To the editors:
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My disillusionment came with reading your obscenely prejudiced and scathing piece on Truth or Dare [June 21]. Let’s begin with your indictment that the movie is a docudrama rather than a documentary. Throughout your diatribe you portray Madonna as a maniacal control freak. Why then, I ask Bill Goldman, I mean Wyman, is it “hugely contrived” that the woman you describe as “so unsure of her image that she can’t bear to let it out of her control even for a second” (you obviously didn’t see Shanghai Surprise) wouldn’t want to wait until the following morning to remove the half empty beer bottles soiling her posh hotel suite? I bet a call to the Four Seasons housekeeping staff could verify this “truth” of yours.
Speaking of “truth,” let’s talk about your analysis of the concert footage scenes. It is apparent that you don’t listen to her “overwrought and overproduced albums.” (You are probably too busy listening to the brilliantly honed craftsmanship of Nine Inch Nails or the Revolting Cocks.) How then would you, Bill Goldman, I mean Wyman, have any idea whether the live sequences are “patently staged or rerecorded”? She willingly admitted while on tour that she lip-synched to ensure her audiences consistent performances. With the price of tickets these days, this consideration of her fans is something other performers should pay attention to. Would the movie have been better if it had the sound quality of, let’s say, “Blank Generation”?
Doug Sohn
