Following recent shenanigans of prop pistol wielding and boob flashing, Madonna’s latest controversy has arisen over a video featured in her current tour where a swastika is superimposed on the forehead of French National Front leader Marine Le Pen.
The singer has confronted the issue and has defended her actions, stating that the symbol sends a message about "the intolerance that we human beings have for one another."
Other personalities featured in the video include Sarah Palin, President Hu Jintao of China and Pope Benedict XVI, but only Le Pen has been targeted with the Nazi symbol.
Undoubtedly, this is due to some recent comments made by Ms. Le Pen’s father, founder of the far-right National Front party Jean-Marie Le Pen, who
said that France’s Nazi occupation had "not been particularly inhumane."
Despite the National Front’s announcement that they would be suing the pop star for continuing to display the video at her concerts, Madonna recently told a television journalist that the image was justified because the song was sending a powerful message about the judgment we pass on others when we don’t know them.
"There seems to be a growing intolerance around the world," she
said. "In Greece, France, everywhere people are trying to kick out all the immigrants, make people cover up and not show what their religious affiliation is. Think about what's going on in Russia towards the gay community. I’m calling attention to that intolerance and asking people to pay attention."
She also added that all images used in the video had been chosen "purposefully" and that the swastika was used in particular to draw attention to how we are "just creating more chaos in the world."
"Music should be about ideas, right?" she said. "Ideas inspire music."
Madonna’s world tour in promotion of her
MDNA album has been shrouded in controversy for some time now. Just last week, the singer was under attack for featuring guns in her live performance in Edinburgh, less than 2 days after the Aurora movie theatre massacre.
She may have her critics but the pop star doesn’t appear to be letting anyone dictate her concert performances. She believes that it is part of an artist’s responsibility to bring about awareness of global events.
"Art is there to track what's going on in the world, to make social commentary," she said.