As I predicted, The Courant has gone completely nuts in hyping Madonna's shows in Connecticut tonight and Monday. It's now Sunday, and we've run six items since Thursday: A Madonna timeline, a story about hardcore Madonna fans and why it seems like they're all gay men, excerpts from reviews of her shows in other places, a partial list of the 200 tons of equipment she's hauling around, a Best Bet in Thursday's Cal section and a story about why you won't see her traipsing about downtown Hartford. On Monday we'll be running a review of Sunday's show (on Page 1, no less) and a photo, and maybe a story about the "scene" downtown.
Enough! Yes, Madonna is something of a cultural icon, and yes, her appearances here are deserving of coverage. But this star-f**ker mentality makes us look bush-league, both as a newspaper and a city. "Madonna's coming to Hartford?" goes this line of thinking. "Well then we must exist! We're validated!" Please. Must we derive our identity from a visiting performer who's not even staying in town overnight to sleep?
It's the equivalent of freaking out when you spot a famous person in a restaurant, instead of taking it in stride, maybe nodding on your way out, and telling your friends about it later. Unfortunately, we're like the gushing uber-fan who can't rein in the urge to interrupt the star's dinner to deliver what amounts to a solipsistic monologue. Be cool, man. Just be cool.
It's like a sceen right out of "Waiting for Guffman."
Welcome to Blaine, Missouri . . . urrr I mean Hartford, Connecticut.
Posted by: ChrisB. | June 29, 2006 at 10:35 AM
What kind of BS is this ???? Icons like Madonna take the name Hartford to a new level. This kind of narrow minded thinking doesnt do any good for everyone who work hard on a daily basis to make Hartford more exciting.
So what if she didnt stay here? does it matter? would she stay at your house next time she comes and visits?
I'm so tired of this nonsense. The Massive AD ridden 96.5 kept talking about how we should all look forward to it. Every statement at the gary craig show led up intelligently to how good madonna is. After the show was over and no more dollars coming to the radio station Jeneen Jersey and the wannabe howard stern dana start bashing on how she sucks and this and that.
You all need to grow up and get a life. If you're not a fan then dont bash the fans and be racist towards the gays because they like her.
Yes you have freedom of speech but would you be saying the same garbage during your Dollar driven AD campaign for Madonna before the show.
unbelievable....
Eric responds: Glad to see you didn't miss the point, which wasn't really about Madonna at all. It was about The Courant's misplaced priorities. And for the record, I posted that item Sunday afternoon, before Madonna had performed either show in town.
Posted by: starmentality | June 28, 2006 at 03:39 PM
Even if Madonna didn't stay in Hartford overnight, that doesn't mean Guy Richie didn't. Evidently, she makes him sleep in a different hotel when she's on tour:
http://tinyurl.com/gbpxt
Posted by: dl004d | June 26, 2006 at 09:39 AM
I really don't think what the big deal about Madonna is. I think she is the biggest fake. She just gloms onto any trend and exploits it. And she really isn't that edgy. Maybe she scares soccer moms, but most of the people I hang with just find her what she is...a successful mainstream performer. That's it.
Don't understand why professors like Camille Paglia give her such credit for being a deep person and having more meaning outside of being a pop performer. She doesn't.
Well, what did you expect from the aging punk/metal/hard rock fan.
Posted by: Tom | June 25, 2006 at 06:56 PM