Madonna's Video, A One Time Showing on MTV

Madonna-as-thug is more comical than controversial, but once again she has managed to get the most out of MTV.<br><br>The pop superstar won the exposure she craves Tuesday night. Her video for "What It

Friday, March 23rd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Madonna-as-thug is more comical than controversial, but once again she has managed to get the most out of MTV.

The pop superstar won the exposure she craves Tuesday night. Her video for "What It Feels Like for a Girl," a dance remix of the third single from her Music album, was deemed too violent for MTV. So it got the one-time-only treatment by the network and VH1 at 10:30 p.m., along with a disclaimer by Kurt Loder.

Her husband, filmmaker Guy Ritchie, directed the clip. Madonna is paired with a bewildered elderly woman, and they cruise around town on a man-bashing mayhem bender. She rams a car full of young guys, takes a Taser to an unsuspecting fellow at a cash machine, roughs up a police car and torches a gas station. The video ends with her car wrapped around a telephone pole (translated as the suicide of Madonna's character). Despite the violence, it's all rather dull.

Madonna has been down this road before. MTV banned "Justify My Love" in 1990, and "Erotica" was confined to late-night airings in 1992. MTV's decisions for those videos were based on sexual content. "What It Feels Like for a Girl," like past videos by Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy, Geto Boys and N.W.A, got the boot for its violence.

It's a can't-miss scenario for Madonna. If the video gets in rotation, it drums up interest with its controversy. Take it away and even more people want it, which could spark a mini-Music revival. Just as she wanted. Smart gal.