March 31st 2008
Madonna’s Vanity Fair Interview Some Malawi, Zero Green
Filed under: magazines — michael @ 11:53 am
Is Vanity Fair taking a page out of our book? Should the term “green” be used broadly to also include humanitarian work? It’s worth asking — since it’s something we do all the time here for a site that follows “green gossip” — but it’s definitely a change of course for a magazine that prided itself on its annual ‘all-about-the-environment’ issue.
Which is something I was wondering when Madonna was chosen as the cover girl for this year’s green theme. She’s just not the choice many of us would expect. To that end, I was hoping that this would be Madonna’s opportunity to truly speak out on the issue, reveal her work to reduce her impact on the planet, inspire others to take action, chat up Malawi and her efforts there. Instead, the latter is given a couple paragraphs — sans even a mention of her foundation Raising Malawi. We’re then whisked into talking about her latest album, potential movie projects and, of course, Kabbalah.
To me, this interview could have run in any other issue. Perhaps Vanity Fair is running out of ideas when it comes to finding engaging green cover gals/guys — but like others have commented, it may just be a matter of selling as many as possible — and Madonna will get that done perhaps more than others. Still, I can’t help but be disappointed.
Read the full interview with Madonna here.
Photo credit: Steven Meisel
Agreed. I’m all for supporting magazines that attempt to shine the spotlight on important environmental issues. I had commented earlier that I hoped it would sell well - as any vehicle to get the word out is necessary. However, I feel that the writer maybe didn’t get the memo that his interview was scheduled to run in their Green issue - it doesn’t seem like he engaged Madonna on any environmental topics. She’s pretty outspoken - would have been interesting to ask her questions relating to the topic of the issue - to know her viewpoints - they could have discussed how she is teaching her children to respect the environment..anything other than the usual stuff we’ve all heard before..
I couldn’t understand the Madonna link either and I will definitely talk about this on the radio. I like Vanity Fair and I like Madonna but this has me a little ruffled. Come on VF get it together - eco-printing is soooo accessible. Why put the material girl on the cover of the green issue, and why print it out on a tree that was a “virgin” cut for the very first time. In a strange way it might just signify what the green movement has become. Beware of the greenwashing!
[…] with who should grace the cover of their “eco issue”. After duds from mags like Elle, Vanity Fair, and Complex, we were starting to wonder whether getting people truly involved in environmental […]