Excerpts from Madonna's Brother's Book- Page 2

[Calvin]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 1:10pm

I just got a 40 percent off offer for it from Amazon.

That's a great sign for it.

[RetroBoy]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 1:18pm

i wouldn't be shedding too many tears for madonna. she probably couldn't care less. if any of it were fiction i'm sure she would have done something to stop it's publication.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 1:22pm

"if any of it were fiction i'm sure she would have done something to stop it's publication."

Plenty of biographies get published without being stopped that have false information or a very one-sided pov--something that probably can't be argued in court as it's merely he said/she said or his right to see things that way.

Recently, Tom Cruise has fought biographies that talk about his being gay--and well, most of us believe that IS true.

She's prob not having anything to do with it knowing that any defense from her would give it publicity and make it a huge hit. She's smart.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 1:22pm

Is the whole thing written in present tense? That would drive me batty.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 1:22pm

As for the suggestions of homophobia, I do have to say that I was completely stupified after I saw her in The Next Best Thing whose message to homos everywhere seemed to be "don't bite the straight hand that feeds you." Updated On: 7/15/08 at 01:22 PM

[KrissySim]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 2:12pm

I get the feeling that if the book is written entirely in the present tense it will drive Phyllis Rogers Stone batty.

Does Christopher really call his sister Madonna? I'd expect him to call her Louise. "Life With My Sister Louise" wouldn't sell as many books. Is someone else who is/was close to her trying to cash in on the relationship?

I can't help but think that if Christopher really had a life of his own this book would be totally unnecessary. But wait, this book really is unnecessary!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 2:20pm

I'm easily driven batty.

Why would he call her Louise? I know it's her middle name and all, but who calls her that?

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 2:26pm

And, oh honey, that picture? Is that really the same hottie from TRUTH OR DARE? Selling your flesh and blood out does nothing for one's figure.

[KrissySim]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 2:30pm

"Why would he call her Louise? I know it's her middle name and all, but who calls her that?"

I dunno. I just thought that maybe it was the name she grew up with...
Updated On: 7/15/08 at 02:30 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 4:35pm

Heh. I think she grew up being called Madonna, but I could be wrong.

Wait, I mean - i am thinking that she is growing up as Madonna. That is what she is called.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 4:42pm

Her birth name is Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone. Her family calls her Madonna often.

I don't think it's fair to nail Madonna for Next Best Thing. As much as script revisions during a shoot happen and, even worse, editing can change entire scenes, it's entirely possible that was not the film she and Rupert signed ok for. Maybe not the film the gay director intended if he lost final cut.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 4:55pm

As the years go on, Madonna's thoughts on homosexuality, which seemed so progressive to many people in the early 90s, seem to have not evolved much. She said she thought the sex in Brokeback was "shocking."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 4:58pm

Jerbs, I think we've disagreed on this before. I see what you're saying but

A) There's a scene where Rupert acts flamboyantly gay and pretends to be her ex's lover to shame him

B) She knows for years that the child isn't Rupert's, but doesn't tell him until she wants to marry Benjamin Bratt and take the child away, and when Rupert exerts what he thinks are his rights as father, she squashes him

C) Her lawyer uses Rupert's "dirty" sexual history to destroy him in court

D) At the end, the benovlent Maddie does allow the broken Rupert to reconnect with the son that's not his, even though she's made a spectacle of him in court and takes away any rights he has regarding the child.


I do see what you're saying, but there's this underlying nastiness throughout it that I don't think could have appeared post-production.

[bobby_luvs_bway]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 5:08pm

And to add to what Phyllis wrote...the original script was intended as a vehicle for Julia Roberts, she dropped out. Madonna came in and she and Rupert practically rewrote the script with all of their demands. Everything from the characters' occupations to where they lived was changed at their request. I worked for Lakeshore during this time and this was not a pleasant experience for the crew nor the studio.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 5:32pm

Well if that's all the case, then I understand. But it's Madonna and at least two gay men (director and star) who botched it all up. Perhaps trying to say one thing and it not coming off how they intended.

But, in general, I don't blame actors, who do not usually have control over the results.

I don't think Madonna's love for gay people is lacking (she's done a lot for us), but her compromising for Guy may be existent and that would sadden me if true.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 5:39pm

That's kind of how I see it as well. She sort of became a different person when she married Guy. Which suprises me, because she has always come across as such a confident (if not cocky) person, and usually someone who would change like that for a relationship would be seen as insecure.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 7:49pm

I couldn't even get through the excerpt. This book looks like one, big YAWN. (Which is probably the worst thing anyone could do to Madonna. I bet she's pissed!)

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 8:03pm

It's ultimately just a ploy to get money. In that passage, he states a few times that "he was low on cash" and such. That's the only reason he would come out with this now. Her brother trying to exploit her is really going to have no effect on her career, if that's what he's trying to do.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 9:22pm

Not to completely derail this thread, I have to go back to The Next Best Thing. Jerby, I think what Bobby was saying is that she DID have control over the material. Her character was a yoga instructer, for heaven's sake! Do you think Julia was going to play a yoga instructor. I bet she was a school teacher. Probably around 3rd grade.

I think the point I've been trying to make - and probably clumsily - is that no one puts a gun to these people's heads to play these parts, especially when (strictly career speaking, no judgment on her abilities) the person playing the leading role doesn't generally make her living as an actor. This was when she was earth mother and BFF's with Rupie. I don't believe for a second she didn't have her hands in ... pie? cookie jar? I'm at a loss for a metaphor, so feel free to choose your own.

I'm not saying that movie means she unequivocally holds gay people in contempt. It just left me feeling uneasy, because I just couldn't wrap my head around why she wanted to make that movie. I was a huge Madonna fan for a long time, and the woman whose fan I was could not have been the woman who made that movie.

ANYway, The awful tense and syntax of these excerpts have me salivating. Phyllis is reserving a copy right now. It makes Phyllis excited.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 9:32pm

I do think you have a point.

I am just tempted to believe that with two gay men also making these choices, it was just a mess that they ended up with. I wonder if they intended to say what the film says. Maybe they did--and then I would want to know why.

It's easy to assume that if a gay person creates it, then it's safe. But I'm learning that's not always true as dome gay men have vastly different takes on this whole gay thing. So, again, I do think you have a point.

In other situations, an actor may read prefilming draft and sign on based on that. If the director or studio warps the film after, they can't do much. Studio 54 may be an extreme example.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 9:56pm

At any rate, it was a real POS. :) I rewatched it a year or so ago just to see if I felt the same way about what it said, and boy did I ever! It's really one of the things that kind of put the nail in the coffin of my Madonna-love.

Call me crazy, but I liked (and enjoyed her performance) in Who's That Girl?

[blueroses]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 10:01pm

Louden Cleah!

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 10:37pm

I can still remember seeing the video for the song, Borderline for the first time, and just thinking it was one of the worst things I ever saw. Now, I had been married for about 8 years, and had a couple of sons, by then, so I wasn't the video's target audience, but still... I can recall saying to my wife, "That girl has absolutely no sell-factor, whatsoever!" She kind of liked it, though. Nobody was more surprised than me by her phenomenal success. I'm about as far away from being a fan, as anyone can be. I never found her attractive, I don't like her voice, and I don't think she's a very good dancer. Although, I did like the songs, Get Into the Groove and La Isla Bonita, I hated all her videos. I'm still perplexed what everyone sees in her. I can't imagine this book having the slightest impact on her career.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 10:37pm

I wonder if she would have had the same career if she been named Eunice?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/15/08 at 11:45pm

Eunice! lol

It was a bad movie, PRS. And I guess that goes hand in hand with what I was saying--they didn't succeed in any way.