I really don't get it. I don't get the draw of a person who laughs in the face of polite society. I don't get the draw of a person who uses sex as a grotesque weapon to destroy the moral walls of society. And despite the hype about whatever the social commentary may be, I don't get the draw of bowing down at the alter of a pop star who uses explicit and downright disturbing imagery to make their point.
Yes, I am talking about the person who is truly the cheese grater on my soul. Lady Gaga.
I am truly appalled at what passes for entertainment in our society. Gaga is known for pushing limits of decency and comfort. She routinely flouts laws of common decency to make a political statement.
There are so many places you could start to criticize her. I would suggest focusing on her videos, which are not only explicit, but truly horrifying. Calling her videos pornography would be a compliment. Her videos cross lines of decency and morality in explicit ways in order to cause unrest in people's minds. This is all of course to get a message across, which is why she gets away with it of course. But why should we be OK with this?
If you've seen her video Alejandro you know what I'm talking about. Her explicit representations of sexuality are just plain disturbing and I will not stand by it as if I'm OK with it.
Wearing a low cut dress or tight skirt is one thing, but when you take it to an extreme where nudity is implied and other sexually explicit acts are being performed and implied I simply cannot do it.
In her latest video Born this way she basically gives birth to some sort of monstrous thing inside a kaleidoscope and includes all manner of grotesque imagery that I won't describe but instead let you see for yourself.
I don't care what kind of a point you are trying to make. I will never be OK with the use of grotesque sexuality being used to make a statement.
I've heard several people comment and say, "she actually has a really nice voice and is such an amazing performer." I would say, "SO what!" Lots of people have great voices, but lots of people don't use disgusting tactics to promote themselves.
I would venture to say that her videos border on pornographic. Now that I say that however, that doesn't even seem to do justice to the videos. Either way...
Adolescents are growing up listening to and singing her songs. Is this the kind of role model we want to have for our kids? Someone who models obscene behavior under the guise of advocacy? I know I won't be introducing my kids to her "music".
Call me old fashioned, conservative, or whatever. Lady Gaga is an out of control diva who has gone too far.
I chose not to include a photo in this post for a very specific reason. We all know what she looks like. I don't need to show you.
Visiting Campus
15 years ago
why does she specifically make you so angry? approximately every female pop star in the history of pop music has exploited their sexuality for the videos/image. a lot of guys do it too (i'm looking at you, adam lambert).
ReplyDeleteand how precisely is she 'destroying the moral walls of society?'
I agree, you're right. Lots of pop stars exploit their sexuality in their videos, but I feel Lady Gaga has taken it even farther. From what I've seen of her stuff, she takes things to an extreme and uses sexuality as more of a weapon than a tool(which admittedly ain't great either).
ReplyDeleteThe images in her videos go beyond sexy, or even overtly sexual and instead of making me feel uncomfortable or awkward, leave me feeling creeped out and dirty.
Sexuality is far too exploited overall in pop culture, especially music videos. Over the last year or two I'll discover a song I like and then I see the video that turns out to be more explicit than I'd like and can't listen to the song anymore without having the image of the video stick in my mind. I'm also a very visual person in that sense. This is why scary movies are especially bad for me to watch. The images stick with me.
With Gaga's videos the images cannot help but haunt you for the next few days.
Maybe it's my own intuition speaking, but when I compare her to Ke$ha, Brittney Spears, etc, while all have their own issues, Lady Gaga stands out in my way. And not in a good way. Maybe that's her goal. But all it does is push me farther against whatever cause or deeper issue she's promoting rather than creating awareness about an issue in my mind.
Some people have told me that her goal is to stand out and shock people, well, if that's the case, it works. I am really bothered by the fact that because Lady Gaga has hidden behind a cause when she produces these explicit videos it's magically all ok. Society is becoming more and more comfortable with what I would consider explicit images and that really pushes my buttons. I believe that we should to stand to standards of decency in our lives and I think that Lady Gaga is doing her absolute best to destroy those standards.
I really just think there are better ways to be heard and make a point.