Lady GaGa's "Telephone"

 

While I skipped ahead at times, I do recommend watching at least part of it. Is this what pop music is becoming? Should we be concerned about that? There's always been  very strange thematic choices (I've watched that video 10-20 times and I'm still not sure what's going on), but this seems to be taking things to a new level.

 

Also, I should be clear: the metaphor I am referring to is the (perceived) unthinking, passive nature of pop culture/mass media. So GaGa is talking about about Americans being hypnotized, not being hypnotized herself. This is not to insult anyone, but I've found that things that are obvious in my head aren't always clear to everybody else.

Lady GaGa's latest music video, which is really more of a short film, is quite bizarre. It's also one of the most explicitly PG-13 things on Youtube, with a nearly naked GaGa, brief profanity, and LESBIANS.

The 'Ga claims to be bisexual, so the LESBIANS shouldn't surprise anybody, but we are still left with one of the strangest music videos I've ever seen from a major label. So I ask you, what does it mean?

 

The first options are based on this blog post, and I admit that the main reason I made this thread was to share this link. He has a whole series of these things, and they're all fantastic, as is the whole blog. But you all know how I feel about crazy people, so you may not agree.

 

The second set is based on an essay question somebody on another forum got in his Music and Gender class

Lady Gaga's music and image has been influenced by the likes of David Bowie, Fred Mercury from Queen, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Gwen Stefani. In her latest video set to the music "Telephone," Lady Gaga along with Beyonce presents an array of images of androgyny and hyper femininity in her narrative that begins with doing time in a women's prison. In this video that refers to the film Thelma and Louise, Lady Gaga weaves a tale of poisoning Beyonce's repulsive boyfriend as well as the other patrons of the restaurant, and then proceeds to drive off in the sunset with Beyonce. For your paper, discuss some of the details of popular culture that the video is incorporating and argue what does Lady Gaga's pastiche of popular culture do for her audience. (Britney Spear's video of "One More Time" for example). How does her audience understand these controversial images that border on the obscene? What is the significance of including Beyonce in the music video? In your opinion, is Lady Gaga a feminist in her surreal play of images that involve lesbianism in her music video? Or is re-inscribing misogynistic views of women?

 

The last set is obvious.

 

Personally, I'm fairly certain that it doesn't really mean anything, at least in the sense of subverting stereotypes to advance the cause of feminism blah blah blah; however, I do think that at least some of the things our Vigilant Citizen is talking about are intentional. Ga has this weird ironic thing going on with her popularity that is very annoying, but commenting on mass media seems to be something she does quite frequently, even while indulging in the very things she pretends to dislike. And strange occult imagery has resonating power, so I imagine some of that that is deliberate as well.

 

Also, The Blonde Lady has a total of over 1 billion views on Youtube. Fame can buy you a lot of things!

 

Also, this is the very first thread about Lady GaGa on PA, so I bet it's going to be great. If you don't post in this thread, you can't complain about repeat topics!