Entertainment
Desperately Celebrating Susan
Some movies have a uniquely evocative power. They don’t just provide an escape from the dull realities of everyday life—they capture the spirit of their time so perfectly that watching them feels like stepping into a time machine. That’s exactly the case with Desperately Seeking Susan, Susan Seidelman’s classic, which marks its 40th anniversary this year.
Updated 02:14 pm EDT, May 26, 2025
Published 01:40 pm EDT, May 26, 2025
Image Researcher: Vera Tabunova
I Love New York
This effortlessly cool romantic comedy radiates the countercultural energy of mid-’80s downtown New York, one of the city’s most exhilarating and transformative periods. In 1985, New York was in flux. The economic crisis that had pushed Manhattan’s crime rates to historic highs in the ‘70s was starting to fade, while unchecked gentrification—soon to displace lower-income residents to Brooklyn and Queens—was already creeping in.
Against this backdrop, a generation of underground artists like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, who had started out using the streets and subway stations as their canvases, were making their way into the city’s top galleries. At the same time, hip-hop, breakdancing, and DJ culture were beginning to break into the mainstream.
Madonna rewears iconic ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’ jacket on film’s 40th anniversary
A new bohemian movement was emerging—bold, rebellious, and eager to take on the world. As journalist Michael Musto recalled: “In the ‘80s, New York was full of tribes, and there was a real sense of camaraderie—the fashion tribe, the art tribe, the nightlife tribe. They all came together, and the East Village was the epicenter where it all collided.”
A Star on the Rise
Madonna was part of this eclectic, vibrant scene, roaming the streets of the Lower East Side with her signature mix of irreverence, artistic flair, and DIY fashion. That authenticity was exactly what Seidelman was looking for, which is why she cast her in the title role over more experienced actresses.
The producers, however, weren’t convinced until they saw her Lucky Star music video—an electrifying introduction to a rising artist who had yet to become the global icon we know today. That status would be cemented during filming with the release of Like a Virgin. Santo Loquasto, the film’s costume designer, drew inspiration from Madonna’s own style to shape her character: an unapologetic free spirit who could throw on anything and make it look effortlessly cool.
The gamble paid off: Desperately Seeking Susan is a glorious celebration of fishnet tights, colorful crop tops over black lingerie, stacks of costume jewelry, and perfectly undone headbands—a collection of boho punk iconic looks that have become pop culture history.
One piece stands out: the legendary tuxedo-cut jacket with a gold pyramid on the back, a central element of the film’s plot. Ironically, Madonna reportedly hated it, according to designer Maripol, one of her close friends. Decades later, the jacket was sold for $252,000 at a charity auction.
Even Better Than the Real Thing
The film’s real New York locations—including legendary spots like Danceteria and Bleecker Street Cinema—add an extra layer of authenticity, making the city feel like a character in its own right. Seidelman captures her female leads wandering through Battery Park, digging through thrift stores on St. Mark’s Place, or dancing in packed clubs—while the raw, electric energy of the city pulses around them.
It’s reminiscent of Roaming the East Village in 1985 with Miss Margie, one of the many videos in which artist Nelson Sullivan documented New York’s underground art scene and nightlife. In it, a local named Margie gives her friend Lisa a tour of the neighborhood, running into friends along the way. Similarly, Seidelman invites us into a world where the unexpected lurks around every corner.
Live Out Your Fantasy
ut beyond being a snapshot of its time, Desperately Seeking Susan is, at its core, an urban fairytale about self-discovery. Rosanna Arquette plays Roberta, an ordinary housewife trapped in an identity crisis. “Live out your fantasy here with me,” Madonna sings in Into the Groove, the track she contributed to the film’s soundtrack—an irresistible invitation that perfectly captures its deeper message.
Roberta, stuck in a pastel-hued suburban life with a Jacuzzi salesman husband, spends her days daydreaming about the excitement promised by the glittering New York skyline she can see from her window. She becomes obsessed with a mysterious woman named Susan (Madonna), who communicates with her lover through personal ads. Determined to meet her, Roberta ventures into the city, buys Susan’s jacket in a secondhand store, and starts dressing like her.
Then, after a freak accident causes her to lose her memory, she’s mistaken for the real Susan. Like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, Roberta stumbles into a wonderland that’s as exhilarating as it is disorienting. The gritty, chaotic Lower East Side—filled run-down buildings, unfurnished apartments, dusty sofas on the street, and grungy magic shows—stands in stark contrast to the neatly manicured suburban existence she’s known.
Ed Lachman’s superb cinematography (in this year’s Oscar race for Maria, a Callas biopic starring Angelina Jolie) enhances this dreamlike, almost ghostly atmosphere, bathing the nocturnal cityscape in an omnipresent fluorescent green glow.
It’s a Woman’s World
Much like a Gen Z influencer, Madonna’s Susan is a cultural force—fearless, stylish, and even taking Polaroid selfies before selfies were a thing. She becomes an aspirational figure for Roberta, who longs to escape her comfortable yet suffocating life. The film turned out to be prophetic: during the Like a Virgin tour, thousands of fans showed up dressed just like Madonna.
In Susan Seidelman’s work, fashion is more than just clothing: it’s a form of self-expression and transformation. As film analyst Willow Catelyn Maclay puts it: “When Seidelman shoots her characters, it’s often from the feet up. But it’s not about the male gaze—it’s about getting a full look at an outfit. Her lens becomes a mirror, moving from heels to tights to dress to necklace to makeup to hair, and it’s almost always from the perspective of a female character.”
Her films tell stories of women who inspire other women—women who, like Roberta, ultimately find their true selves and claim their independence. Moreover, with her first major studio project, the filmmaker proved that a story centered on two female characters could draw audiences to theaters. The film was a commercial success and ended up as the 31st highest-grossing film of the year, earning $55.3 million in the United States.
A Happy Ending?
Though Desperately Seeking Susan ends on a high note, every fairytale has a dark side. Beyond its nostalgic charm, it’s impossible to forget that 1985 was also the peak of the AIDS crisis that the Reagan administration, fueled by religious fundamentalism and moral panic, largely ignored, treating the disease as an exclusively gay problem. It’s chilling to think that many of the real people who populated the film’s world—including Haring, Basquiat, and Martin Burgoyne, all friends of Madonna— wouldn’t survive the decade. The city itself would also be radically transformed, swallowed by real estate speculation.
After all, the ‘80s weren’t just about art and rebellion—they were also the era of “greed is good,” a mantra made famous by Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas’s character in Wall Street) and embraced by an entire generation of young, ambitious capitalists. Now, as the ghosts of that era resurface—with one of its most ruthless disciples back in the White House and the rights of women, minorities, and LGBTQ+ communities under threat—returning to Susan Seidelman’s vibrant love letter to downtown New York feels almost like an act of resistance.
Now, more than ever, we need to seek out Susan and celebrate her.
Desperately.
The Collection
Ángel Rojo Ventura
I’ve written horoscopes, handed out an award at the Cannes Film Festival, and even interviewed an Avenger. Now, I spend my days teaching and sharing Spanish language and culture with people from all over the world. Last year, I watched over 365 movies—so yeah, I basically live in a parallel reality. And if heaven is real, it’s definitely packed with cats.
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