back to World War II as a way for closeted homosexual men to identify each other without openly discussing sexual orientation. The term refers to Judy’s most iconic performance as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939), a character who has been critically and socially interpreted as being warmly accepting of those who are different.

Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939). The character became the inspiration for the gay slang "Friend of Dorothy," a term dating back to World War II as a way for gay men to secretly identify themselves. (Photo: MGM) 

Judy Garland was hardly the first ever gay icon—Marlene Dietrich had already summoned her own queer icon status in the 1930s for her androgynous costumes—but her popularity and appeal to alternative communities managed to impact mainstream popular culture in a way that Judy’s predecessors had not. The first time Garland was referred to as a gay icon in mainstream media was in Time magazine in 1967, which reviewed her concert series at the Palace Theatre in New York City that year. They noted that a “disproportionate part of her nightly claque seems to be homosexual” and that “[t]he boys in the tight trousers” would “roll their eyes, tear at their hair and practically levitate from their seats” during Garland’s performances. In a nutshell, Judy’s appeal with gay audiences boils down to her being a tragic figure, which not only resonates with gay men but they identify with it, too. 

“Homosexuals tend to identify with suffering,” wrote novelist William Goldman in an Esquire article also from 1967. “They are a persecuted group and they understand suffering. And so does Garland. She’s been through the fire and lived – all the drinking and divorcing, all the pills and all the men, all the poundage come and gone – brothers and sisters, she knows.” He also suggests that if gay men have one enemy, it’s growing older, and Judy Garland represents “youth, perennially, over the rainbow.” Garland enthusiast and superfan Scott Brogan, who has run the popular fan site The Judy Room since 1999, maintains that it was not only her value as a tragic figure whom gay fans could relate to but many are also captured by her enormous talent and performance ability. “Her highs were really high, and her lows were really low, and yes, she did have a tragic life in certain respects, but it comes back to her voice and her performances,” he said. “To call Judy Garland an icon of the gay community is a massive understatement,” says Tina Gianoulis in The Queer Encyclopedia of Music, Dance & Musical Theater. “Garland’s fragile but indomitable persona and emotion-packed singing voice are undeniably linked to modern American gay culture and identity. This is especially true for gay men, but lesbians are also drawn to identify with Garland’s plucky toughness and vulnerability.” 

By 1969, Garland had reached a point of financial despondence—having been sufficiently incapable of managing her own finances, she kept a gruelling worldwide concert schedule as a result, which did not bode well with her decreasing health caused by her never-ending reliance on alcohol and prescription medication. That June, she was found dead of a barbiturate overdose at a rented home in London at age 47, and her funeral was held in New York City on June 27. Meanwhile, later that evening at the Stonewall Inn in Lower Manhattan, a series of LGBTQ individuals bravely resisted arrest, badgering, and torture at the hands of homophobic society, and the modern gay rights movement was born. It has long been suggested that Judy Garland’s death and funeral the day before had caused such a state of despair that the gay community finally found the strength to fight back—but whether this theory has any factual basis has long been called into question and become rather controversial among many LGBTQ historians. 

The “Judy myth,” as Perry Brass from Philadelphia Gay News puts it, is just that—a myth. “The Judy Garland myth, I’ve always felt, was the most pernicious of them all. Basically, it said that it took Garland’s death to make LGBT people angry enough to fight back. That was not true,” he wrote. “We had been fighting back all along; there were numerous instances of us doing so against huge odds … Power did not come from the streets then as we later felt, when gay groups joined other identity groups and seriously organized. What the Judy myth did was make many older, ‘bourgeois’ gay men, lesbians and their allies feel comfortable. If what happened at Stonewall was outside their comfort zone — and for many it was — they could feel all gooey and happy knowing the ‘girls’ were driven to this by some of the feelings they had: sadness over the death of Mickey Rooney’s girlfriend in those sweet 1930s musicals from their youth.” Gay Liberation Front founder Bob Kohler, who died in 2007, knew many of those who took part in the now-legendary riots that weekend, and he too angrily dismissed the Garland hypothesis, saying, “The street kids faced death every day. They had nothing to lose. And they couldn’t have cared less about Judy. We’re talking about kids who were fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. Judy Garland was the middle-aged darling of the middle-class gays. I get upset about this because it trivializes the whole thing.” Scholar and historian Mark Segal echoes that the myth trivializes the oppression their community was fighting against, calling it a “disturbing historical liberty” that is “downright insulting to the [LGBTQ] community.” Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, one of the few remaining Stonewall riot participators who is still alive, agrees that Garland’s death inspiring the riots is likely untrue, but laments that the theory has become so powerful and widely spread that it seems useless to continue trying debunking it. “There are people who connect [Garland’s funeral] to the narrative of Stonewall, and you’re not going to tell them it doesn’t connect, so let them have it,” he told The Washington Post in 2016. “It didn’t start the riot off, believe me.” He also suggests that the rioters would have most likely been apart of R&B and rock music scenes and would not have listened to the easy-listening showtunes of Judy Garland.

The Stonewall Inn, in Lower Manhattan's Greenwich Village, was the site of the legendary riots in the early hours of June 28, 1969 that would begin the modern gay rights movement. (Photo: CNN)

Although the overwhelming consensus is that Garland’s death itself most likely had very little to do with the riots that inspired the modern gay rights movement, many other historians and critics are not so quick to devalue the involvement of the icon’s death in the famous uprising. “I think that there were people there who were upset [by Garland’s death], but it was more than just one thing,” says Scott Brogan. “Sure, a lot of the street kids probably didn’t really care that much. But I think we shouldn’t count out the fact that Judy’s death did play a part. It wasn’t the only reason, of course, but there still were a lot of people there who were just … their nerves were shot.” Tina Gianoulis also acknowledges the ambiguity surrounding the “Judy myth,” but laments that the story has “such poetry that one feels it ought to be true.” In a now-deleted article commemorating the 40th anniversary of both the Stonewall riots and Garland’s death in 2009, culture critic Jeff Weinstein said that some of the imagination surrounding Judy’s death being the inspiration for the riots “seems credible,” since Garland’s life was also a battle cry for being free to love. “Yes, Judy was responsible for Stonewall, the way flowers are responsible for spring,” he wrote. “Of course, her life was a mess. Like opera counterpart Maria Callas, young Garland was an ugly-duckling diva left in the lurch by family and men. Employer MGM (and before that, maybe her mom) hooked her on drugs. Later, she was a time-bomb on the set – when she managed to show up.” He also states that he believed Judy possessed a rare quality that other performers lack, where she was able to perform in film or on stage as “Judy herself” and it is this authenticity that has allowed her to continue resonating. “I never could say exactly what that something is, but I’m convinced it’s close kin to the spirit of the brave and furious queens who taunted New York’s boys in blue with a kicking chorus line, to the tune of ‘It’s Howdy Doody Time’ … They also wore their hearts on their sleeves, whatever those sleeves were attached to. Just like Judy. Forty long years later, I remain grateful to them all. There’s still plenty of singing, and kicking, left for us to do.”

An overarching question that remains surrounding Judy Garland and the gay rights movement is not whether she still resonates, but whether her cultural impact and vast talent will be forgotten by future generations of gay men. When Jeff Weinstein compared Judy in The Wizard of Oz to American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert to a young gay friend, he had no idea who Garland or even Liza Minnelli were. In a New York Times article from 2012 questioning whether or not Judy’s raw talent and appeal will live on amongst gay men, Robert Leleux wrote that he “weeps for his people” when his thirty-something gay male friend says that he doesn’t consider himself a Garland fan and merely remarks that “she was good in The Wizard of Oz” (one of the most seen films in history). Leleux himself had been enchanted by Judy for his entire life. “Judy at Carnegie Hall was the soundtrack of my childhood,” he wrote. “As any fan can tell you, it’s Garland at her swaggering best: glamorous, triumphant and almost superhumanly resilient. It goes without saying that such resilience held enormous appeal for gay men.” When he asked his friend if Judy is still considered a gay idol, he commented that he doesn’t see what Judy Garland has to do with being gay anymore, but does describe the gay following surrounding contemporary female trainwrecks like Whitney Houston, Lindsay Lohan, or Britney Spears. “Some gay guys do seem to like that kind of thing,” he said. In response to questions about Rufus Wainwright’s 2006 recreation of Judy Garland’s Carnegie Hall album, his friend remarked, “If that’s what he wants to do, great. It’s just not my idea of being gay. Today gay can be anything.” Judy Garland might not resonate with all gay men, but it’s the fact that she was claimed as a gay icon during a tumultuous time in history when the gay community was beginning the fight for equality that has led to her status as not only a gay icon, but a pop culture icon. Today gay can be anything, but 50 years ago, it could not. For many, Judy felt like one of the only outlets where gay men could truly be and feel like themselves. She might not have had a single thing to do with the actions or the politics of the gay rights movement, but her omniscient presence was always there as a source of inspiration. Her impact is undeniable, and she will live on regardless—a biographical film starring Renée Zellweger as Garland, Judy, is set for release this fall.

The Best Songs and Albums of 2019 So Far

If you’re reading this, that means that 2019 is already half finished—I know, I’m just as shocked as you are. Since half of the year has already pasted, that means we’ve already experienced half a year of new music, and since summer has arrived, new music is always a good thing to have in your pocket. So, in the vein of P!nk’s 2010 compilation album Greatest Hits…So Far!!!, here are my picks for some of the year’s best songs and albums…so far.

Albums

Avril Lavigne, Head Above Water

In what can only be described as one of her most emotionally intense offerings to date, Avril Lavigne returned earlier this year with her first album in nearly six years. Head Above Water deals with a lot of emotions lyrically—most of which were inspired by her battle with Lyme disease, which contributed to her absence from the limelight in recent years—as well as themes of heartbreak, overcoming emotional difficulties, and growing up. For those who have indeed grown up listening to Avril Lavigne, Head Above Water is a breath of fresh air. Full review here.

Betty Who, Betty

After parting ways with her previous label RCA last year (with whom she released her first two albums), Betty Who took the pop music world by storm with her third studio album and first record released independently, Betty. Reminiscent of Robyn and Carly Rae Jepsen, the album throws everyone’s expectations of her out the window in favor of a carefree, unapologetic approach that certainly resulted in one of this year’s most standout pop efforts.

LÉON, LÉON

In one of the most impressive debut albums in recent memory, Swedish singer/songwriter LÉON released her first full-length record after years of impeccably underrated EPs released under Columbia Records. Emotional but not melancholy, catchy and upbeat but free of gimmicky sounds, LÉON celebrates dancing your tears away with an indie pop meets soul sound reminiscent of Adele, Amy Winehouse, and Lana Del Rey, but still incredibly unique equipped with LÉON’s songwriting ability to punch you in the heart.
 
Ben Platt, Sing to Me Instead

Remember Benji from Pitch Perfect who won a Tony Award for his critically acclaimed run as the title character in the Broadway play Dear Evan Hansen? Well, since more than proving his vocal ability on the stage, Platt signed with Atlantic Records and released his debut studio album, Sing to Me Instead, an easy-listening ode to quieting the voices in our heads, finding love, fighting the fear of growing older, and learning to love life. Think Michael Bublé, but with a bit more of an emotional edge that packs a punch you don’t see coming.

Marina, Love + Fear

Marina, now without the Diamonds, returned with her fourth studio album whose general theme revolves around a psychological theory that love and fear are the only two human emotions, and we cannot feel them at the same time since they are opposites. Marina, however, proves very quickly that these emotions overlap almost constantly: love, fear, happiness, sadness, anxiety, depression, and so many others are explored throughout Love + Fear, two 8-track collections that form a set. Throughout a journey to feel like a real human being again after being in the spotlight for too long, Marina offers her own take on the experience of living life and what it truly means to be human. Full review here.

Olivia O’Brien, Was It Even Real?

I discovered Olivia O’Brien last year by chance when one of her music videos popped up in my recommended videos section on YouTube. I was instantly taken aback by the dark but honest tone of her lyrics—an artist who puts particular feelings into words that we often don’t want to say out loud. She’s said in interviews that she has suffered from depression since she was seven years old, and has used songwriting as an outlet for her feelings for as long as she can remember. Was It Even Real?, O’Brien’s full-length debut album, deals with themes of heartbreak, depression, anxiety, bad habits, self-destructive habits, and learning to love yourself—with some catchy bops about boy problems, too. It also just feels real, despite what the title suggests: the truth is, as much as we’re told we need to love ourselves first and let go of all negativity and bad habits and whatever else, we still find ourselves unable to let go because those things are hard. It also celebrates the reality of accepting our bad habits and our depression or anxiety, because fighting the feeling often gets you nowhere. Full review here.

Songs

“Don’t Feel Like Crying” – Sigrid

Sometimes you just don’t feel like crying, and sometimes you just have to dance! Sigrid puts this feeling into words in the last single released ahead of her debut studio album, Sucker Punch.

“Thief” – Alice Chater

In the vein of “Sweet But Psycho” by Ava Max, British pop singer Alice Chater provides her own attempt to break into the Top 40 with a new pop song whose sound and lyrics offers throwback vibes to the 2000s.

“Don’t Call Me Up” – Mabel

In what can only be described as the year’s biggest breakout pop song so far, Mabel is set to release her full-length debut album this summer and hopefully it will contain more contagious, sassy bops like this one.

“I’m So Tired…” – Lauv & Troye Sivan

A love song about hating love songs? With a music video released on Valentine’s Day? We are here for it.

“Love Me & Let Me Go” – Ashley Tisdale

A poignant love song about breaking up with your anxiety and separating yourself from it, released as the second single from Ashley Tisdale’s first album in ten years, Symptoms.

“Low Key” – Ally Brooke feat. Tyga

Fifth Harmony’s Ally Brooke proved with her debut single that we should low-key, low-key get to know her as a solo artist. We are hooked and listening intently for whatever comes next!

“Love Myself” – Olivia O’Brien

A power anthem about loving yourself and everything you see in the mirror wholeheartedly, even when that’s hard.

“Bad Habit” – Ben Platt

Sometimes we just have one of those days when we don’t want to come out, and we turn back to that bad habit. But Ben Platt is here to remind us that it’s okay, because he does that, too.

“Bloodline” – Ariana Grande

On the best song from her latest studio effort Thank U, Next, Ariana Grande sings about dismissing other people’s negativity and expectations, and loving who you are, as you are.

“The Feeling” – Victoria Duffield

In what is probably already the year’s most underrated jam from her new album Day Won, Victoria Duffield sings about when the feeling is just so strong and so happy, all you want to do is sing along.

“Dumb Blonde” – Avril Lavigne

If I may borrow a comment from YouTube… “this sounds like the song from the credits of a 2006 movie.” If we disregard the glib version featuring Nicki Minaj, which unfortunately is the only version available on streaming services, “Dumb Blonde” is Avril Lavigne’s most memorable single to date, sassily dismissing other people’s interpretations of her as well as anyone who has ever felt stereotyped.

“Last Hurrah” – Bebe Rexha

A short but sweet celebration of attempting to let go of bad habits, but then realizing that you’ll still be the same tomorrow if you don’t.

“You and I” – LÉON

An ode to both love and heartbreak, LÉON delivers a contagious lead single from her debut album, making clear why she’s definitely one to watch on this year’s indie pop scene.

Listen to my playlist on Spotify to hear some more of my picks for the best songs of 2019 so far! Be sure to give the playlist a follow as well, since I will be updating it regularly with more picks for the year’s best as they come at us!