Dance historian Sally Banes, in her book "Before, between, and beyond: three decades of dance writing", noted that the video portrayed Madonna as both the subject and the object of the song. She believed that in the video, Madonna taking off her sunglasses symbolized herself as a movie star, thus creating an ambiguous characterization of herself, and a narcissistic theme. Author Peter Goodwin, in his book "Television under the Tories: Broadcasting Policy 1979–1997", commented that although "Lucky Star" is not a narrative video, in the clip Madonna plays at least four characters:—the person in sunglasses looking; a break-dancing girl; an androgynous social dancer; and a seductress. The juxtaposition of all these characterizations portray Madonna as a narcissistic self-lover. Images of Madonna's body writhing against the white background generates the question whether she is addressing her lover or herself in the song. According to Goodman, Madonna created an eroticized woman for her own pleasure only. Cathy Smith from "Time" magazine noted that "sexy, but she doesn't need men [... she's kind of there all by herself."