How Madonna’s awkward posts about Israel & her Celebration Tour tie into Joel Kim Booster’s take on gay culture

Madonna is returning to the stage in just two days with the start of her highly anticipated Celebration Tour. But maybe the Queen of Pop should think twice about how she promotes her big show?

Earlier this week, the pop legend shared a disturbing image on Instagram of brutalized corpses in Israel, along with a poignant message about the violence in the region.

Hamas attacked Israel Friday night, rampaging through numerous villages and a music festival. Israeli authorities estimate the terrorist group took 100-150 hostages as well, including elderly people, children, and even babies.

Israel countered by launching airstrikes into Gaza, which Hamas controls. Palestinian authorities say at least 1,055 people have been killed and another 5,184 have been injured in the area as a result.

In Israel, at least 1,200 people have died and more than 2,900 others have suffered injuries. (If you want to read more about the harrowing and complex situation, we recommend this explainer from Reuters.)

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Madonna, along with countless other people around the world, is obviously horrified by the senseless violence and brutality. So it’s perfectly understandable why she felt the need to express herself (no pun intended) about it.

But she also wants to advertise her big tour, which is where the situation gets, well, kinda awkward.

On Thursday, Madonna followed up her disturbing Israel post with a blurry promotional photo for her Celebration Tour, which kicks off in London in 48 hours.

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A post shared by Madonna (@madonna)

And a couple of days before her Israel post, she shared a sexy bustier selfie.

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A post shared by Madonna (@madonna)

The three posts make for an awkward and tone-deaf contrast on her page, which has almost 20 million followers:

Now, Madonna, who we love (most of the time), would likely respond with her favorite James Baldwin quote: “Artists are here to disturb the peace.” But in this case, Hamas has already disturbed the peace. Seeing the bodies of dead people with their pants pulled down, blindfolded, and their hands zip-tied behind their backs is disturbing enough without the added glimpses of our favorite pop singer dressed in lingerie.

Her profile reflects a societal phenomenon that Joel Kim Booster highlighted on Twitter X earlier this week.

“Seeing gay guys calling for genocide with their full throat then immediately posting pictures of their niece on IG stories is a fascinating mix of new and old gay culture,” he posted.

The mix also comes across as callous. The act of posting about Israel and Hamas, and then immediately pivoting to birthday photos or thirst traps, makes it appear performative, at best, and as if people are using war for “likes” and clout, at worst.

Its disgusting actually and this shows some really true colors, always.— Repomanlive (@repoman84live) October 10, 2023

It’s like at the beginning of the pandemic when we all learned how many gay porn actors are super into eugenics.— The Champagne of Queers (@BoyandPiano) October 10, 2023

In other words, war is treated as just another part of the daily discourse, like National Coming Out Day.

Speaking of which…

Imagine defending Hamas one day and then posting about national coming out day the next.— Zak (@itzhakbendavid) October 11, 2023

The trend of thoughtlessly posting about the worst atrocities in modern history is nothing new, of course. For years, influencers have been taking selfies at concentration camps and Holocaust memorials.

Apparently, engagement trumps decency, or the will to use any brainpower.

The distasteful nature of posing for modeling pics on the Auschwitz railroad tracks seems obvious.

But maybe not?

We live in a world of constant sh*tposting. Everyone doesn’t need to chime in on everything. It’s OK to sit some issues out! Especially super complex ones like war and peace in the Middle East. (Best to leave explaining that one up to the good folx over at Reuters!)

Or at the very least, maybe not sandwich a video of dead corpses between bubblegum.