Like a Prayer is the first single and title track off of Madonna’s fourth album. The song and its accompanying film clip were notably controversial at the time, being condemned by the Vatican and leading to a cancel of sponsorship from Pepsi (Rhino Entertainment, 2016). Using semiotic analysis I will examine the film clip (visual signs), song (audio signs) and their denotative and connotative meanings. Sexuality, Catholicism/Religion, racism, female empowerment is all present within the film clip which shows the wrongful framing of a black man for murder and Madonna hiding in a church (her faith) for comfort. The lyrics utilize describe a religious ecstasy, faith, sexual innuendo whilst using religious terminology musically backed by church organ and gospel music.
(Madonna, Madonna - Like A Prayer (Official Music Video), 2009)
Audio Signs
“When you call my name it's like a little prayer, I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power, just like a prayer you know I'll take you there”
(Leonard & Madonna, Like a Prayer, 1989)
The lyric to Like a Prayer by Madonna superficially describes a sexual relationship whilst using religious overtones. “Down on my knees I want to take you there” could denote praying in a church, taking holy communion or oral sex. Whilst initially the lyrics may shock, they have a deeper connotative meaning. Madonna describe like a prayer as being about a passionate young girl "so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life" (Eames, 2019).
Catholicism is the dominant ideology in the lyrics. Madonna herself was raised Catholic, once stating “Sometimes I’m wracked with guilt when I needn’t be, and that, to me, is left over from my Catholic upbringing”(Zehme, 1989).In contrast what’s represented is a woman’s sexuality, something that's been repressed traditionally in the catholic faith. “The Catholic Church teaches that it is a grave sin to deliberately separate sexuality from procreation, because the latter is its most essential purpose” (Armstrong, 2018). Sex outside of the marriage and for reason other than procreation is a sin. The simulation of oral sex can be shocking to someone who holds conservative religious values.
The religious symbolism of the song is supported by its use of instrumentation. In the verse Madonna is supported solely by an organ, reminiscent of a pipe organ found in churches. The chorus features a gospel choir, reinforcing the religious motif and dogma presented throughout the song.
Visuals signs
Like a Prayer music video tells the story of “Madonna witnesses the murder of a girl by a group of white supremacists. She flees to a church and prays for the strength to come forward as a witness. A black man is arrested for the crime, but Madonna comes forward and clears him” (IMBd, 2009). Visually the Like a Prayer film clip caused a lot of controversy when it was released in 1989. It led to a cancellation of Madonna’s sponsorship with Pepsi and condemnation from the Vatican(Romero, 2010).
Racism
Like a Prayer appears to be set in the Southern States of America, where racism appears to me more prevalent. We find Madonna dancing in front of five burning crosses on a hill during the song's breakdown. Burning Crosses are a symbol of hate used to “to intimidate minorities, Catholics, and anyone else suspected of betraying the order’s ideal” (Koerner, 2002). They represent the Klu Klux Klan, a White American hate group whose ideology is“white supremacy, white solidarity, and preservation of the white race.” (Counter Extremism Project , 2019). Whilst their initial target was African Americans, in its second resurgence in the 1920’s they “broadened its message of hate to include Catholics, Jews and foreigners” (PBS, 2019).
Mary Lambert who directed the Like a Prayer film clip stated that “The most important thing was to force people to reimagine their visual references and really root out their prejudices, burning crosses to reference racism to religion” (Weingarten, Johnston, Newman, & Ebiri, 2015).
Further evidence of a prevalent racist ideology (and in particular institutional racism) in the video is when the police arrive to find the black man (who had run to the aid of the women in distress) holding the women, they arrest him straight away and put him in jail. The innocence project states that “From their very first interaction with the police…. black people are discriminated against and disproportionately criminalized at every stage of the criminal justice system” (Maule, 2019). A study at Michigan State University also discovered that “African-American prisoners who were convicted of murder are about 50 percent more likely to be innocent than other convicted murderers” (O'Brien & Parker, 2017).
Female Empowerment/Feminism
At the start of the video, we find Madonna witness the assault of a young woman. She flees into the church for safety. Later in the video more details of the assault are revealed, showing the women getting stabbed in the side of her waster and Madonna looking scarred. This attack by a group of men on a single woman can connotatively be viewed as an assault on femininity.
After Madonna enters the church she lays down on the pew, closes her eyes then falls down through the clouds. She is caught by a smiling African American woman who looks like she is a member of the choir. She sings “heaven help me” and gets lifted back up. It's after this opens the door to the black saint and later, she goes to the police to attest to the man's innocence. If we explore further, we will find deeper meaning in this. Madonna and the African American lady (denotative symbolism two women holding each other,) are supporting each other and providing strength (connotative meaning femininity, interracial harmony, justice and womanhood). The New York times once stated that “Madonna is the true feminist” and “shows how’s girls how to be attractive, sensual, energetic, ambitious, aggressive and funny” (Paglia, 1990). I believe it’s this feminist ideology that shows strongly not only in the film clips narrative, but across all Madonna’s work.
It should be noted that Madonna was sexual assault victim herself, she once stated that when she moved to New York “The first year, I was held up at gunpoint. Raped on the roof of a building I was dragged up to with a knife in my back” (Hickey, 2013). I feel this adds greater depth to the film clip, having part of it be based on her actual experience (yet she rose above it and didn’t give up her dreams).
Sexuality
I wanted to speak about ecstasy and to show the relationship between sexual and religious ecstasy. I think that subconsciously a lot of people understood this and were either enthralled or outraged by it.”
Mary Lambert Director discussing her intentions with the film clip (Rhino Entertainment, 2016).
Madonna’s sexuality has been prevalent throughout her career. From her outfits (the famous cone bra), to her coffee table book on the joys of sex (creatively titled sex), she has never shied away from her sexuality. What makes Like a Prayer interesting is the juxtaposition between faith and sexuality. The clothing that Madonna wears isn’t what a catholic or church going person would deem “modest”. She is wearing a low-cut dress, displaying cleavage and wearing a cross. She had also died her hair back to brown, her original colour after going blonde in 1986. This goes against the Vatican’s Marylike standards for Modesty in dress which state “Marylike dresses require fulland lose coverage for the bodice, chest, shoulders, and back; the cut-out about the neck must not exceed ‘two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat’ and a similar breadth around the back of the neck.” (Arnold, 2013).
Her clothing directly contradicts conservative Catholic ideology (as does the sexualized nature of the lyrics), however it does bring great representation for her sexuality. She is utilizing aspects of her background (Italian American/Catholic) to make a statement about her own sexual freedom, that it isn’t something to feel guilty about, to be covered up or hidden, but to be celebrated and expressed without shame or judgement. To put this in context, the film clip arrived before the third wave of feminism hit the mainstream in the early 1990’s, where Madonna would be viewed as “revolutionary pop star who taught us that we could be sexy and strong” (Strauss, 2013). Madonna herself once said, “I’m in charge of my fantasies. I put myself in these situations with men” (Strauss, 2013).
Conclusion
Madonna’s controversial yet timeless film clip Like a Prayer holds many layers of semiotics. An attack on the racial views that conservative America holds and the guilt that comes with religion. It challenges the ideology of white supremacy, female oppression, police brutality, wrongful incarceration of African Americans that lead to an outcry from conservative America and the Vatican. Madonna’s sexuality and individuality are on full display in the film clip, something that is at odds with the Catholic church. Hopefully the film clip encourages people to question their own biases with regards to race and religion.
Bibliography
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