In a performance in Manchester she recreated murder with scenes of her being eaten by a psychotic killer, fake blood on her body. It just so happened that there was a shooting spree in Cumbria hours before the show.
There are questions being asked. Most people are shocked. Shocked about what? This was part of the Monster Ball tour. Get it? The name conveys something. So, why was one mommy so agitated when she took her 14-year-old for the show? She said, “I was absolutely sickened at what I saw. We know Lady Gaga is not exactly mainstream performance for all the family but she really crossed the line this time.”
If they were worried about the 12 people who were shot dead or the three prostitutes a few days earlier in Bradford, then they might have chosen their entertainment more carefully. Were they not riveted by the news in the tabloids or on television channels? How does that imbue them with a sense of superiority? Lady G had planned this performance. They say she could have toned down the act? How would that have helped? It would have only drawn attention to what had happened and then there would be accusations that she was using the tragedy. Besides, if it is understood that she is not mainstream, then why apply those standards for her?
Here are a few comments that I completely disagree with:
"We're always saying, people who are icons to young people need to be aware of their behavior and they need to think about how their behavior influences young people.”
It is the job of the parents to ensure that young people are not besotted by glamorous images. These same young people read about stars and socialites in skimpy clothes getting drunk at parties and even stripping. Only because they have not paid for the show, does the responsibility factor decrease?
"Would she have sold less tickets without that scene in her show?”
Did she advertise that scene? If she did, then why were all these people there with their impressionable children?
“Murder is disturbing image to impose on young people. When young stars mention they've got a collection of knives and enjoy flicking their knives they're endorsing it. They're not thinking about what they're portraying to their fans. It's all for shock value.”
It is indeed shock value and they may be endorsing it. But there is a gun culture that exists. There are murders. There is incest. There are cases of monster dads and moms who have sex with their eight-year-old kids. They are not watching these shows. Often news stories and most certainly documentaries recreate such scenes. Do parents have problems with that?
Art, music, cinema and literature portray social evils or use them as metaphor. What if these people had decided to stay at home and watch one of those horror movies?
I love lady GaGa. She is a riot, and she is shocking. I am not sure if she is trying to convey a message. But it doesn't matter. She may be just incorporating topical themes in her act. Works for me. After suffering talentless and packaged musicians for years, we have, at last, an interesting, original, and exciting artist.
ReplyDeleteLady gaga is my most fav. singer and perfomer among living and dead singers.
ReplyDeleteShe is genius of the century who graduated from an extremely prestigious University known as NYU.
Lady gaga is not just a common woman . she is matchless in her performance, I have attended her concerts which were amazing.
circle
Circle, I cannot stop listening to "Bad Romance" or watching the video. It is weird, bizarre, and so intense. And the music is very complex.
ReplyDeleteThe lyrics are intriguing, particularly the references to Hitchcock movies.
Her shocking appearances somehow seem to meld in with the theme. I think she carries it off better than Madonna. The only other pop singer with a better voice is Shakira (she is a diva, with an incredible vocal range). But Shakira is rather sedate and rather nice, whereas Lady G is thoroughly bad.
Good to know there is another Lady G fan on the FV blog. I was afraid that we were all very serious and intense. And downright sober.
Ratnam
ReplyDeletesame here, I feel mesmerized by lady gaga, she is a witch, she is a vampire, she is a murderous, she is a black magic, she is a devil, she is evil, she is all negative, she is a thriller.....
I feel my heart racing, my soul dancing with lady g's lyrics...
Like I said before she is matchless.
I never liked medonna, I only liked one song by her and that was (Papa don't preach). Medonna used to be cute when she was young,but, never even closer to lady G.
Also, Lady G is for a different league and Medonna is from a different class.
Both have nothing in common. We can not compare apples with oranges. Lady G is Sun and Medonna is just a 200 volts fused bulb.
The other one is David Guetta's Love is gone, this lyrics makes my heart pounding...
Got to go...to listen to lady G and David Guetta...
circle
Never heard this Lady Gaga, and maybe she is the musical genius of the 21st century, which is still in its diapers, anthropomorphically speaking.
ReplyDeleteThe spot for musical genius of the 20th century has already been taken.
Not sure that esoteric references is all it takes to earn the title of a musical genius, what about innovation in music itself.
ReplyDeleteIMO, a musical genius is someone who turns classical music on its head and redefines music itself. Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, and Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, redefined the meaning of harmony and gave classical and "pop" music, and known forms of western music (until then) the equivalent of the combined effects of a full-frontal lobotomy, full-body plastic surgery, and an enema.
The cooler part is that they did all this because they got bored with the cliches that they played in their day job in Big Bands that played the equivalent of today's pop music (such as Glenn Miller). The only way you got to play with these cats was to be as competent with an instrument as they were with theirs, with the ability to think creatively in real time as they played.
Hello, we were trying to discuss pop culture!
ReplyDeleteRatnam:
The medium is the message, therefore this blogpost. I think Eminem has shock value and he has subverted stereotypes beautifully.
You said to Circle, "I was afraid that we were all very serious and intense. And downright sober."
That is a sobering thought. However, I think that being serious and intense can be mutually exclusive and sober very much so.
Circle:
If Lady G manages the staying power of Madonna, then there can be comparisons.
she is a witch, she is a vampire, she is a murderous, she is a black magic, she is a devil, she is evil, she is all negative, she is a thriller.....
Hmm...must work hard at my act now :)
Al:
ReplyDeleteI suppose you are commenting on the comments and not the post itself.
Genius has to have a beyond the realm of the possible quality, IMO. Innovation in music would be an institutionalised aspect.
Individually, I agree with you there has to be a special quality. But not all innovation would be genius. Classical music has got to be structured or it loses the merit of its genre. In that sense, pop music can push the envelope much more.
There is also the aspect about purists not accepting hybrid forms, which may happen when you stretch the imagination to the limits.
Anyhow, interesting thoughts.
Wonder why you had nothing to say about my innovative ideas on Gore, and we aren't going Al out!
Lady G got into trouble with security at the airport due to her studded pantsuit. This is what she said:
ReplyDelete"I don`t care if its summer. Leather, high heels, and a bad attitude. Here I come.”
FV, True, was commenting on Circle's comment on Lady Gaga's pop genius. But forgot to quote Circle's comment in my comment.
ReplyDeleteFV:"Individually, I agree with you there has to be a special quality. But not all innovation would be genius. Classical music has got to be structured or it loses the merit of its genre."
I would like to state that I dislike labels in music like anything else -- musical labels seem to have been invented by "music critics" with an eye on their own long-term job security. I, for one, cannot tell the difference between Rock and Blues (bands like AC/DC play blues with heavy metal instruments, but it is all blues chord progression), Metal, Metal, Nu-Metal, Garage, Grunge, und weiter. They are all variations on a theme, with the differentiations created in the mind of the music critic, even if such differentiations are mostly nominal when you listen to the music.
However, structure by itself does not translate or equate to good music, as is usually the claim of classical purists.
The innovators in music basically knew all the rules of classical music until that time and they deliberately broke all the rules in subtle ways and created melodies that would have been considered "dissonant" (and therefore bad music) by classical purists.
But if one listens to the renditions of the music of Duke Ellington (which is very structured) by Thelonius Monk, then it changes one's internal understanding of "dissonance". Specifically, one realizes there is no such thing as dissonance, it is all manufactured by a machine (the brain) that likes to recognize patterns even if none exist.
Patterns in these forms are deliberately complex and deliberately not something one can dance to, as the creators of this kind of music wanted the listener to focus on the music and not just mindlessly shake butts and other body parts in response. Rhythms were deliberately syncopated and a pattern would last an entire 4 bars and one had to listen carefully to 'get' the pattern.
"Wonder why you had nothing to say about my innovative ideas on Gore, and we aren't going Al out!"
Gore of the Lady Gaga kind is not especially interesting if one has watched bands like GWAR and other metal bands of the 80s/90s. GWAR featured live beheadings and splashing of fake blood and other fake gore material on the audience, which can be chunder-inducing to people who think it is all real!
So lady Gaga is not going al-out on Gore, if you ask me.
http://www.gwar.net/mythos
ReplyDeleteGWAR's excuse for all the blood and gore is simple -- their only aim is the destruction of the human race that populates the seething mudball known as planet earth.
Al:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the real gore. I thought I was raising some questions and not competing with the extent of gore.
As regards the points about music, it is clear that you know a lot, and I mean it. I go by instinct and a decent ear.
I agree that structure does not necessarily translate into good music. It is like grammar in language...once you have the basics, then you can write whatever you want. And if there is experimentation it is understood that the new language is parodying/taking off on.extending what is already there.
Given that there are some basic notes, even the most execrable music can allude to a structure/raaga.
Vaclav Havel's quote might make sense regarding structure:
ReplyDelete"Drama assumes an order. If only so that it might have - by disrupting that order - a way of surprising."
FV:"Thanks for the real gore. I thought I was raising some questions and not competing with the extent of gore. "
ReplyDeleteFV, not competing in gore but was just pointing out that gore as a medium of shocking the audience is not a new thing.
"As regards the points about music, it is clear that you know a lot, and I mean it. I go by instinct and a decent ear. "
FV, most of the posts were pointless and almost deleted them after writing it since they are tangential to your post, but figured my deleting them posts would raise more questions than leaving them alone. :) I just listen to a lot of music myself and these are my views I have formed over the years...was not trying to be a pompous music critic, in case it sounds that way :)
cheers