Sex - Madonna

Rating:
Summary: Madonna in the 90's
Review: I have to give Madonna credit for being the bold artist that she was in the 90's. Her book, Sex, with it's portfolio of nude images with the combination of design and production was beyond any book I've seen. However, I don't think of this book to be erotic but an example to Madonna's metaphorosis into the artist that she is now. It's like watching someone grow through pictures. Most 80's performers didn't last as long as Madonna's as she continued to reinvent her self through her career. The Madonna today would never produce the sex book (she's writing childrens story books now). "Sex" captures Madonna in her most dramatic reinvention.

I recommend this to any collector!

Rating:
Summary: Sex - Madonna
Review: I think this book is amazing. It's outspoken, outrageous, anti-mainstream, and very so humane. Sex is part of nature, and those conservatives who get offended by it really need to get over it. The naked body is natural, and seeing a beautiful woman\man naked is a priveldge. It is the most private thing to share with someone, and for Madonna to do that must have been absolutely scary. I was too young to know how badly it affected the public back in 1992 because I was only VERY young. This book shows the beauty and diversity of sexuality, and represents it in a fairly blunt way, but it beats beating around the bush, and smacks the conservative\relgious freaks in the face, which I think is hilarious. I am a religious person, but I'm also an extremely open person. This book represents art\photography\pornography. It's not sick, nor disgusting, it's simply an amazing piece of history of an incredible artists life, and should be cherished.

Rating:
Summary: X X X
Review: Madonna's been sexy since, well, since she seductively rolled around on a road in one of her first videos in 1983. Ten years later, she dropped her first book - aptly called "SEX" - and it's hot.

Photographed by Steven Meisel, SEX is Madonna's manifesto - she breaks all taboos - it is a collection of her sexual fantasies.

With an introduction, explicit short stories and poetry written by Madonna, we see pictures of Madonna NUDE posing with celebrities like rapper Vanilla Ice and model Naomi Campbell and displaying fetishes including sadomasochism, bondage, lesbian skinheads, homosexual strippers, and dogs.

Highly controversial in nature - is it art or is it porn - largely due to America's views towards AIDS and sex in the early 1990's - Madonna was burned at the stake in the media.

SEX was originally priced at US $49.99, complete with aluminum covers, sealed in shiny plastic, and included a comic book and compact disc with one song - a tie-in to her attendant "EROTICA" album - a rather innovative recording that was completely overshadowed by the "SEX" event.

Rating:
Summary: There is a reason why I choose to review this book.
Review: No, this is certainly not my type of book. No, I don't like nude pictures or anything of the kind. But there is a huge reason why I choose to comment about Madonna's notorious book "Sex".

When this book came out, I was as horrified as anyone else, especially a lot of Madonna's hardcore longtime fans. When Madonna suddenly remade herself as "lewd" as opposed to merely "suggestive", she had simply gone too far. Her fans tended to like her when she was "toying around" with the idea of sexual stereotypes, mocking them. But when she suddenly unleashed this one, even those who have the natural ability to see the potential good in people and resultingly struggled to find something good to say about her up to this point (and that includes myself) were suddenly silenced by this book.

But even so, that *still* isn't my reason for reviewing it. And, believe it or not, it isn't even my reason for giving it only one star.

This is my reason:

Madonna has said herself within her own interviews that this book was her deepest regret. While yes, the book was so spurred on by the controversy that all its hardback copies sold out in one week around the world, making it the fastest-selling and most successful illustrated book in history, she has been burned like a witch ever since. Suddenly, for the very first time, she had exposed herself entirely both physically and mentally to the world. She had taken complete credit for the whole entire fiasco herself, so this time she couldn't say it was partially the press's fault or anyone else's if she had been tempted to. She had no room to maneuver with this one. She could only sit and take the blame. It came within a hairsbreath of totally destroying her career, completely ruined her original appeal in the eyes of many of her admirers, and from then on out she struggled to keep any part she could of the audience she had always taken for granted.

She had done her best to give brave words in public, but in private (according to her friends, as I don't want to say this as fact because I, of course, haven't spoken to Madonna herself to ask her so I can only go by what she chooses to say and her friends' words in the few publications about her I have read in my life) she was horribly distraught. She reportedly told others, "I made a huge mistake, I really wish I hadn't done this." And suddenly being so out of control of a situation in which she had--I'm not trying to be mean here, I'm just at a loss for words regarding other terms I could use for it--made such a complete and total fool of herself was a painful experience for her. A friend of hers even claimed that Madonna had seriously. been on the verge of suicide. Whether or not she actually had a nervous breakdown I have no idea. Plans to re-release it in paperback were cancelled, as Madonna has no desire to keep this book out in print, and she has basically said that she just wishes the whole thing had never happened.

I never saw this book until only recently when I went through a used book store I frequent. It was sitting behind the counter. I know the owner well, and when I had asked if I could flip through it she laughed and asked, "Oh, you're curious to see how stupid she made herself out to be?" I had chuckled at the time because it had showed the clerk knew my personality and trusted me.

When I had flipped through it, I had a particular reaction to it, but not the type others had described. I wasn't "turned on" by it, and neither was I frothing at the mouth in rage over it. Instead, I was very slowly and sadly shaking my head, and soon I had felt a couple of tears fall down my face. I just kept sadly thinking, "Oh no... oh no... oh no, this is so sad..." I realized how self-degraded she must have felt after releasing it, and I was horribly moved. I didn't pity her, mind you (I think pity is the last thing she would want), instead I felt terribly sad for her and thought about how her personal feelings must have been through all this. It was the saddest experience I have ever had from looking through a book. I quietly gave it back to the clerk, who reshelved it.

It may be a stupid thing to say, and maybe Madonna herself might laugh at me for saying it, but after looking through it I just wanted to give her a big brotherly hug and say, "It's alright, I'm not going to condemn you for this. I understand that you feel you made a mistake, and that's okay. You didn't need to do anything like this to grab my attention. I know you to be an extremely talented artist, you have a lot of talent. And I'm willing to enjoy the songs you wrote that I love because I see the talent in them and I can separate them from this book."

Yes, I know it was her own fault. Yes, I know all about how she has been mean to people at public gatherings and such, and about how she has been terrible to her fans in the past and all. Yes, I know she has been very selfish. But as a Christian, I don't care about any of that. What I care about here are the personal feelings of another human being who made a mistake. And yes, I do believe that her feelings count too. She has admitted it herself in public, and she paid an awful price to learn that lesson. Everybody has made mistakes, and no one has the right to judge others because of theirs. Therefore, due to my lifelong Christianity and my personal compassion in understanding this situation--to the best as I can at the moment--I am willing to do what all my friends, my family members and virtually everybody I have ever met who has encountered the book has apparently not been willing or able to do yet; I'm willing and happy to forgive and forget.

I care about her personal feelings in this situation, I believe that you should too.

So this is the reason why I give this unhappy book a one-star rating: because it was something Madonna herself says she wishes she didn't release. She doesn't want this book to be bought anymore. She doesn't want to go through that whole storm again. She wants the whole mess to just go away the best it can even if it can't be entirely forgotten.

Please don't buy this book. Have compassion for the situation. Don't upset her any more than she already has been. Even if you're the type to love this sort of content, please resist the temptation to buy it. She may even very well be thankful that you did one day. I don't know for sure, as I certainly can't speak for her. But I believe that refusing the book simply because she wants you to is the right, proper and caring thing to do.

Rating:
Summary: SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX
Review: SEX. Everyone thinks about it sometime. So, what's wrong with someone thinking about it, and more...
This is the ultimate Madonna collectible. It is a complete work of art - and is 110% for adults only. Not meant for coffee tables.

Rating:
Summary: SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX
Review: SEX. Everyone thinks about it sometime. So, what's wrong with someone thinking about it, and more...
This is the ultimate Madonna collectible. It is a complete work of art - and is 110% for adults only. Not meant for coffee tables.

Rating:
Summary: Fantasies in a book.
Review: She pretty much covers every fantasy anyone has ever had in this uniquely bound book. Madonna pushed the envelope and published a book that almost put a halt to her career. In the end, she sold millions and became the most talked about celebrity in the 90s.

If you can get your hands on one of these books, you'll see how differntly she used to write. Today, she writes children's books. I guess 10 years was enough time to chagne genres....

Rating:
Summary: Fantasies in a book.
Review: She pretty much covers every fantasy anyone has ever had in this uniquely bound book. Madonna pushed the envelope and published a book that almost put a halt to her career. In the end, she sold millions and became the most talked about celebrity in the 90s.

If you can get your hands on one of these books, you'll see how differntly she used to write. Today, she writes children's books. I guess 10 years was enough time to chagne genres....

Rating:
Summary: Assuming it's everything and more...
Review: The guy who wrote the novel for a review needs to be a bit more brief and concise next time. Geesh, I didn't realize I was going to get a lesson in humanity and forgiveness. Madonna has changed in ten years, just like the rest of us. No need for forgiveness, my mislead friend, just an open mind.

Rating:
Summary: A must have!
Review: This is a MUST HAVE for any Madonna collection. ABSOLUTELY NO REGRETS.