Despite living in “modern” times, people still very much want to be told what’s “good” and what’s “evil,” as though the line between those two nouns isn’t more blurred than ever. For, after all, it makes it easier for them to neatly express an enraged opinion in the comments section (and this all speaks to what Bret Easton Ellis is talking about in White–the moral majority scaring into silence anyone who expresses even the slightest deviation from the “correct” stance).
With Madonna being the first major singer to not be frightened into the submission of being told to call off her performance in Israel on the basis of its political conflict with Palestine, there is something particularly timely about the release of her latest single from Madame X, “Future,” featuring Quavo (and not, more on the nosely, Future). The back and forth of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1948 and the assertion of dominance alternating between the two during different periods in history has resulted in the present state of Israel transcending into an international pariah for its violent infiltration and colonization of the Gaza Strip. No one is saying that’s not wrong.
What is wrong, however, is that the contempt for the Jewish people in relation to Israel appears manifest in statements from news items such as, “Colonial Zionism differed from other European colonial enterprises in its much more ambitious intentions; it set out not only to exploit the indigenous people and steal their resources, but also to expel them and move Jews onto the stolen land.” With the Jews, once again, painted as everyone’s go-to villain and scapegoat that the public can certainly get onboard with, all the wrongdoings of Palestine have been conveniently “forgotten” (for yes, Palestinians have waged their own fair share of Israeli killings over the decades). Then there is the small matter of considering whose fault it was, really, for trying to give a consolation prize of a “homeland” to the Jews after their own genocide during the Holocaust, and the culpability of everyone who looked away for so long. Could some of that fault largely be attributed to the U.S. for immediately recognizing Israel as an independent state in spite of that “independence” stemming from the ill-advised move of partitioning off Palestine into a Jewish and Arab territory? Clearly, this was a decision made by people who had never been to Palestine. While FDR made promises to the Arabs about not fucking with their state, Harry S. Truman quickly approved the influx of 100,000 displaced Jews into the territory. And, obviously, when you’re displaced, you’re not going to question the sanctioning of “a free place to stay.” With a weakened spirit comes clouded judgment on morality. This all goes back to the delicate present day issue of what to do with refugees. Would the liberal bleeding hearts that condemn the state of Israel now change their tune if the displacement of the Jews was still fresh? If they could see their then state of homelessness unfolding before their own eyes?
Eerily, when “Future” is taken literally, it’s as though Madonna is saying Palestinians won’t make it into the future at the rate of genocide taking place. But let’s not get so dark and instead interpret it from a more figurative standpoint. Madonna’s move to perform in Israel with Quavo at her side singing, “Just free your mind/Welcome to the future, it’s a culture ride/Too much pain inside/It’s an override/You’ve been puttin’ too much time tryin’ to survive” is overtly calculated in its attempt to spark the idea of unity in a country that has been incapable of achieving it. Starting with the fact that never having accepted the Jews in the first place is a crux of the conflict (then again, the Native Americans “accepted” Europeans and look how that worked out), Madonna is offering a John Lennon-y “peace is possible” angle for the future. Thus, to be maligned for the political implications of going to Tel Aviv and making it appear as though she sanctions the loss of Palestinian lives is, once again, too literal an interpretation–for literalism is the great disease of the twenty-first century. What’s more, is Madonna performing in Holocaust Germany? Is she posing with Nixon like Elvis did? Or Trump, for that matter, like Kim K did? Is her performing in Tel Aviv for Eurovision–an entity that has nothing to do with the conflict going on–really such an affront considering her longstanding history not only with Tel Aviv itself but with the sect of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah? Where others, mainly at the bullying remarks of Roger Waters, including Lana Del Rey, have been too afraid of tarnishing their precious reputation for the sake of not coming across as “the bad guy,” Madonna has remained fearless in her decision to declare, “I’ll never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda nor will I stop speaking out against violations of human rights wherever in the world they may be.” This much was also true in August of 2012, when Madonna performed in Russia and spoke out against the “illegality” of being gay in that country, as well as the imprisonment of Pussy Riot. For a musician going to a country where injustice is rampant and speaking out against it is actually a good thing, not a bad thing–to “tidily” classify for you. To that end, why aren’t musical artists condemned when they do a gig in Russia, another world capital of subjugation? Keep the moral outrage consistent if you’re going to do it, after all. Why let artists perform in Venezuela? Or South Africa? Why not just relegate every singer to playing it politically safe by sequestering them in L.A. or New York?
But no, Madonna won’t be relegated, repurposing lyrics from 2000’s “Don’t Tell Me” (itself repurposed from a Joe Henry song) that insist, “Don’t tell me to stop/’Cause you said so/Tell the sun not to shine/’Cause you said so.” So yes, along with “Like A Prayer,” “Future” is a pointed choice on Madonna’s part for this controversial performance. With the latter track noticeably produced by Rebel Heart favorite Diplo, the dancehall feel of it is contrasted against its somewhat ominous lyrics, in which Madonna both cautions and states matter-of-factly, “Not everyone is coming to the future/Not everyone is learning from the past/Not everyone can come into the future/Not everyone that’s here is gonna last.” For if you don’t learn from the past, how can you possibly expect to level up into the future? And this is precisely why the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians persist. As though the stock method of violence both sides have engaged in for the past seventy-one years is going to make anything different for the future, one that is rapidly vanishing in this part of the world.
