Madonna, like all good pop culture icons, was all things to all people. By the early nineties she, or her managers, saw that this could be consolidated by her seeming to embrace and become an avant garden patron saint of the LGBTQ+ community of the time. Madonna was seen on TV wheeling out Sandra Bernhardt as her girlfriend - she was in fact seeing Warren Beatty. She made a mainstream hit of 'Vogue', just a dance craze song in the old tradition but culled from underground gay and drag culture. Vogue and the Blonde Ambition tour it was part of, required young male dancers from the dance subculture it exploited. Madonna handpicked dancers and soon became the mother hen of an elite inner circle of the mainly gay men. 'Strike A Pose' catches up with the surviving members of Madonna's male dance troupe and discovers some whose lives were changed by it, some for the better, some now worse off. Archive footage shores up the stridently powerful woman we recall of Vogue era Madonna as a naive and superficial "issues" hound who used - or was advised to - the LGBTQ+ community to expand her market to the "pink dollar". However Madonna actually, personally cared. Through interview, segments of expressive dance and more than honest reminiscences. A startling and heartfelt deconstruction of those on the fringes of fame and a true interrogation of the sincerity of commercial pop art.

This doc is a bit lazy (it does not go into much detail on the cultural relevance of Madonna at her peak of 1989 - 1991) but will appeal to those of us who were in our teens to mid-20s at that time. From the BA tour to the release of TOD, Madonna was the center of the universe. Her PR at the time said she was giving the dancers an opportunity and it was up to them to exploit it after the tour. (This was never mentioned in the film but is my recollection.) Sadly, none have achieved what would be considered success in the material sense: most seem to live hand to mouth. If they had more maturity and some good guidance at the time, they may have developed careers of note - perhaps even judging DWTS and choreographing big names but mostly spiraled down and those that sued Madge? Well, let's just say she holds a grudge. This doc is a little sad, yet their impact at the time on some was significant. Ultimately, this will appeal more to those of us born in the 60s - mid-70s and does not have wide appeal. Yes, Madonna exploited them but in her world view she also gave them an opportunity.

Bravo! Yet another failed attempt at being relevant. Why any reputable filmmaker would choose this subject matter over something of greater social import is beyond comprehension. Nothing more than a band of has-beens that have somehow managed to ride Madonna's coattails for nearly thirty years. Their cries of being exploited echoed decades later by yet another series of false tears; a last- ditch effort to tug at the entertainer's heart strings. How embarrassing.Madonna should have just named her tour Blond; the "ambition" only resulted in a misnomer. Four months of fame and a lifetime of frivolity. A wasted opportunity to do something productive for themselves and their families. Faded photographs and tattered newspaper clippings offer a fleeting escape from reality. Most have held onto this brief moment in time without realizing that their time was up long ago. An epic failure where they enjoy each other's company in an abyss of disappointment.Claims of being family are cheapened by the multiple lawsuits filed against their "mother", yet they yearn to be nestled in her bosom again. Their hypocrisy overshadowed only by their gluttony. How deplorable – the unfounded attempts at acquiring fortune off of someone else's hard work. Nothing more than the baseless accusations of disgruntled employees who were paid as agreed while enjoying numerous perks and benefits. You danced. You got a check. End of tour. Move on.Nothing was quite as tragic as the story recounted by one dancer's mother. Cameras are ushered through what seemed to be a maze for cattle. To the right is an aptly named "junk room" where the dancer lives with his boyfriend who peers around the doorway to say 'hello'. It's as if he is hanging from a bunk bed. A couple feet later and you find yourself in a living room the size of a walk-in closet. Here is where this mother shares her grief.She describes a postcard of sorts that had the image of a home on it. She says that her son was going to buy her that home, but that the home never came. She sobs and repeats how hurt she was to the point you believe the tape is looped. The home never came, she states. Of all the dancers, this is the one whose downward spiral seems to never end. Older than fifty and living with his boyfriend in his mother's apartment? A celebrated dancer who was on tour with one of the world's foremost entertainers? Sad.And yet the media has the audacity to classify these men as inspirations. As leaders in the LGBT community. Herein lies the issue with our culture and lifestyle – a misguided respect for those who are undeserving of our recognition. Drug addicted egomaniacs that have no place among the true pillars of our landscape. By venerating these individuals, you do a disservice to younger generations. You discount the worth of what others have accomplished.Strike a Pose will certainly Strike a Chord with those of us who know what really happened.

The first 30 minutes are okay, perhaps even enjoyable, the story is set up and quite interesting. But after that.. It's just pure TLC style. The story is nice, but it just did not add any new information after a while. I have never walked out of a movie in a theatre before, but I did on this one.I like what this group did, together with Madonna, for the acceptance of homosexuals in the world, only this movie does not do the tour, these men, or any of the people involved any good.I think that even if you are very interested in Madonna, you would not enjoy this movie.