Madonna on ... Her reputation as a marketing genius: "People say that because they can't figure me out. They have to write me off and put me in a category, which is 'She's good at marketing herself and manipulating people.' I'm not one one-hundredth as scheming as people think." Her tough exterior: "I needed to have that persona to go to New York at such a young age and (to face) this strange and brave new world. I needed to put on some kind of armor to survive it." Her early obsession with fame: "I feel I've earned the right to speak my mind in that area. People think, 'Easy for you to say.' But it's not easy, because in a way I have to say so much of what I did and fretted over was a waste of time, like worrying about whether I'd be popular or not." Learning to play guitar: "I started lessons after my husband gave me a guitar when I was pregnant. I like the self-sufficient aspect of playing guitar. That's all I need to write my songs. It's very liberating. When I was starting out as a drummer in the Breakfast Club, the singer taught me basic chord progressions, but I let it go when I got signed, because I was more interested in dancing and moving around on stage." Her unrealized dream to make a Frida Kahlo biopic: "I was never going to play Frida. I wanted to write and produce the film. And to make it authentic, it needed to be in Spanish, so my vision probably would never have been commercial. I was too close to it. I immersed myself studying her for so many years. I was in love with her art and with her as a person. I found her very inspiring." Last year's Frida starring Salma Hayek: "Nobody could have met my expectations." Her castigated performance in Swept Away, the box office turkey directed by hubby Guy Ritchie: "Yes, it hurt, but not for very long, and it actually brought my husband and I much closer together. We could have just beaten up on each other: 'It's your fault.' Never once. We're proud of what we did, and that's all that matters. I was able to see it as a test and not get caught up in getting people's approval." Michael Jackson, her 1991 Oscars date: "I haven't spoken to him for years and years. When I saw the picture of him hanging a child out the window, obviously I was a bit stressed." -- ※ Origin: 交大機械工廠 ◆ From: 64.c210-85-83.ethome.net.tw