Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful

Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful

Promotional poster
Directed by Julie Brown
John Fortenberry
Produced by Julie Brown (executive)
Steve Natt (supervising)
Christine A. Sacani (line)
Written by Julie Brown
Charlie Coffey
Starring Julie Brown
Bobcat Goldthwait
Carol Leifer
Wink Martindale
Chris Elliott
Music by Julie Brown
Charlie Coffey
Edited by Vic Lowrey
Distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Video
Release dates
  • December 1, 1991 (original TV air date)[1]
  • 1992 (original VHS release)
Running time
 51 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful is an American 1991 mockumentary film starring comedienne Julie Brown as the title character, with Kathy Griffin and Donal Logue in supporting roles. Comedians Tom Kenny and Bobcat Goldthwait and game show host Wink Martindale also made cameo appearances in the film.

Background

The film lampoons the legitimate documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare (also known as In Bed with Madonna outside the United States and Canada). In the original, American singer Madonna allowed cameras to follow her around for a no-holds-barred peek into her life during her Blond Ambition World Tour. In this spoof, Brown plays Medusa, a controlling, hyper-sexual blonde bombshell who has allowed a documentary crew to follow her on her "Blonde Leading the Blonde Tour".

The film, about one hour long and originally produced as a Showtime television special, goes to great pains to recreate costumes, sets and situations that occurred in the original documentary.

In an interview with celebrity columnist Michael Musto of The Village Voice, Brown recalled how Madonna first reacted when saw the film:

“ "At first I heard she really liked it. Then I heard she didn't like the scene where I rolled around on my dog's grave. She'd rolled around on her mother's — like that wasn't offensive enough? Then she didn't like the scene with the dancers suing me, because that really happened to her." ”

[2]

Shortly after seeing the film, Madonna sent over a half-finished bottle of warm champagne as a dubious gift, to salute Brown's deadpan impersonation. Brown's reaction upon receiving the gift was surprising:

“ "It was really expensive champagne, but it had Madonna spit in it!" ”

According to Brown, she drank the bottle.

The concert and backstage footage was filmed at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center in Long Beach, California.

After its debut on cable television, the film was released on VHS for a limited time until it went out-of-print in the mid-1990s. The DVD version of the film is now available only via Julie Brown's official website.

References

  1. ↑ Rhodes, Joe "Who's That Girl? Julie Brown, MTV's redhead, gets to really express herself in Madonna parody " Los Angeles Times, December 1, 1991
  2. ↑ La Dolce Musto from The Village Voice dated June 14, 2000

External links