Los Angeles - Madonna stepped into the
gun violence debate on Wednesday with a music video containing
graphic dramatizations of a mass shooting.
Called "God Control," the disco beat song and video depicts
a gunman opening fire in a crowded nightclub or bar and images
of actors playing dancers who fall to the ground, bleeding, or
try to flee.
A message before the video reads, "The story you’re about to
see is very disturbing. It shows graphic scenes of gun violence.
But it’s happening everyday. And it has to stop."
"We need to wake up," Madonna sings. The video also uses TV
footage of demonstrators calling for stricter gun control,
including the 2018 "March For Our Lives," in Washington and
other US cities.
While the music video does not refer to any one incident, it
recalls the June 2016 shooting inside the Pulse gay nightclub in
Florida, in which 49 people were killed and 53 injured.
Madonna, 60, said the video was designed to shock.
"Seeing the reality, and the brutality of things makes you
wake up,” the singer told People magazine on Wednesday.
"This is really happening. This is what it looks like. Does
it make you feel bad? Good, 'cause then maybe you will do
something about it,” she said.
The United States has seen hundreds of mass shootings in
schools, workplaces, places of worship and leisure in recent
years but stricter gun control legislation has proven difficult
to pass in the U.S. Congress.
In a message on her social media accounts, Madonna urged
people to "insist on common-sense gun safety legislation" and
directed fans to gun control organizations they could support.
The "God Control" video had been viewed more than 360 000
times on YouTube some two hours after its release on Wednesday.