tasy of what every girl wanted to be and what every boy wanted to find. While "Material Girl" and "Crazy for You" sat at the top of the charts, Playboy and Penthouse magazines containing the nude photos Madonna posed for in 1977 resided under the beds of lots of teenage boys and curious men. Those who couldnt get enough Madonna on radio, album, or MTV could see her in several aweless movies, from Shanghai Surprise to Body of Evidence. Critics panned her performances and branded her a less-than-stellar actress; however, they were only watching her performances on the big screen. Her greatest acting accomplish- ments, in retrospect, have been in playing Madonna-cultural icon and superbrand. Her comfort in the role stems from total involve- ment with her brand image, personality, and promise, all of which she controls and changes as she sees fit. This may be why her first movie, Desperately Seeking Susan, in which she plays a sharp-tongued char- acter similar to the Madonna persona of that time, remains a stand- out performance. It even did fairly well at the box office. Madonna had established her brand: It stood for self-expression; it begged for breaking the rules; it screamed sex. She established her- self as a trendsetter who kept one pace ahead of what her fans would adopt shortly after she debuted it. Fans expected her to push the envelope of acceptability, sexuality, and creative freedom, and they expected her to keep evolving and guiding them on fashion and lifestyle trends. She might be controversial and criticized by many, but she sparked a flame not only among the boys, but also thousands of teenage girls who adopted her sexy styles.     Like a Prayer   The defining musical product for Madonna was her 1989 album Like a Prayer, with four tracks hitting number one and setting up her 1990 year-long Blonde Ambition tour. In this album she bared     her soul emotionally as much as she had bared her body elsewhere, with songs appealing to human feelings and emotions about family, death, and divorce, much as the album Elton John had done nearly two decades earlier. "Promise to Try" reflected Madonnas reactions to her mothers death at age six, and "Oh Father" focused on her dif- ficult relationship with her father, while "Till Death Do Us Part" reflected her own failed marriage with Sean Penn. It was "Express Yourself," however, that would become an anthem for personal em- powerment among women and establish Madonna as a premier role model for women looking to take control of their circumstances and relationships. This song revealed Madonnas true position on sex;