Georges-Claude Guilbert, author of "Madonna as Postmodern Myth", compared her look in the video as a "combination of Marilyn Monroe, Jean Seberg and Kim Novak." He added that it was hard for him to believe that " did not know that she was going to cause a huge controversy with the video ... With such a song and video, she was throwing in America's face the image of a country ravaged by the abortion debate, which is far from being resolved." Lynda Hart, one of the authors of "Acting Out: Feminist Performances", felt that the video "alternated between two competing representations of Madonna ... Charging coercion, both sides make the video as an invitation to a certain way of life, in the process denying it the stylistic invocation of a rhetoric of self-authorization." At the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, the "Papa Don't Preach" video won the Best Female Video award, and was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Overall Performance. As of February 2021, the video reached 130 million views on YouTube.