Who's That Girl World Tour - Legacy

Legacy

According to Taraborrelli, "Many female artists behave like a diva for a period when they reach superstar status, and the 'Who's That Girl?' tour marked the beginning of Madonna's." For instance, she would not allow crew members to talk directly to her; they had to talk to her representatives, lest they distract her from the business at hand. Her dancers too were told never to address her and her musicians were not even permitted to look at her, unless they were onstage with her. Moreover, when coming on and off the stage, Madonna demanded that road managers hold sheets around her in order to shield her from the eyes of "those who couldn't help but stare". DeMann commented: "She has a way of demanding that compels you to give her your undivided attention", to which Taraborrelli felt that such behavior actually was an indication of how successful and strong Madonna was. "You don't behave like a bitch until you are that successful. The tour sure helped cement her star status", he commented.

The tour was also notable for giving rise to the term "new Madonna", a stronger and more intelligent sexual image of her former self which had given rise to the term Madonna wannabe. Considine felt that "the important thing Madonna did on the tour was to demonstrate how female sexuality can be a source of strength. Traditionally in pop culture, there are two roles that a woman can play—the good girl and the bad girl, and the bad girl is never taken seriously. But Madonna shows up the trappings of a bad girl, and demanded to be taken up seriously because she just doesn't roll over. I got more sense of the strength and power that was under her image all along." Another important fact noted in the tour by scholars is the extensive use of multimedia technique to its maximum potential. Says Mark Bego, author of Madonna: Blonde Ambition, that "Madonna transformed the concept of a concert tour being focused on the songs. She turned her Who's That Girl? tour into a ubiquitous multimedia blitz technique by including songs, dancing, choreography, videos, big screens, backdrops—not to mention the subtle preaching and messages—that made singing a secondary quality for concert goers. Evident from the people that thronged to see the tour, they were there for the spectacle—and not see Madonna standing in front of the microphone and singing.

While in Italy, Madonna met some of her relatives from Pacentro, the village in which her grandfather and grandmother, Gaetano and Michelina Ciccone had been married. However, it was not the glorious home coming that she had expected; some of her relatives made it very clear that they were scandalized by her appearance and behavior. One good thing came from the visit, there were talks of making her an honorary citizen of the town. Ultimately, a statue of Madonna, wearing conical bra was elected in her name, at the center of the town. The Vatican was outraged by the plans of erecting the statue, with the Pope's spokesperson commenting: "The statue would be too sexy and might corrupt the morals of Italy's fine young people."