One would think that neck braces, ample amounts of blood and a wheelchair might set the scene for a horrifying accident. In reality this gruesome scene was the set of Lady Gaga’s 2009 VMA performance. As far as I’m concerned, the tragic accident setting still works for me -- but maybe it should just be called a tragedy since it was technically “planned.” In the past two years America has been repeatedly smacked in the face by Lady Gaga’s awkward and unpredictable antics and maybe even more importantly by her garish and ludicrous choice of clothing. While Lady Gaga’s outfits and behavior have continued to shock and surprise the public, if you boil her down to the basics she’s nothing more than a corporately-manufactured freak show. Lady Gaga is the epitome of everything wrong with American society today.
With the explosive success of her first major record “The Fame,” it seems that Lady Gaga has permeated every aspect of life. Exaggeration, you might ask? Sadly, no. I’ve born witness on numerous occasions where one of her new looks was the talk of the office for months. Instead of enjoying a romantic night out I sat through an evening of my date’s musings about Gaga. Is she really a man? Do you think she’s clinically insane? While he may not have been praising her “genius,” it still remains that my time was wasted talking about her. It’s gotten to the point that one has to ask; did life exist before Gaga? Did we ever really have entertainment without constant controversy and pools of fake blood? Somewhere in my memories I can see flashes of a brighter, tasteful Gaga-less music industry but given the media frenzy over her bullshit I’m sure those memories are hardly worth remembering. Obviously music did not even exist pre-Gaga.
I admit that after hearing her infectious breakthrough single “Just Dance” I couldn’t help but dance. Her beats were innovative and the lyrics, though simple and shallow, were catchy enough. The single held all those ga-ga for Gaga until she released her next single “Pokerface.” Pokerface was another catchy beat with simple lyrics accompanied by a music video featuring a relatively pretty but undeniably scantly-clad Gaga. In my mind this was undoubtedly the beginning of another oversexed Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera-type, not something the average person can fight. That kind of entertainer has always been around and will always continue to be as long as spandex costumes and sequins are readily available. While Lady Gaga may have begun as just another sexy cliché, the evolution of her public persona took an unexpected turn.
As her music became more and more famous she began to draw more media attention. With the multitude of images released to the public, Lady Gaga slowly but surely began her transformation from entertainer to side-show attraction. With each week her outfits became more attention-grabbing and outlandish. While many were intrigued by her choice of wardrobe, setting her own clothing on fire would have had the same desperate “look at me, look at me!” effect. (And it probably would’ve cost her a lot less too) With her newfound love of tacky garments she debuted some equally tacky antics. During a live performance she was recorded playing the slowed-down version of “Pokerface” on the piano. While it’s unclear as to what she was on, it was clear that she was on something. At one point during this sloppy performance she heaved her stilleto clad foot onto the piano and started stomping away on the keys. Call me crazy -- this is not something that normal people do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about innovation and eccentricity but her outfits are not emphasizing individualism. They’re about shock value. If everyone was to try and emulate Lady Gaga’s freakish lifestyle by doing everything to shock everyone else there wouldn’t be much meaning to anything.
Her performances are, not surprisingly, just as weird as everything else she does. The performance at the 2009 VMA’s that I briefly described in the opening was no exception to her perverted rule of “cool” and “edgy.” The opening began with her and her background dancers clad in head-to-toe white spandex outfits bedazzled in a multitude of rhinestones and thongs as headpieces. Yes, I said thongs as headpieces. Gaga is brought out in a wheelchair and then transferred to glittery polio crutches. Since when has it been “cool” or “edgy” to mimic the handicapped? Should I invest in a bejeweled golden wheelchair just because Gaga says so? I think not. She continued the performance with awkwardly sexual dance routines in which she was mobbed by her equally freakish dancers. The grand finale of the performance consisted of her fake-bleeding from her chest to ultimately be hung up on a hook and hoisted above the stage. Dangling lifelessly and fake-bleeding for all to see. I sat stunned, watching this grotesque spectacle. I couldn’t believe that this was what entertainment had come to. The worst part is that the public ate it up and even asked for seconds.
In this single performance I could see so much of what is wrong with our society. Why is it that something has to be this gruesome to entertain us? Why isn’t talent enough anymore? The fact of the matter is that we as a society are so desensitized to the world around us that we constantly need bigger and crazier spectacles to satisfy us. Entertainment is no longer about quality, but rather the quantity of crap “more exciting” or “more unique,” as much as can be crammed into a single show. Lady Gaga is all of this AND more. The way she parades around in her ridiculous outfits for attention and her staging of a public “martyrdom” for her art are just shock-tactics As a musician Lady Gaga is devaluing her work by whoring herself out to the public and cheapening herself in the process. Beneath all of the neon makeup, knotted hair and nonsensical outfits that some may be laughing at, Lady Gaga is laughing right back at us resting comfortably atop a cash pile worth millions that probably you and sadly I have contributed to at some point in time. Shame on us.
