I’m putting in a penny’s worth of my thoughts. Just throwing my 2 cents in. Wait a minute… I have extra change. Cha-ching! I’m a kajillionare! (Please don’t ask me for money)
My Lady Gaga. A unique musical artist to say the least. Crazy? Yes… but most geniuses are (You think her hair is unusual just look at Albert Einstein’s) I would like to dedicate this blog to stating the reasons why I think this particular individual should be appreciated. Reason #1: My interpretation of her music videos. Reason #2: My interpretation of the “Meat Dress: incident. Reason #3: My interpretation of Gaga’s misinterpretation of the concept of “Monsters”.
The Videos
At first I did not like the Gaga. I heard her song “Just Dance” on the radio and thought, “It’s catchy, but redundant”. I didn’t think much else about it. Then everyone was talking about her “Poker Face”. Poker Face, Poker Face, P-P-P-Poker Face! (Said to the tune of Marsha, Marsha, Marsha) It was annoying. Then I kept seeing pictures of Gaga on Myspace wearing weird clothes. Everyone was talking about her clothes –Gaga wore this an Gaga wore that. It was annoying.
Then I got bored one day on Youtube. It’s always good to remember that it’s Never good to get bored on Youtube. I accidentally discovered things once while video surfing that will forever haunt me… Anyways, this particular time I decided to watch Gaga’s video to see what all the malarkey was about.
The first video I saw was “Just Dance” If you are watching the Gaga’s videos for the first time, watch them in sequential order.The “Just Dance” video reminded me of my step-sister Sarah in high school. She had that, “I’m going to act however I want and wear things that are stylish in an edgy, zebra-print kind of way” thing going on. (I thought the lightning bolt on the face was a bit much. Only Harry has the right to rock that). I noted that the video, specifically Gaga’s appearance in it, was oriented towards fashion.
Video #2 put everything in perspective. “Poker Face” was genius! I thought the lyrics were clever, the song was catchy, the detail of poker-themed nails was noticed, the hair and clothes gave a reference to Christina Aguilera, but in any edgier, more fashionable way.
Next I saw Video #3 – “Love Game”. I could see why some people thought Gaga was too-racy-verging-on-sleazy, but I still appreciated the song for what it was and the video for complimenting it well. (The glowing staff was a bit much. Only Gandalf can rock that). Then came Video #4: “Bad Romance”, which I, along with MTV apparently, feel is her greatest work.
How do I explain to someone, especially if it’s a strait guy, what Gaga was doing in the “Bad Romance” video? Using my limited knowledge of fashion from watching America’s Next Top Model and Project Runway, I shall try to explain. Gaga was trying to blend fashion with music in a harmonious way. I use the bedroom scene in this video as the clearest way to explain to the non-fashion- savvy who are out there how she did this. In that scene Gaga wears a long coat made from a polar bear. This references to 2 things: The Bear-Skinned Rug and People Who Wear Animal Fur Coats. Fur from rare or endangered animals was a popular trend in the past. Here Gaga is speaking to that trend and simultaneously mocking it in a fashionable way. The Prada glasses she wears as she drags the long white coat across the floor are the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae.
It is not easy to mock fashion in a fashionable way. I compare it to Flight of the Conchords mocking different genres of music while still having songs that can stand on their own if you don’t get the reference. KUDOS to the Gaga. As for the rest of her videos: “Paparazzi”, “Telephone”, “Alejandro”, “Born This Way”, and “Judas”… I can see some of the references to fashion she is making, but they are distracting from the songs and are not relating to them. Less would be More.
The Fashion
Having explained Gaga’s aesthetic goal: Mock Fashion in a Fashionable Way, it is now easier to explain her wardrobe choices. When you see her walking down a red carpet in an outrageous outfit and you think, “That is over the top and crazy” : That’s what she’s going for! She’s being sarcastic and exaggerating fashion to poke fun at those looks that come down the runway that normal people see and think, “What the hell is she wearing?” (Just as a special side note, “hell” is only a cuss word when it is not used in reference to the place. Place’s aren’t cuss words).
So what about the Meat Dress? I would like to take this opportunity to metaphorically bop PETA on the head for their comments against Lady Gaga’s outfit. (1) Her Dress had nothing to do with Animal Rights. Against her defense, she didn’t state very clearly what the point of her dress was – what it was speaking to. It was something along the lines of, “If the meat of what makes America great is the rights it guarantees to its citizens, then gays are being denied the best slice of steak this country has to offer”. But PETA chose to focus on the meat portion of the dress. Their line of reasoning: She was promoting the consumption of meat.
(2) If you are going to construe an interpretation of Gaga’s dress as having something to do with Animal Rights, isn’t it more productive and beneficial to say that she was acting in defense of Animal Rights? The argument can be made. Gaga was obviously making reference to the Fur-is-Fashionable style of yore. But unlike the original context that style was introduced in, which was associated with concepts of the lux and the lavish, most found Gaga’s dress to be utterly disgusting. “The texture alone would feel so gross…”, “I bet it smelt really bad -wouldn’t want to sit next to her…”, “I can’t believe she actually sat in it…”. Commentary from friends suggests most people were repulsed by the fact that someone would wear meat.
When you think about it, fur is found to be attractive and appealing, but meat – what lies below the surface of the fur- is disgusting. The meat draws attention to what lies underneath the animal that’s life is being taken for its fur. It suggests that skinning an animal for its fur is just as disgusting as skinning it for its meat to be worn in a fashionable way. Also the play on the word, “Meat Suite”, which refers to people’s skin, shows the similarities people have with animals. Gaga wearing the meat suite of an animal over her own meat suite in a meat dress illustrates this point. It’s what’s underneath that counts.
Monster
Gaga calls her followers “Monsters”. In the song “Bad Romance” the lyrics she states, “I want your ugly, I want your disease”. She’s saying: I want all of you – the insecurities, the fears, the self-doubt, and the flaws… not just the pretty qualities you share with everyone. I want the you that you normally hide, because I’m a freak too. No one is perfect. We all have our issues. We are all Monsters.
Gaga, you are wrong. Acting accepting towards others and embracing people for who they really are I not monstrous. It’s beautiful. Encouraging others to step out and be themselves, to let go of fear and accept being different as a gift –not a curse- is not monstrous. It’s Beautiful. The real Monsters are those who tear others down, who hold people’s flaws against them, who tell people they aren’t good enough – they’re too out there – they act too different – they dress strangely – they don’t deserve to be happy. Those are Monsters.
(I would also like to thank Google for donating those lovely images of Gaga to this blog)
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