will you join madonna’s ‘revolution’?

Have you heard that Madonna – known for being an innovator, a pusher of boundaries, a renegade – has launched a platform titled #ArtForFreedom, which hopes to start a ‘revolution of love’?

That’s right; Madonna’s here like a really, really blingin’ Joan of Arc to show us all what’s what in the world of social uprising! Fighting for social justice is so hot right now!

It’s hard not to be suspicious when the sales pitch on the website for this supposed revolution opens up with a video of herself parading about in her usual ‘look-at-me’ manner to inspirational slogans ripped straight from the slim backs of Hallmark cards. There’s a lot of style here, but definitely not much substance. It feels a little too much like a promo video, and I half expect some new fragrance to be launched at the end. But you know, instead of being released as ‘Sex Kitten’ or ‘Confusion,’ it’ll be called something really deep and timely, like ‘Unity4ALL’ or ‘#ArmpitsUpIfYouLikeFreedom.’

Maybe Madge was inspired by the Occupy Movement, or the Arab Springs, to give up her narcissistic pop agenda and really get stuck in to the great humanitarian movement of our time. But where is the acknowledgement of these struggles that are already being fought in the name of freedom? Why do we need a celebrity endorsed movement which seems to offer up a hash tag to pop onto your own artwork so it goes under the Madonna for Revolution brand and nought much else? Do we really need another self-appointed hero?

Artists around the world have been fighting for freedom long before Madonna got on her soapbox, and they will continue to do so long after she’s gotten bored and delved into her next of-the-moment project. To simply launch a basic website and say she’s ‘starting’ the revolution is like the Pope waking up tomorrow and being all- ‘Hey guys, did I ever mention this new dude God I discovered last night? You should all hear about him!’

The human rights movement that has been raging around the world is formed around the idea that nobody should put themselves on a pedestal – it too often leads to greed, corruption, apathy and social disaster for everyone else around. #ArtForFreedom misses this point entirely, and bases its supposed power around the cult of celebrity – the exact celebrity created by an advert saturated society obsessed with wealth and beauty that everyone else whose already on board is fighting to get rid of.

Is it not a little gross for a person who spends her life in an exclusively luxurious bubble to actually think she can lead a cultural revolution of the truly dispossessed, broken and abused people around the globe? Freedom is something she experiences far more than most- she has the ability to lead a completely trans-national existence, afforded her by celebrity, wealth, skin colour and nationality. The personal wealth to pursue any goal or life choice she has with the support of whole teams of powerful people. To buy safety and comfort most people cannot conjure in their wildest imaginings.

To have the freedom to know she invested wisely, in her personal brand, now safe in the knowledge that she need never worry about money again. The freedom to speak, and have the whole world actually listen- regardless of what she’s saying.