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Madonna - What It Feels Like for a Girl (DVD Single)

Madonna - What It Feels Like for a Girl (DVD Single)

List Price: $9.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What's the Problem?
Review: I still remember the MTV News update at ten to the hour when Kurt Loder announced that Madonna's video for the song "What it Feels Like for a Girl" off her latest LP, Music, was considered too controversial for MTV to put into rotation. My first thought was "Oh LAWD, what has my girl done now?," flashing back on the videos for "Justify My Love" and "Erotica." When MTV announced they would play it ONCE in deference to the fans who wanted to see it I, like millions, tuned in to see what all the hooplah was about.

THIS is controversial? On what planet, and for what reason? Because it offers Madonna's take on the injustice and inherent sexism American society forces its women to confront on a daily basis? Because a woman is taking control in an uncontrollable situation by ending her life because she can no longer stand the hypocrisy of the society in which she lives? If this had been a short film starring some cute indie actress, it would have taken home an Oscar.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Redefining a "Night Out on the Town"
Review: As the years press forward we watch artists grow and then recede, sparking and then abruptly fading, and we become jaded and forget them rather easily. That said, a small percentage defy the few "hits" and then oblivion, fighting that chart-topping mainstream fight. This type of artist stays afloat by modifying themselves, adjusting to the times and experimenting with the new flavors and sonic fashions. They write and rewrite themselves, making sure new audiences note what older audiences have already grown to love. Successfully doing that, playing every formula on the field, and one - at least in mainstream success - goes far.

Within defining someone with "staying power," a few names come to mind. Amongst those spoken often, Madonna seems to be firmly rooted. Yes, she's redesigned herself a multitude of times while defining herself as an "artist," sometimes met with love and sometimes with the cancellation of commercials while doing so but each time being noticed. Accordingly, she's spanned decades. And now, adding Guy Richie into the visual mix and letting him shuffle some violent undertones into the fray, she's found yet another niche where she might not have been able to get before. She's located people like myself that weren't really sold on her body of works without that type of appeal.

While the video for "What if Feels Like For a Girl" isn't perhaps for anyone and it wasn't - in my opinion - violent enough to be "banned," it did seem to fit just right when I watched it.
O, how it did it.
While marking that remixed beat that unravels before onlooking eyes, I found myself focused on doing what a girl what's to do when she apparently wants to do it. And, according to this vision, she wants to go out with a bang. She first picks up an elderly rider, taking her out in her lovely sportscar, and then she proceeds to introduce herself to the world. And the way she does it is a tapestry of beauty in the making.
Guys winking at her in the car to her right, annoying her while she's sitting at a stoplight? Well, the car will fit into their driver's side door nicely.
Need some money and don't want to bother with your own ATM withdrawal? Isn't that what stun guns are made for?
Don't like street hockey? Well, you've obviously never played it with a car.
Over and over again, the images clash with the authoritarian views of what is/isn't proper until, in the end, eventuality comes calling in a superb crescendo of imagery.

If you've never seen this and don't think Madonna fits you, then maybe you should try it on anyhow. Technotronic remixes making melody to watch violence by is a NICE thing. It managed to bring a tear of joy to my eye.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Madonna at her best as always
Review: "What It Feels Like For a Girl", directed by Madonna's husband Guy Ritchie, is remarkable. Madonna shows her angry side. This seemingly happy lyrics are actually as angry as the video. Her committed crimes express her feelings toward sexism. One must respect her unique style. At the same time, she proves that she remains the queen of MTV after many years in the spotlight. Those who want to view this genius work must buy the DVD. MTV and VH1 banned it after one presentation because of its violent nature. It plays the techno remix version rather than the album version. One still will not be disappointed, even those who are not Madonna or techno fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MTV Banned?
Review: I just can't believe why this video was banned from MTV! Wrapping your car around a post and hitting a few people is hardly violent in today's standards. I've seen much worse in the videos that MTV doesn't ban! Besides the video, there isn't anything else on the DVD. But that's ok, because you're only getting this or the video, right? The video is actually pretty comical. The old lady just kinda is there for the fun. Madonna goes around and has some innocent fun... Well, innocent besides hitting a few people and destorying some cars. her husband did a good job directing it.This is a fun little DVD video to pick up. Must-have for Madonna fans, good fun for the rest of us who aren't! Enjoy!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Interesting Ripoff of Baise Moi
Review: Madonna isn't so much a pop singer as a pop stylist; she shrewdly adopts and then discards new personae in the manner of David Bowie in the 70s to keep abreast of the times. Now she's Marlene Dietrich, now she's the Material Girl, and now she's what critic Carol Clover would refer to as "the final girl," an avenging feminist angel who seeks to overthrow the patriarchy with a succession of random acts of violence. But Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie, who directed the video, are really ripping off the film BAISE MOI, unavailable in the US except in a drastically censored version. That said, the mix on the DVD is the "trance" version of the song, and is well executed; and the visuals are relatively compelling...This is a pale and commercial imitation of the source material...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You Go Girl
Review: You know it is a sad day when a video like this is banned from Mtv, but maybe I am desensitized. Don't get me wrong, I love this video, but I am unable to see the reason for banning it. Was the image of a tattooed Madonna too controversial (hey, we all survived the 'Sex' book), or was it the fact that she drove a Camaro without having a mullet?

On the plus side,Guy brings a sexy new edge to a Madonna video; filling screen with testosterone laden images and setting it to the pulsing Paul Okenfold remix which brings the focus from lip syncing (in a traditional video)to the nonstop action.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Why was this banned?
Review: This is far from being Madonna's best video, and far from being her most controversial. I have no idea why this video was banned from Mtv. It is no more violent or controversial than what you will see on the evening news. Something tells me that it is the 'theme' that did not sit well with the suits at Mtv - two women driving around town and wreaking havoc on unsuspecting males while the words "do you know what it feels like for a girl" echo in the background. So, it really is an issue of gender (that she targeted the male gender), not controversy that got this banned.

Still, I do not like violence and am not a fan of it. I generally do not watch the evening news for that reason, and I steer clear of most action shows and movies because I don't like violence. So, this video was not easy for me to watch, especially from a woman who once said that where she drew the line in her art was in violence and degrading others. Madonna is an artist, of course, and has the right to express herself as she wishes - and I understand the point she is making here. But just as Madonna has the right of expression, so do I, and I just don't like violence or its depiction. I'm glad she hung up the boxing gloves after this video.

Note: the song on this video is a remix that sounds NOTHING like the album version. The entire verse is gone from this song, all you hear is the manic schizophrenic dance track in the back and then the ominously whispered "do you know what it feels like for a girl?" juxtaposed over footage of Madonna crashing her car into males. Though I don't like violence, it is an interesting video because it's a Madonna we've never seen before (except perhaps for that short scenario after "Causing a Commotion" in the Blond Ambition tour, where she mock-beats up Nicki and Donna). This is sort of a kamikaze Madonna, and the little old lady she champions is cute as hell.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Do You Wonder What It Feels Like To Be A Girl? Then Buy It!
Review: This is one of the most fascinating videos to watch because you need to keep seeing it in order to understand it. Every time you play it again you notice something more and wonder? So Madonna is dressed all in black as she repeatedly asks, wouldn't you like to know how it feels to be a girl? But for a boy to look like a girl is the greater.

The video begins as she picks up this old lady in a nursing home who looks like her life in the home is a living hell. My guess is she wants to get this old lady to relive her youth and explore her mind in a life of total adventure versus the boredom in that home.

The old lady and her ride together the entire video. As Madonna spots some cute guys as she is driving she winks at them and takes the red light creating various car crashes. Madonna then goes on a driving rampage, kills a guy who is withdrawing cash in an ATM machine and robs all of his money. From there she fires 2 cops with a water pistol in a food drive-in creating a mess of a chase with the policemen smashing other cars. Afterwards she decides to go for the bigger of challenges and in a gasoline station she robs a red car and later sets the gasoline station on fire running the original car owner.

She looks like a black cat that is possessed by a demon in this video. You get a glimpse of Madonna's story of what it feels like to be a girl in this world. It is hard, challenging, and sometimes unfair. Her role in this video is of being naughty, all dressed in black, and bad to the last drop.

I feel this video was done to show the world that to be a girl is good but to be a guy that looks like a girl or a girl that looks like a guy is better. It is confusing to interpret buy view it and decide for yourself; take the challenge. She displays aggression, power, control over all men, and no regard for the law. Those are probably the reasons why this video was banned in the first place. But I find it to be very entertaining and mysterious.

By the end of the video you see Madonna gathering her id's to go on a run for breaking the law in a frenzy of madness by pressing the pedal to the maximum in her car. That entire seen looked like total girl power until you see what happens next. She ends the entire video crashing against a pole and the car breaking straight in the middle into a zillion pieces. I guess the message is that being a girl is not as easy as it looks, wouldn't you agree? So what is the greater, being a girl or being a guy? Or would it be better for a boy to look like a girl, which is the greater? You may think you can find the answer in the video but again Madonna always leaves her viewers with total mysteries to who she really is and what her message is. The Queen of Pop is a legend to talk about for decades and decades. For these mysteries and controversies only bring more interest to her fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What if feels like for a boy...
Review: well, it feels pretty darn good actually. Especially after watching this video. Once again Ms. Madonna has showed that she IS the numero uno video artist of all time. This video is one her most visually appealing clips and definately the most intriguing video of last year. Very unique. It's filled with symbolism, irony, and dark humor. Excellent direction and editing by Guy Ritchie. Shame on MTV and VH1 for totally selling out and not showing this video. As far as the criticism that is too violent...., please, the evening news is alot worse. I do have to agree with a previous reviewer, however, it really should be a crime to waste this much empty DVD space....

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Other better videos....
Review: I am a big Madonna fan but this is not one of her best videos. I think "Music" and "Don't Tell Me" are much better videos. "Don't Tell Me" reminded me of what a great video artist Madonna is. As a Madonna fan, you may want this as part of your collection. I'd prefer to see it as a part of a video collection. However, I don't think all the fuss about the violence was justified. I've seen MUCH worse on MTV.


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