The Front National Sues Madonna
Please note that there is an update below.
A few weeks ago, on June 4, I posted a short notice about Madonna's performance in Tel Aviv that included an image of Marine Le Pen on a giant screen. The video above is from the Tel Aviv performance and you really have to be quick to see the image in question - it appears at about 1'33" into the clip. It goes by so fast you may have to try more than once. The swastika on her forehead lasts about a second. And you will NOT want to listen to the unbearable cacaphony.
Madonna repeated this performance in France on July 14 at the Stade de France, north of Paris. The Front National had said it would file a lawsuit if she repeated the insult. Florian Philippot, newly appointed vice-president of the FN has announced that the suit will be filed next week:
"It is one more provocation whose purpose is to fight against the trouble she has been having with her public, since her tour is close to being a resounding flop," said Philippot. "But this provocation is inadmissible because she trivializes very serious things. It is our duty to file a suit in order to defend our voters and those who sympathize with us."
French speakers can hear the audio of Philippot's comments at Nations Presse.
If you Google this event (in English) you will find headlines such as "Madonna getting sued by French fascists for swastika imagery".
The Daily Mail has the article in English with the photo below where you can see the swastika more clearly.
Update: Does the image above show a Nazi swastika, or a Hindu-Buddhist symbol, or neither? Below is the Hindu swastika, as printed at Wikipedia:
And below is the Nazi emblem. The actual lines are similar but the Nazis did not use the four circles. And they tilted their swastika. However, Madonna seems to have used a left-facing swastika. I don't think Marine Le Pen can prove it is a Nazi symbol, only that it is a swastika. Swastikas are as old as the hills. See Wikipedia. Also see comments below.
Labels: Madonna, Marine Le Pen
posted by tiberge @ 7:24 AM
15 comments
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15 Comments:
Commentator on the DM pointed out correctly that the symbol is a Buddhist and Hindu symbol, and not Nazi.
Before taking legal action, it may be better to take note what the defence is going to be, and how to counteract it.
"Madonna" (the anti-Madonna) is so grotesque and childish. I hope Marine wins and uses the funds for future campaigns. Madonna will have ended up helping her.
To all,
This is very interesting. Because I do not believe for one minute that Madonna (or her managers) did not know that people would assume it was a swastika. If it is not a swastika, and is really a Buddhist symbol, then Marine's defense has to focus on Madonna's attempt to mislead the public into thinking it was a Nazi symbol. This means proving intent, which I doubt they can do. So it does mess up Marine Le Pen's argument. Also, the lawyers for Madonna can accuse the FN of automatically jumping to the conclusion that it was a swastika because they themselves associate their own party with Nazism.
Madonna was therefore exceedingly clever. She used a symbol similar to the Nazi swastika, but no one can accuse her of using a Nazi emblem. If someone asks what a Buddhist symbol is doing on Marine Le Pen's forehead, Madonna could answer that it is a peaceful symbol and she hopes Marine Le Pen will seek peace instead of war with immigrants. Or something like that.
Any ideas on how Marine's lawyers could win this?
@ dauphin,
Depending on what that symbol really is, it may be that Marine ends up helping Madonna!
I think Madonna's intent is clear - to make Marine look like a Nazi, without actually using a real swastika.
It may get thrown out of court.
Marine has to prove that any version of a swastika can be regarded as a Nazi emblem when it is used against her party. But that may be shooting herself in the foot.
@ tiberge
The symbol appears in a few cultures, including the Navajo. I think you put your finger on it when you mention intent. When it is followed by a Hitler mustache, the context becomes clear. And why Marine and not Hollande? It might get thrown out by a biased court, but I think Marine does have a case. If there is any justice, she will win and teach the spoiled pop star a lesson.
@ dauphin,
I posted an update.
@ tiberge
I still think context and intent are key. Time had this to say:
http://world.time.com/2012/07/16/why-madonnas-swastika-swipe-may-actually-help-marine-le-pen/
For the sake of good order, I'd like to repeat what I said on your first post about this. I see you all are discussing the same dilemma here now.
"These are moving pictures, where you see both faces, and you see the swastika on the forehead at the same time as you see Madonna's face
Left-turning swastika, the opposite of the nazi symbol right-turning swastika. The problem is that the clock/counter-clockwise symbols seem to be used both as the nazi-symbol as well as the Hindu/ancient symbol, so both the user and the observer of the symbol may be confused about the message.
- Intriguing
Why would Madonna, a non-French, want to target Marine? Could she be a useful tool?"
http://galliawatch.blogspot.no/2012/06/delays.html#c1606708751442231023
Agreeing with you abut the intent. It could be hard to claim that Madonna's intention was not to associate the symbol she is using, with the nazi symbol.
Then on second thought, you get confused thinking what is her real motive? This was also my feeling in June when this video was first shown. I still don't have a clear opinion about it myself.
@ anonymous 10:40 a.m.,
Madonna is certainly a useful tool, but I don't necessarily think there is a plot by anti-Le Pen forces to use her. She is a natural tool, being what she is - a celebrity, with extremely liberal views on sexuality, a woman who has espoused (figuratively and literally) multi-culturalism, her children (or some of them) being "métis" and now I hear she is dating a Muslim. So she is an anti-racist, and being both arrogant and provoking, she blends her political views into her trashy performances. She may be happy about the publicity. She is past 50, and in the juvenile world of popular culture, she is an old lady, so she needs new "ideas".
It is however, always possible that there is some collusion with anti-Marine elements, because I heard that BHL was managing this tour. So he could have asked her to do this as a favor to the anti-racists of France, a country he hates in its traditional form, and has said so openly on television. She would thus be serving the cause of anti-racism, and getting some much-needed publicity as a bonus.
It would be great if Marine could prove BHL had something to do with this. But that is wishful thinking.
To all,
I received an anonymous comment from Australia with a link to a site that sells stickers. I regard comments such as these as spam. Once in a while, one of them gets through if there is some doubt in my mind, but in general, comments advertising something are treated as spam.
The following anonymous comment was accidentally deleted, however a copy of it is always saved in the gmail account:
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Front National Sues Madonna":
The swastika as rendered here is a reference to the schizophrenic murderer Charles Manson, who has one tattooed between his eyebrows.
Regarding the above comment about Charles Manson, if this is true, and if Marine Le Pen can use this fact in her defense, it might be in her favor, since Madonna is now equating Marine Le Pen with a psychopathic enabler of psychopathic killers.
If I recall correctly, Manson did not kill, he led others to kill. He was the mastermind of the gang. So is Madonna saying that Marine is the leader of a gang of potential killers?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1384473/Madonna-splits-Muslim-toyboy-24-rows-religion.html
(2011 May)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2106602/Madonna-man-Brahim-Zaibat-head-Kabbalah-Center-matching-stripes.html
(2012 February)
Yes, tiberge, now you remind me. BHL was involved in this tour, and he takes any opportunity to spew over FN and not the least those who agree with them.
1040
Madonna continues her Swastika Tour
- points with "machine guns" at public in Oslo Wednesday night
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