 
True Blue The Immaculate
1986 Collection
1990
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VIDEO by James
Foley
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“Papa Don’t Preach”, the
first release from Madonna’s third studio album, True Blue, became one
of the
biggest and most
controversial hits of 1986. Both the
song and video seem to suggest that Madonna’s
unwed teenage character
becomes pregnant and that Madonna simply decides “to keep her baby”, rather
than aborting it. Surprisingly, this pro-choice stance angered
not right-wing conservatives, but a liberal
group with connections to the
abortion industry known as Planned Parenthood.
The group immediately
denounced the song saying
that “…what Madonna is suggesting to teenagers is a path to permanent
poverty”. Another small group even created a response
video called “Madonna Don’t Preach”.
Mean-
while, anti-abortionists saw
the perfect opportunity to get Madonna to speak out against abortion. She
declined, however, saying
that the song was intended to be a celebration of life, not a national
controversy.
Throughout the political
firestorm that resulted from the new pop song, many ignored the fact that
“Papa Don’t Preach” could be
interpreted on a much simpler level; Madonna merely wanted to date
a guy her father did not
approve of, her “baby” being her boyfriend.
The video itself, notorious
for its accidental nipple shot, also features a brand new, much sleeker, much
more sophisticated version of
Madonna. The new image complements her
new musical direction quite
well and becomes the first of
several complete metamorphoses which would occur over the span of her
remarkable career. She has traded the long, highlighted hair
---characteristic of the Like A Virgin era---
for a short, platinum cut, sure
to catch the eye of even the most unsuspecting viewer.
Perhaps due to the
controversy aroused by “Papa Don’t Preach”, Madonna’s decision to undergo a
complete musical and image
makeover paid off, making her more famous and more popular than ever,
a feat few artists
successfully accomplish. The True
Blue album would go on to be a worldwide #1
smash, and Madonna’s only
album to spawn multiple chart topping singles.
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