I'M BREATHLESS

Have you ever watched movies and see yourself in those on screen characters? Over the years there have been two for me.. and Breathless Mahoney was one for me. 

 And all this comes about for a couple reasons. First off Madonna has been a icon  for like...ever. The film Dick Tracey also just turned 30 this year.  I for one LOVED the movie. While the movie was a box office hit, many a review said the movie was so-so, but Madonna herself actually got the best reviews for this movie then any other. I have to say, I feel as thought she gets ripped on her acting, and to the contrary, I feel she did quite a excellent job of it in Dick Tracey, not to mention Evita she blew out of the water, and was sultry in Body of Evidence, but I thoroughly enjoyed all her movies. I can and have seen worst acting.  But it was her Breathless Mahoney that captivated me the most. When the movie hit, I did not know what I was in store for when Dick Tracy came out, or what to expect. And then I saw Madonna. Too date, I have never seen Madonna look more beautiful or radiant then in this movie.

In retrospect, Dick Tracy probably represents Madonna at the peak-iest of the many, many peaks in her career. The movie came hot off the heels of her groundbreaking Like a Prayer album, and her Dick Tracy companion album I’m Breathless, which is secretly my third favorite album of hers..... featured the world-changing single “Vogue.” Those two albums fueled the iconic Blond Ambition World Tour, the only one of her huge tours I got to see,  and was keenly aware of,  because Madonna was as omnipresent as the sun in the summer of 1990. All that is to say, when you watch Dick Tracy, you’re seeing Madonna at the height of her Madonna-ness—and she delivers. 

She stars as Breathless Mahoney, a vampy lounge singer, a dangerous seductress, and the ultimate comic book femme fatale, and fond of a good cock-a-tail. So I already saw myself in her a lot already!!!!!  But Mahoney does more than writhe on Dick Tracy’s desk and pull him into her shadow. Madonna plays Mahoney with all the tension of a clenched fist. She’s a woman caught in a bad situation with very little in the way of exits. I've been there too. 

See the resemblance? High slit in gown, champagne bottle, dirty look at children.

When the movie had come out, I wasn't yet doing drag, it would be a couple years later. When I did get my act together, I came back to the movie and decide for a "breathless" based look, which would change and evolve years later. The first shows I had were songs from the Dick Tracey album too. It just all seemed fitting....and in my young days I always seemed to meet the wrong boys too...and my second long term relationship was a mistake from the beginning...can you say Lips Manlis? And like Lips, he too is departed. Like Breathless, I can be good, and evil, a vamp and a tramp, but would settle for the right guy. I'm can definitely be the " you don't know if you want to hit me or kiss me" boy. It's sometimes eerie to watch a movie and see so much of yourself in a character. Turns out funny it's one I love , played beautifully by a celebrity I love.

This also comes about because I had a vivid dream I was Breathless, and my Dick Tracey was none other than our Uptonking!!!!! If you have seen him, you'll understand why. he pushes the right buttons, and gets the kitty purrrrring. The next morning, I thought to myself, I just bet that would be the dynamic we would have too. While I gather Uptonking is not a golden boy, he is definitely a class act, worldly, and knows how to treat a dame. And he seems up to the challenge of a good minx. I can see the scene already.....

So I dedicate one of my all time favorite Madonna songs to my private Dick....Tracey, the Uptonking. Some girls, they like candy, and others, they like to grind, I'll settle for the back of your hand somewhere on my behind. Boy does this song bring back good memories. Was one of my favorite routines to do.

So if you’re going to watch Dick Tracy in the year 2020, right here and right now, then you need to do it for Madonna’s acting and looks first and foremost. Do it for the gowns, and not for the glorification of the police. There’s one aspect of the movie that’s aged exquisitely, and it has nothing to do with Dick and everything to do with this dame.