By JANE STEVENSON -- Toronto Sun
According to yesterday's USA Today, the video for Madonna's next single, What It Feels Like For A Girl, is so violent that it will air only once on MTV and VH1 tonight at 11:30 p.m. after a news segment about it. The clip was directed by The Material Girl's filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels).
In Canada, MuchMusic is taking a much more moderate approach. The video, featuring a dance remix of the album's single, will make its debut tonight on MuchMusic at 11:30 p.m. with a special Too Much For Much soliciting viewer feedback. Following that, it will air after 9 p.m. with a viewer advisory.
"As usual it's Madonna. She breaks down those walls and tries to challenge us, break the stereotypes," MuchMusic kingpin David Kines said yesterday. "She's a woman behaving like a boy."
In the video, Madonna plays a grifter who takes her grandmother on a crime spree that includes stealing two cars, tazer-gunning and robbing a bank machine customer, and blowing up a gas station. All of her victims are male.
Speaking about the controversy for the first time last night, Madonna told Entertainment Tonight that the video "shows my character acting out a fantasy and doing things that girls are not allowed to do.
"This is an angry song and I wanted a matching visual with an edgy dance mix."
Madonna added that she hopes the new video will have a positive effect by opening dialogue and making people ask questions.
