Other themes noted by Metz include the burning crosses scene, which he felt evoked the murder scene of three civil workers, portrayed in the 1988 American crime drama film "Mississippi Burning". He also noted that when Madonna dances with the choir in the church altar, a young Black boy joins her. This was a reference to the only person who had protested against the Ku Klux Klan murders in "Mississippi Burning", a Black man. For the author, it was symbolic of his protest being transferred in Madonna. Regarding the kissing scene between the saint and Madonna, Carol Benson observed that the "numerous cut-scenes of burning crosses, shocked face of Madonna, bleeding eye of the icon etc" made a point that multiple times in history, black men have been punished for kissing or desiring white women. Grant believed this was where the racial equality message of the video came across as most poignant. On the contrary, when the curtain falls and the scene shifts to a smiling Madonna among the burning crosses, professor Maury Dean felt that another explanation was inevitable. Madonna portrays a successful heroine and thus the whole video becomes about female empowerment.