Everyday thoughts, but not every day

Plastica fantastica!

Madonna at Grammys 2023 Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
The distortion in this photo is due to botox, not the camera lens.

When Madonna appeared at this year's Grammy Awards looking every bit like the love child of Mickey Rourke and Jocelyn Wildenstein, the internetz were abuzz. Some commented that she should grow old gracefully, as if she'd give a damn for what anyone else thinks. The freakish visage wasn't her real face though, it was the result of the patriarchy photographing her through a beer glass.*

Nobody is heaping praise on more or less normal-looking women such as Madonna’s friend 60-year old friend Rosie O’Donnell for aging gracefully.

Belinda Luscombe, Madonna's Face and the Myth of Aging Gracefully, Time

Maybe that's because nobody feels the need to comment when events follow their natural order? O'Donnell is only doing the same as most of the rest of us, and those before us, so it's not remarkable. And, let's be honest, she's always flown under the sex symbol radar.

Perhaps commentators have mocked Madonna's new look because PaTriArchY aNd MisOGyNy™. Or possibly Brexit. Or the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Or simply human nature; after all, fragile egos—especially those of celebrity poseurs—are a universal source of amusement. Dunno. (shrug)

Madonna paints herself as caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny, yet claims she's strong-willed. Is that a euphamism for in denial? Because she appears to be grasping at straws in order to abate the passage of time, both physically and in the public eye. Whether it's through insecurity or narcissism is anyone's guess. It could be that, having flown so high for so long as the queen of pop, the descent into irrelevance is that much harder to bear.

It's all good for a laugh though. And that's pretty much the only entertainment value that current-day Madonna offers in the public consciousness: as a meme generator.

Madonna, ca. 1985 Madonna, ca. 2012 Madonna, ca. 2016
And yet it was all going so well. Madonna in 1985 (L); 2012 (C); and 2016 (R).

* Madge railed on Instagram against: Close-up photos of me Taken with a long lens camera By a press photographer that Would distort anyone’s face!! Following up with: I look forward to many more years of subversive behavior -pushing boundaries-Standing up to the patriarchy. I don't understand how turning herself into a laughing stock is sticking it to the patriarchy, but whatever floats her boat I guess. (shrug)

Her post also boasted: It was an honor for me to Introduce. Kim Petras and Sam Smith at the Grammys. I wanted to give the last award which was Album of the year, but I thought it was more important that I present the first trans- woman performing at the Grammys— a History making moment!! Interestingly, although Smith appears in the accomanying video and its thumbnail, Petras is relegated to oblivion. Or, perhaps as a trans woman—and not even trans-lite, she's actually gone full monty with the dickectomy an' all—who's breaking glass ceilings, she didn't want to be encumbered by a ligger on the fringes of the LGBTQIABC+FLAPFLAPFLAP community.