Madonna asks attention for gun violence issues with graphic video
Madonna recently launched her experimental new record Madame X and she is not close to done promoting it. After an eye-catching music video for the track ‘Dark Ballet’, she just launched another one for the disco banger ‘God Control’. We all know how the Queen of Pop can make us talk about her with controversial decisions in her career, but she often uses her voice for a cause too. The video for ‘God Control’ combines those two qualities with a graphic depiction of gun violence to raise awareness for the gun control issues in America.

The video, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, shows the event of a night out, that quickly brings back the mass shooting in the night club Pulse in Orlando back in 2016. The events are told achronologically, from dead bodies, to the shooting, to then tell what happens earlier that night. We see the happiness of a night out in the 70s style disco before the horrendous attack happens. Before Madonna arrives at the club however, she is already robbed at gunpoint. The scenes of the night out are intertwined with footage of Madame X sitting behind a typewriter, writing the lyrics to ‘God Control’, but starting over all the time while shedding tears at the end. We also see visuals of rallies against the current gun laws.

The video ends with the message that we should wake up. Madonna is very clear about her intentions here and she and her director could not have executed this video anymore convincingly. Critics may say that it is too graphic, but there is a warning in place and by showing the violence, she underlines her point of needing more laws around gun control. ‘God Control’ is easily one of the best and most impactful music videos I have seen in a long while!