I thought it was a fake, but I was wrong. I first was made aware of the film Like a Prayer about half a year ago while online. Recently however, Oxana Nabokov was profiled in the Everybody Fan Club Facebook page which was established by my friend Mariam Ayub, whom I met way back during the Icon days when Marcia and Richard Del Vecchio managed the Official Madonna Fan Club (OMFC).
Oxana wanted to know why I thought the movie was a fake and I think I replied with having been ripped offed so many times I didn't know what to believe, but when Matthew Rettenmund, who wrote a book on Madonna and wrote an article for Icon back in the day gave the film his stamp of approval, I knew it was legit.
Oxana, the director of the film, invited me to the private screening at the Presidio Theater in San Francisco. I already had tickets. My expectations were that I think I would have been surprised if the show was any good. I’ve been in the independent circuit for awhile and have seen films at indie festivals and, needless to say, I haven’t been that impressed. I just think the whole thing is an exercise in futility. I haven’t seen the likes of a Parker Posey or The Blair Witch Project in awhile or even a Napoleon Dynamite.
I kept looking for parking. I texted parking on my Maps app and it lead me to the Walgreens parking lot. Finally, after 30 minutes of searching, I was able to find what I hoped was a parking spot in front of an apartment building. The spaces in between San Francisco Apartments, housing, or whatever you call them are so small, I never know if it was okay to park at what looks like a vacant spot or what.
I finally made it to the Theatre at 6:00 pm. Thankfully, everyone was still outside waiting in line to enter the theatre. From the very first scene, I was hooked. The first fan was from Australia and because Madonna didn’t make that many appearances in his country, he made it his goal to see her in places where she was performing. Thus, he established himself in a career that suited his needs to see the beloved Madonna.
It’s a tale about how Madonna influenced fans to be the better person they could be. From the fan in London who would spend months away from home and help to raise money for Africa to an inspiring tale of how Jennie sold some of her precious Madonna collection so she could have enough money to see Madonna in the Tears of a Clown intimate show and how she was moved to improve her life after seeing Madonna that close and in person. And, lastly, the kid at the end in Russia who wished to see Madonna perform and finally getting to do it in Manila, Philippines with the help of a very special person.
I couldn’t leave without telling Oxana how incredible the movie was. I was going to tell her that I thought it was fun and the ending made me cry. She asked if she could film me, and then asked why it made me cry and I didn’t know what to say. Maybe it was because she was singing Crazy For You at the end and it’s one of my favorite songs or maybe it was because my guitar teacher’s peer when I was a teen was the person who helped write the song. I didn’t know what to say.
Until the afterparty at a bar. Jennie who was one of the fans profiled in the movie was the DJ. She got the party going with Causing a Commotion, then the Spice Girls. I’ve never been in a bar. I haven’t danced in a decade because I’ve been so busy with creating, drawing and writing comic books, starting a new career in fashion design, completing my BA in Finance, reacquainting myself with the guitar, bass, and music producing, that I didn’t have any time to dance.
I was apprehensive as the only dance I knew were those choreographed. That’s what I do at Madonna’s concert. I study the dance, I never actually participate in the crowd and my family who are usually on the other side of the stadium make fun of the fact that I don’t move or anything. Truth be told, I always get the flu during a Madonna tour, so bad that I’m actually on prescription pills, so I don’t know if that’s what causing me to be muted, but I’m not an emotionally expressive or outgoing person only at night when I lock the doors and noone else can see.
I saw the place get dim and disco lights start to move around and then Madonna’s songs started to blare. You can’t help but not dance! I just started moving my body around. I wanted to do some breakdancing moves but I was wearing dress pants I bought from Nordstrom, and a freshly worn dress shirt I made myself and the floor might have been dirty. It’s like the dance floor gave my body new life and it felt good.
I think it was then that I realized why I cried when the movie ended. I cried because that was what Madonna’s music, choreography, movies, interviews, visual mastery of the still shot, did to me. It gave me life. That’s why I cried!
It was about fans made by a fan. It was by someone who was familiar with Madonna and understood what she was about and how she inspired those who love her and her work such as me, such as Oxana, such as Jennie, such as the kid from Russia with so much love for Madonna he had classmates perform dance routines. The movie was awesome! If you can get to a private screening of the documentary. Do it!
I love reading this! Thank you for taking us on this journey with you and also thank you for mentioning our club! I'm so proud of you for getting out there and enjoying the moment. And you inspire me with all of your creative passion and energy! Thank you my daughter for bringing all of us together!
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