Monday, April 5, 2010

Is Lady Gaga... Gaga?


Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986 in New York City. She could play the piano by age 4, wrote her first piano ballad at age 13 and began performing at open mic nights by age 14. She began performing in the rock music scene of New York City's Lower East Side and soon signed with Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, upon its establishment in 2007. Talent is something that she does not lack in…

Gaga’s life moved quickly to get where she is today and it continues to move just as fast now that she’s in the limelight. And from the sound of it, she wouldn’t have it any other way. From epic music videos to outrageous performances, Gaga has a say in every aspect of her career... right down to what everyone can’t stop talking about: her outfits.

Gaga definitely marches to the beat of her own drum, to say the least. If you don’t know her from her music, you sure know her from her unique attire.

Gaga is the ultimate example of how we, as individuals use articles to represent ourselves. Artifacts are typically clothes or some kind of object we carry around consistently. We use these objects, subconsciously or not, to announce our identities and heritage and to personalize our environment. Gaga takes this idea to the next level. She, unlike most of us, is conscious of what she wears and what it means. Many identify her to be similar to Cyndi Lauper ("Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"). As her audience, we might not always understand what she is trying to say with every outfit.

But does this bother Gaga? …What do you think?

On her January 15, 2010 appearance on Oprah, she opened up about the hidden, symbolic meaning behind some of her craziest outfits.

You can watch Gaga’s appearance on Oprah HERE and HERE.

In part one she explained a number of her outfits. For example, her VMA “Paparazzi” performance, where she hung by a rope covered in fake blood, was symbolic of Princess Diana and how she was—in Gaga’s words “murdered” by the paparazzi.

“All the things that I do in the terms of the fame and the fame monster it’s meant to sort of make it a bit easier to swallow this kind of horrific media world that we live in,” said Gaga.

In part two she explained that her primary message to all of her fans is to “free themselves and be proud of who they are and celebrate all the things they don’t like about themselves the way that [she] did and be so truly happy from inside.”

This interview with Oprah really opened my eyes and answered a lot of questions I had about Gaga. First of all, I realized that I had been incredibly judgmental. Why do I have to make sense of her? Who am I to assume anything about her? Second of all, after listening to what she had to say I now respect her more than ever. She might be insane, but at least she is thought provoking and memorable. That’s a quality that most artists only dare to dream of.

But what do you think? Is Gaga off her rocker and nothing else? Or is she more than what meets the eye?

3 comments:

  1. Megan - I first heard about Lady Gaga through a Facebook wall post from my RA, Kenneth, sometime in fall 2009. It was a collective "OMG her music is amazing, I can't stop listening to it!"

    But I didn't jump on the listening/captivation bandwagon until this winter, when I downloaded her Deluxe Fame Monster album off of iTunes courtesy of a Christmas gift card. Her music tells stories and there's upbeat music and combinations to boot.

    I haven't personally watched any of her videos, but seeing descriptions of them in the news and in our own The Rotunda, I probably won't. Seeing the graphic nature in front of my eyes would probably scar me for life, and I don't want a person who has put out really good sing-along and dance music to ruin my good impression.

    Personally, I don't think she's off her rocker. She is a very unique individual, and she should not be criticized for the way she dresses, acts, etc. She's living her life the way she wants to, and from what I've heard, she doesn't really care what others think of her.

    I say bravo, Lady Gaga, bravo, for being your own person and refusing to mold to what society wants her to be. I will be a fan for a long time because she has taught me that I can be my own person and I shouldn't be afraid of it.

    Great job - can't wait until next week!

    -Laura Beth :)

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  2. Her songs are so annoyingly/awesomely catchy. I noticed a couple years back how judgmental I was toward these celebrities who I know absolutely nothing about. After this moment of clarity I stopped forming base value opinions on people.

    I try to find out who these super celebrities are as people by watching interviews like this one.

    Another person everyone seems to judge at base value is Miley Cyrus. In her interviews she has shown herself to be nothing but a genuinely nice and cool person.

    Great blog Megan!

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  3. Haha awesome post, at least there is method to her madness, which is awesome because for the most part it's an uncrackable code of craziness!

    Haven't seen too much of her though but definitely seen some crazy outfits of hers. Songs are good too, I wasn't aware some of the songs I loved were hers til I looked them up. I actually thought people didn't like her when I first heard everyone talkin smack about her outfits but then I realized they love her but maybe not the outfits so much haha.

    Great post! I enjoyed, good to hear about people marching to their own beat in a world where corporate drones seems to be the norm.

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