music as well as the story line in Parker’s film wrongly portrayed her as a whore who had slept her way to the top. At one point, in one of their weekly phone conversations, she even suggested to Parker that “the implication in the musical was a male chauvinist point of view and absolutely ludicrous.” Parker didn’t bother to argue. He had more serious concerns than worrying about his star’s analysis of Evita’s character.
When Madonna turned on the television that evening, there were images of Eva Perón ministering to the poor during her political heyday, juxtaposed with clips of Madonna in some of her more raunchy videos. Hugo Rodríguez Cananilla of the Eva Perón Foundation, one of the most vocal opponents of Alan Parker’s Evita and of Madonna in particular, had come up with the idea to draw those negative visual comparisons.
Furious, Madonna called the leading newspaper and told them she wanted to make a statement. Consuela Stamos, a young reporter who was fluent in English, took the call. Madonna began by saying that the reaction of the Argentine people had “hurt her deeply.” “Form your opinions after you have seen the movie,” she said. “I am full of admiration for her. She came from nothing and ended up with enormous influence over the country.”
Stamos took everything down and then asked Madonna why she thought it would be a good idea for President Menem to allow the film to be shot on location in Buenos Aires. “For one thing,” Madonna replied, “it would stimulate the economy.” Gathering momentum, she asked rhetorically, “Why do you think I can’t sleep at night? Because all my fans are in the street screaming for me. What do they care about not sleeping? They’re unemployed so they don’t have to get up in the morning.”
Stamos feigned sympathy. “Look, with all the unemployment,” the star continued, “the people should be grateful that a big movie company comes to Buenos Aires and offers hundreds of them jobs as extras. It’s more than they have now, thirty dollars a day plus lunch.” On that note, the interview was over.
When Madonna had calmed down and thought about what she had said, she summoned her bodyguard, a gentle blond giant of German extraction named Hans. One of the more amusing scenes around Buenos Aires was Hans scurrying after Madonna as she went sight-seeing or shopped, holding her small Evita box handbag daintily between his enormous hands. Madonna now wanted Hans to contact the newspaper and, in Spanish, prevail upon the reporter not to print the piece. “Explain that I was stressed-out and exhausted,” she pleaded.
It was too late. The following day, Clarín published an exclusive three-paragraph interview with the star that did little to further her cause in Buenos Aires.
The next day another member of the Eva Perón Foundation issued a statement to the press: “. . . the wife of the former Argentinian leader should not be played by a woman named after the mother of Christ who has appeared in rock concerts in skimpy outfits, singing of lust.” That evening, Madonna fired her bodyguard.
Despite all Madonna’s efforts to seduce the people of Argentina, negative opinion only escalated. Marta Rivadera, a deputy in Congress from Menem’s hometown province of La Rioja, went so far as to propose a decree declaring Madonna and Alan Parker personae non grata. The next time Madonna spoke to Parker, she referred to the phrase used by Rivadera, saying that it was just another way of calling them “dirty rotten scum.” One wonders if Parker had ever heard that expression translated from the Latin in quite that way.
chapter four
S till with no firm appointment with the president, Madonna was rightfully apprehensive when, on February 1, she met Alan Parker and Antonio Banderas at the airport in Buenos Aires. Parker had decided he would make the trip anyway to save time if things worked out, and to check out locations as well as to see if he could do
When Madonna turned on the television that evening, there were images of Eva Perón ministering to the poor during her political heyday, juxtaposed with clips of Madonna in some of her more raunchy videos. Hugo Rodríguez Cananilla of the Eva Perón Foundation, one of the most vocal opponents of Alan Parker’s Evita and of Madonna in particular, had come up with the idea to draw those negative visual comparisons.
Furious, Madonna called the leading newspaper and told them she wanted to make a statement. Consuela Stamos, a young reporter who was fluent in English, took the call. Madonna began by saying that the reaction of the Argentine people had “hurt her deeply.” “Form your opinions after you have seen the movie,” she said. “I am full of admiration for her. She came from nothing and ended up with enormous influence over the country.”
Stamos took everything down and then asked Madonna why she thought it would be a good idea for President Menem to allow the film to be shot on location in Buenos Aires. “For one thing,” Madonna replied, “it would stimulate the economy.” Gathering momentum, she asked rhetorically, “Why do you think I can’t sleep at night? Because all my fans are in the street screaming for me. What do they care about not sleeping? They’re unemployed so they don’t have to get up in the morning.”
Stamos feigned sympathy. “Look, with all the unemployment,” the star continued, “the people should be grateful that a big movie company comes to Buenos Aires and offers hundreds of them jobs as extras. It’s more than they have now, thirty dollars a day plus lunch.” On that note, the interview was over.
When Madonna had calmed down and thought about what she had said, she summoned her bodyguard, a gentle blond giant of German extraction named Hans. One of the more amusing scenes around Buenos Aires was Hans scurrying after Madonna as she went sight-seeing or shopped, holding her small Evita box handbag daintily between his enormous hands. Madonna now wanted Hans to contact the newspaper and, in Spanish, prevail upon the reporter not to print the piece. “Explain that I was stressed-out and exhausted,” she pleaded.
It was too late. The following day, Clarín published an exclusive three-paragraph interview with the star that did little to further her cause in Buenos Aires.
The next day another member of the Eva Perón Foundation issued a statement to the press: “. . . the wife of the former Argentinian leader should not be played by a woman named after the mother of Christ who has appeared in rock concerts in skimpy outfits, singing of lust.” That evening, Madonna fired her bodyguard.
Despite all Madonna’s efforts to seduce the people of Argentina, negative opinion only escalated. Marta Rivadera, a deputy in Congress from Menem’s hometown province of La Rioja, went so far as to propose a decree declaring Madonna and Alan Parker personae non grata. The next time Madonna spoke to Parker, she referred to the phrase used by Rivadera, saying that it was just another way of calling them “dirty rotten scum.” One wonders if Parker had ever heard that expression translated from the Latin in quite that way.
chapter four
S till with no firm appointment with the president, Madonna was rightfully apprehensive when, on February 1, she met Alan Parker and Antonio Banderas at the airport in Buenos Aires. Parker had decided he would make the trip anyway to save time if things worked out, and to check out locations as well as to see if he could do
Similar Books
