Music video analysis: Madonna ‘like a prayer’

Music videos have two purposes. To entice the consumer to purchase the album or song; marketing, and to build or create an artist’s star image. In the case of Madonna’s music video, her aim was to shock both her audience and her potential audience; effectively differentiating her product, a catchy 80’s single, from the plethora of similar products out there at the time.

There are several reasons why this music video is incredibly controversial. The main reasons for it being controversial are due to the main themes of the video; religion and race. Religion is the main focus of this music video, Madonna basing herself within the church, is a hint at her star image.

Firstly, one example of where symbolic techniques have been used to convey the controversy is when Madonna is dancing, at night, in front of 6 burning crucifixes:





The symbol of a burning crucifix is a Klu Klux Klan symbol, showing that they had, or were about to ‘lynch’ a black person. The Klu Klux Klan, or KKK as they are popularly called, are a violent white supremacist group that were incredibly dominant during the cold war era, but their echoed ideals can still be seen today, as shown by this photo of a rally held just last year.





The use of mise-en-scene in this context further accentuate the racial injustice undertones, suggesting that black people, even in the time of Madonna are still threatened by gangs such as the KKK, and further than that, the usual social injustice from the American Government system.

The reason I say this is because, what is most shocking about the church is the use of race. The main factor is that Jesus is portrayed to be black. Even though his actual race was not known (though most likely he was dark skinned and Iranian), the fact that his change of skin colour shocks an audience, reveals the fact that we have been institutionally been taught to think that one race is superior than another.

This is further shown by portraying God to be the exact opposite of what we might picture it to be. The video subverts the unspoken Western belief that 1) God is a man, and 2) God, if he exists, is white. The very fact that people find it hard to believe that the person in the video is in fact God, or that they find it inappropriate supports my point aptly.

Another case where symbolic techniques are used, is in the use of Madonna’s costume. She is in a church, a conservative house of God. People are taught to be modest, and to avoid any sort of devious thoughts or behaviour. As you can see from the GIF below, Madonna completely subverts this.



One could argue that the reason the director has told her to do this, is because it brings out the fact that women are too often sexualised by the media. This is shown by the fact that people find fault with the above scene, purely due to the fact that we have been taught and told that women’s bodies should be acknowledged and not seen, and that any exposure of parts that men don’t have, is indecent.

Another symbolic convention used is when Madonna both kisses Jesus’ feet and kisses him. The kissing of the feet is quite clever; Madonna is another name for the prostitute, turned follower of Christ, Mary Magdalena. On her first meeting with Jesus, when he saved her from stoning, she bowed down to him and began weeping profusely. Her tears ended up on his feet, and so she began to clean them with her hair, ending with a kiss. This would further generate her star image, as those who would see this connection would be outraged. The outrage would develop hype, and portray Maddona as almost God/saint like, just like Dyer’s Star Theory suggests.

On the first shot inside the church, we see all that we would expect inside a church, until we see an American flag in the right hand corner.

This may be a hint at the gross mishap that has occurred within the United States, a slow convergence of Church and State, which is exactly how the constitution didn’t want the country to be. This could further exemplify the racist undertones listed above, as the KKK are known to be extremist Christians, and support the merger of church and state in the US.

In conclusion, the music video accomplishes what it sets out to to; cause controversy and to shock. The music video, even to this day is still arguably one of the most controversial ever made. However, it could be said that Madonna might not be as big of a star as she is today, perhaps without the help of this music video. The video cemented her image, and attracted her target audience; rebellious young/30's adults that were part of the 'counter-culture,' pro civil rights, that would further be shown in the years to come, and to still remain today.