Or Warhol paint soup cans as a social commentary, which is the point.
Did you ignore the part of my post where I said she’s actually rather meta? She’s making fun of pop music in her pop music. Quite frankly, I’m completely shocked she’s been able to do what she’s done without getting a smackdown by “corporations” for the obvious mocking she does.
Well, we assume she is. I doubt she would explicitly state this if she was indeed clever enough to do it, but has she?
Oh come on now. That’s taking it a little far. You’re giving about 300 times more credit to the average American’s intelligence and artistic awareness than any large corporation would.
Considering that the video for Bad Romance was essentially a sardonic portrayal of the music industry’s treatment of musicians, I’d say she’s pretty aware of the meta-ness.
To that end, does it matter if she means to be ironic or not? If one can read symbolism and meaning into her art regardless of whether she purposefully put it there, does that mean it doesn’t count? I say no and therefore if I think her music is satirical and can support my arguments then it is whether she meant it to be or not.
True, but you’re saying you can argue that her art is meta-- fine, and you’re right. Zweisamkeit is saying she is actually meta. We don’t know that. Someone else could’ve written and directed these videos, yes, even if she’s credited.
I suppose we can never, ultimately know for sure, but the buzz tends to be that she has a great deal of creative control over her image. Apparently this has caused a lot of conflict between her and the label, particularly early on; though now the label has come to realize her craziness is literally paying off for them.
The example I can think of is an interview I saw with her where she was talking about her VMA performance last year (where she ended up covered in blood and dead on stage)- I just remember her saying, “And the label was like- Gaga no! You can’t commit suicide on stage at the VMAs!!! But I knew it would be good.” She was laughing when she said that.
My understanding is that before she was working with a label she was performing in nightclubs in New York City doing exactly the same stuff on a smaller shoestring budget when Akon found her and signed her to his label and she took off from there. As far as I know, she is pretty much in charge of how her music sounds, how her videos look, and how her costumes look.
Well, there’s a young lady who is not afraid to make bold fashion choices.
Although I must be getting old - I got to the part with the scary lesbian doing barbell curls in the prison yard, and I thought, “Hey! I can out-curl her!”
Regards,
Shodan
What Inner Stickler said just above me.
You’re giving all of these maybes while obviously not knowing anything about her, her career or how she got there. It’s like people who say she has no talent and don’t know that she was accepted to freakin’ Julliard at age 11.
Again, I’m not saying you have to like her music, but you’re really showing you don’t know anything about her.
Sorry, but I just don’t see it that way. Or hear it that way. Her music isn’t interesting enough for me to pay much attention to, and her outfits and shit don’t interest me either. I think you are overestimating her “meta” by orders of magnitude.
I don’t listen to emo kids whine about emo culture, either.
Ultimately, I think she’ll have as much impact and as long a career as Marilyn Manson (an initial hit song, then 1 decent and very profitable album, then a steady decline into irrelevance).
In my opinion, the last thing you want to do is be taking Lady Gaga videos or songs seriously. This video was hysterical. The product placement is obviously part of the joke (unlike in tv shows where it’s supposed to be subtle - :rolleyes: ).
There’s nothing wrong with her face. But her image, starting with that name, screams out “drag queen.” First time I saw her picture, without knowing who she was or what she did, I wondered if she was a guy.
For those that say she can’t sing or isn’t talented, I suppose it’s a difference of general perspective. I mean, I grew up around a bunch of pop stars who don’t even sing, let alone can play the piano, ad lib musically, etc. Gaga has a great voice, particularly for a pop star and seems to really enjoy playing around on the piano.
I’ve seen better live versions of this, butthis is actually the video I took from the concert I went to (please forgive me for the giggling folks around me). She starts and stops the song, but just take a listen to her voice and general piano work.
Oh, also: my camera work is questionable at best. I’d probably just listen to the video instead of trying to watch it 
So in other words, social commentary about subcultures you personally don’t care about doesn’t count as social commentary?
At this point, I’d give Gaga an award from every genre related to entertainment. She’s playing the game beyond brilliantly.
So… you don’t pay attention to her music or her outfits or “shit”… yet you obviously know a lot to know that I’m wrong. :rolleyes:
Every single song she has released commercially has been a number one hit song. I think she’s on her 6th one now. Two albums.
You’re right- she could fade into obscurity rather quickly, but I think it’s a bit much to write her off as a one hit wonder type of situation.
I first noticed her musical talent in her SNL appearance a few months back. One of her numbers (the second, I think) started out with a couple of hits, but segued into an original piece that was really interesting and quite good IMO. I was surprised that she could play the piano well, surprised that she could actually sing, and surprised that she had written such a good song, compared to her usual pop fare.
Artists like Beyoncé are good enough that they can excel in the current music system; artists like Gaga are so good that they use the current music system for their own ends. In my opinion, of course. 
I want someone to show me a picture where she looks like a guy. Not that bulge that she probably engineered to screw with people. Not just a bad picture. A picture where she looks like a guy. I don’t think it can be done.