View source for Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful

{{Short description|1991 film}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image          = MedusaDareToBeTruthful.jpg
| caption        = Promotional poster
| director       = [[Julie Brown]]<br />[[John Fortenberry]]
| executive_producer = Julie Brown
| writer         = Julie Brown<br />[[Charlie Coffey (writer)|Charlie Coffey]]
| narrator       =
| starring       = Julie Brown<br />[[Bobcat Goldthwait]]<br />[[Carol Leifer]]<br />[[Wink Martindale]]<br />[[Chris Elliott]]<br />[[Kathy Griffin]]<br />[[Tom Kenny]]<br />[[Donal Logue]]<br />[[Stanley DeSantis]]
| music          = Julie Brown<br />Charlie Coffey
| cinematography =
| editor         = Vic Lowrey
| released       = {{Start date|1991|12|01}}
| runtime        = 51 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         =
}}

'''''Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful''''' is an American 1991 [[mockumentary]] film starring comedian [[Julie Brown]] as the title character, with [[Kathy Griffin]] and [[Donal Logue]] in supporting roles.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-01-tv-709-story.html 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]</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Medusa: Dare to be Truthful |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816073032/https://ew.com/article/1991/11/29/medusa-dare-be-truthful/ |archive-date=2022-08-16 |url-status=live |url=http://www.ew.com/article/1991/11/29/medusa-dare-be-truthful}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150310154952/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/32062/Medusa-Dare-to-Be-Truthful/overview The New York Times]</ref><ref>[https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/12/04/julie-brown-skewers-madonna-in-medusa/ Chicago Tribune]</ref><ref>[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20111374,00.html People]</ref><ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-01-tv-709-story.html Los Angeles Times]</ref><ref>[http://www.advocate.com/comedy/2015/04/01/best-drag-take-madonna-woman The Advocate]</ref><ref>[http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/links-for-the-day-why-jon-stewart-quit-the-daily-show-john-marshall-on-the-making-of-roar-john-carpenters-night-music-video-more Slant]</ref> Comedians [[Tom Kenny]] and [[Bobcat Goldthwait]] and game show host [[Wink Martindale]] also made cameo appearances in the film.

==Background==
The film parodies the 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 [[Parody|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 (TV network)|Showtime]] television special, goes to great pains to recreate costumes, sets and situations that occurred in the original documentary.

==Plot==
The film begins with the camera panning through pictures of Medusa's album covers and film posters eventually showing her lying in a bed while getting a massage and her hair done. She starts telling the viewers about how lonely she feels since her tour ended.

The film then flashes back to when Medusa was rehearsing her Blonde Leading the Blonde Tour. After being crushed by a giant genitalia statue, Medusa explains in a voice-over how the tour was a technical nightmare.

Eventually, the tour begins in the Philippines, only for Medusa to find out that she was performing during the eruption of a volcano. In an interview, Medusa's manager Benny explains how Medusa's first single "Like a Video" ("[[Like a Virgin (song)|Like a Virgin]]") was a hit for MTV, leading into a parody performance of Madonna's Blond Ambition version. After that, Medusa is shown talking to her boyfriend and seducing the cameraman.

The tour then moves to Japan, where Medusa tells her poverty stricken dancers that they'll be receiving a pay cut. Another shows women protesting Medusa and her director showing how Medusa gained the inspiration to shoot a music video involving robbing a store.

Finally, the tour moves to the United States where Medusa and her dancers play a game of Truth or Dare. After that, she is shown being at a party where a director who tries to get her to star in a movie similar to "Heidi". Later, while Medusa is listing negative things about people, Bobcat Goldthwait shows up and gets offended when he sees Medusa gag after he called her show "neat".

After that, Medusa is shown reciting lines from "Romeo and Juliet " while a voice-over explains that Medusa is planning to star in the Broadway show after the tour, and that her ex- husband Shane Pencil was helping her, but Shane gets fed up with Medusa and he leaves. Another voice-over during one of Medusa's show explains her she almost died during "Expose Yourself" ("[[Express Yourself (Madonna song)|Express Yourself]]") as she got electrocuted. After that, Medusa is shown visiting her dog's grave, only to find out she was at the wrong grave (parodying the "[[Promise to Try]]" scene in ''Truth or Dare'' where Madonna visits her mother's grave).

While in Atlanta, Police Officers show up and explain that Medusa will be arrested if she shows her "muffin". Medusa performs "Party in My Pants" and "Vague" ("[[Like a Prayer (song)|Like a Prayer]]", "[[Into the Groove]]", and "[[Vogue (Madonna song)|Vogue]]"). Medusa then goes to the officers to get arrested only for them to ask her for an autograph.

Finally, the tour finishes in New York and while Medusa is saying goodbye to the dancers, it is revealed that Medusa was viewing the footage while trying to find an ending. She ends up in the hospital to get a toy dino removed while a montage of clips plays with "Life May End" ("[[Live to Tell]]"). The dancers come to visit her, and the film ends with them trying to sleep.

==Critical reception==
In an interview with celebrity columnist [[Michael Musto]] of ''[[The Village Voice]]'', Brown recalled how Madonna first reacted when she 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&nbsp;— like that wasn't offensive enough? Then she didn't like the scene with the dancers suing me, because that really happened to her".<ref>[http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0024,musto,15639,15.html La Dolce Musto] from ''[[The Village Voice]]'' dated ''June 14, 2000''</ref>

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!"

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.<ref>[http://www.avclub.com/article/tom-kenny-59920 The A.V. Club]</ref>

==Books==
*Collum, Jason Paul. [https://books.google.com/books?id=g2OeOijk02kC&dq=Then+I+heard+she+didn%27t+like+the+scene+where+I+rolled+around+on+my+dog%27s+grave&pg=PA167 ''Assault of the Killer B's'']. Pg 167.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://juliebrown.com/ Julie Brown's official website]
*{{IMDb title|104843}}

{{John Fortenberry}}
{{Madonna}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medusa: Dare To Be Truthful}}
[[Category:1991 television films]]
[[Category:1991 films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by John Fortenberry]]
[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles County, California]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Madonna]]
[[Category:American mockumentary films]]
[[Category:Showtime (TV network) original programming]]
[[Category:Films about Madonna]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Julie Brown]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Charlie Coffey (writer)]]
[[Category:Films directed by Julie Brown]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]