Madonna

Madonna

Musician 1: I think she is 1)chameleon 1 like. I think she has the ability to absorb what's going on around her and make it her own and learn about it and then use it to advance to the next 2)phase of her career.

Musician 2: At certain points in your career, you need different kinds of influences to move to the next level. I think she is smart about what she wants to do, what step she wants to take and the kind of people she needs to surround herself with, people that know what they’re doing in that particular field and she learned from them. And then if it makes sense for what she is trying to do then it works for her.

Musician 3: I think it’s determination and 3)naked ambition. You know, she has a drive and she stays focused until she achieves it. Whether it’s 4)commercially successful or not, you know, she will see it through if it’s her 5)vision.

Fan 1: I like the way she acts because I think all women should be able to act like they want, without been 6)run down by men at all.

Fan 2: Like Marilyn Monroe again, except a much harder Marilyn Monroe.

Maripol (Stylist): What would be more perfect than to have a girl called, Madonna, coming to me to get some my design and having her wear the crosses on her ears and her heart, around her neck and peace sign? Because there was an element of a little political messages to my drawing. I had tons of letters from these young kids. They would call me “Madonna jewelry 2 designer” and if anything, I was like “excuse me, I am not Madonna’s exclusive jewelry designer.” But they were so naive 3, kids from all over the world would send me letter “I want this cross,” ”I want this,” and the cross was a symbol of rebellion, the fact that you put it in your ears. But it was also perfect. She is Madonna and she wears crosses. All of a sudden she didn’t need all that and out of the window. So that did hurt me because a department store, right when my merchandising line was ready to go into the stores, was...caput this never went nowhere.

And every time Madonna makes another image change, her fans have to play catch up with their hard earned cash. Patrick, Thomas, Jennifer, and Jonathan have 7)collectively spent $20,000 on Madonna merchandise.

Journalist: You’re all loyal fans, does Madonna love you enough because she is fleecing you at the same time she is taking all your money, do you feel bad about that?

Jonathan: I don’t feel like she is fleecing us. She’s been a contribution to our lives as far as bringing different points of view, and different artistry and music into our lives and I think that’s a blessing 4, if anything.

Thomas: I feel that she gives us really all that she can, I mean, she is always making more albums for us to listen to, more and more videos.

Journalist: Albums to buy as well. You’re not just getting them for free, are you?

Jennifer: We used to do performances at a club out in Long Island. And it was a matter of time before we had a bunch of young girls dressing 5 like her. We had to kind of push it along a little bit, you know, “$20 here,” “$30 here,” “why don’t you go get a dress like that?” “why don’t you...” You know, we started it just like Brian Epstein paid people to scream for the Beatles, I mean, we began to get a following and to have girls 8)emulate 6 her.

Patrick: Any artist is taking their likeness 7 and putting it on a T-shirt, or on a cap and selling it. She doesn’t get all the money, she gets a small percentage of it but there is nothing wrong in that.

Jonathan: I don’t think her whole motivation is being rich, I think it’s just a by-product 8 of what she has become. I think what it is, is that she enjoys performing. When somebody enjoys what they do, they are gonna excel, they are gonna succeed, they are gonna do stuff, they are going to reach that plateau. That’s the way I see it, so everything else is just a part of life.

Camille (Madonna’s first manager): Right before the final break up, she came to me and said that “You’re a bitch and I am a bitch, however, we do work very well together, let’s try and make this work out.” In 9)hindsight I know I should have said “sure, yeah”, you know that was it, but I discovered her, I developed her and I basically wanted to manage her.

Burt (Madonna’s second manager): I never spoke 9 to her since July 1996. Never spoke to her. I got a call from her secretary. And her secretary told me, “Burt, I have to tell you bad news. ”Oh,” I said, “Can I talk to her?” So she said, “Well, you know Madonna, she doesn’t like to talk about these things.” Which is the truth. She doesn’t like to say goodbyes.

Vinne (Madonna’s friend): You see, if you are not pulling your weight, you are out. Gone. That’s not a control 10)freak, that’s just a sensible person. Someone who has got their marbles in the right places. Because she is up there and done so well, she doesn’t want to risk, ever, slipping down a little bit, that’s why she works so hard, you know?

百面麦当娜

音乐人1∶我觉得她就像只变色龙。她特别善于吸收周围的灵感，把那变成自己的东西，从中学习，然后应用到自己的事业上，使事业更上台阶。

音乐人2∶有时候在事业上，你需要借助各方面的影响力来更上一层楼。我认为她能够聪明地知道自己想做什么，要走哪些步骤，要结交什么样的人，人们各有所长，她向人们学习。能用则用。

音乐人3∶我认为，她的成功靠的是决心，还有毫不掩饰的雄心壮志。她勇往直前，会全身心投入直至成功为止。无论有没有赚到钱，只要是她看准了的，她都会坚持到底。

歌迷1∶我喜欢她的行为方式，因为我认为女性就应该想做什么就做什么，巾帼不让须眉。

歌迷2∶她很像玛丽莲·梦露，但是个更强硬的玛丽莲·梦露。

玛丽普（设计师）∶麦当娜来找我做设计，她在耳朵上戴起十字架，胸前别着十字架，颈链上也挂着和平标志——这真是再好不过了。我的作品表达了少许的政治色彩。我收到青少年源源不断的来信。他们称我是麦当娜的珠宝设计师什么的，而我就说“对不起，我可不是麦当娜的专人设计师。”但他们天真极了，还是从世界各地寄信给我说“我要这个十字架”，“我要这个”，事实上十字架当耳环戴就成为了一种反叛标志。买卖太好了。麦当娜戴着十字架耳环。可是接着她突然之间又不戴了，全副扔掉。这对我的打击太大了，因为那时候我的产品销售计划刚要打进百货商店，结果货物无处可销。

随着麦当娜每次变换形象，她的歌迷们挥洒血汗钱也要追随她的潮流。帕屈克、托马斯、詹妮弗、乔纳森通共花在麦当娜商品上的钱高达两万美元。

记者∶你们果然是铁杆歌迷，麦当娜有那么爱你们吗，她可从你们身上榨了不少呢，你们是不是感觉很糟？

乔纳森∶我没有觉得她在榨我们。她对我们的生活有利无弊，她带来另一种观念，给我们带来不同的艺术与音乐，我觉得那怎么说也是件好事。

托马斯∶我认为她在尽力为我们做贡献，我是说，她总是制作更多的专辑给我们听，制作更多的录像带。

记者∶唱片专辑可是要买的。但你不可能不掏钱就买到这些，对吧？

詹妮弗∶我们曾经在长岛的一家俱乐部做表演。没过多久就看见有好些打扮像她的女孩子。我们会搞点小推销：“这件卖20美元。”“那件卖30美元。”“你怎么不买件那款裙子？”“你怎么不买……”一开始我们就像布莱恩花钱请人为甲壳虫乐队尖叫一样，我们让女孩子去追随、模仿麦当娜。

帕屈克∶艺术家的肖像印在T恤衫和帽子上出售。不是所有的钱都归她，她只拿了很少一部分，那并没有什么不妥。

乔纳森∶我认为她的动机不是赚大钱，那只是她成名后的一个附带结果。我认为她是真的热爱表演。当一个人做到享受自己所做的事情时，他们就一定会出人头地，就一定会迈向成功，就能有所为，能成大业。所以我的看法是，这一切都是为了生活。

卡米尔（麦当娜的第一任经纪人）∶就在我们闹翻前，她来找我说∶“你是泼妇，我也是泼妇，不过我们在一起工作得还很愉快，让我们想个法子解决好问题。”现在想想当时真应该说∶“好的，对”，可事情已经弄成这样了，而且是我发现了她，是我栽培了她，所以我当然想当她的经纪人。

巴特（麦当娜的第二任经纪人）∶打从1996年7月以后我就没和她说过一句话。没说过一句。我接到她秘书的电话。她的秘书跟我说：“巴特，我有个坏消息告诉你。”我说：“哦，我跟她谈谈行吗？”秘书说：“你是了解麦当娜的，她不喜欢谈这些事。”这话是真的。她不喜欢和人道别。

维尼（麦当娜的朋友）∶表现不好的话就会给淘汰。她并不是事事要管，而是明智行事。一个人就该在适当的时候铁面无情。因为她高高在上，那么出类拔萃，她一点儿也不想冒风险退步，所以她才那么勤奋地工作，你明白了吗？

注释:

1) chameleon [kE5mi:ljEn] n. 变色龙

2) phase [feiz] n. 阶段

3) naked [5neikid] a. 无掩饰的，无证据的

4) commercially [kE5mE:FEli] adv. 商业上地

5) vision [5viVEn] n. 眼力

6) run down 压制

7) collectively [kE5lektivli] adv. 全体地，共同地

8) emulate [5emjuleit] v. 欲赶上或超过

9) hindsight [5haindsait] n. 后见之明

10) freak [fri:k] n. 怪人