Material Girl Is Still On Top

Jim Farber of the New York Daily News weighed in on the continued influence Madonna wields on pop culture as the current wave of singing sexpots can seem to hold up to her longevity. “When Madonna planted that big wet one on Britney Spears’ kisser at the MTV Awards, everyone viewed it as the ultimate passing of the torch: the grand dame graciously handing off her crown to a new generation’s pop tart,” he writes. “Now, it looks like the opposite was happening. Madonna was apparently laying down a gauntlet and offering up a challenge. ‘You’ve had a nice run, kid,’ she seems to have been saying. ‘Now try to keep that up for two more decades.’ That Britney couldn’t even keep it up for one tenth that time – while Madonna blithely re-adjusted her crown and moved on – says everything about the difference between the two stars’ approach to their careers and lives.”