Goo Goo Gaga

Before House of Gaga, she was just Stefani Germanotta, an incredibly talented brunette from NYC.  Unfortunately, being herself wasn't getting her where she wanted to be, so she created a whole persona, something many performers have done and continue to do.  Great, no big deal.  I had finally come to appreciate Lady Gaga and enjoy her music and the whole event that Lady Gaga has made herself to be.  Through this carnival of influences, she can be a mega star that can really push a message of universal acceptance of anything or anyone "different" in a much grander way than she ever could as just plain Stefani Germanotta.  She's a strong, tough lady who is wise beyond her years and accomplishing a phenomenon that I can only applaud her for.  This has always been my argument for her.

Part of her charm is that she's a postmodern figurehead of all the male & female divas before her.  Her image is a cluster fuck of icons like Madonna, Bette Midler, Cyndi Lauper, Ziggy Stardust, Cher, Elton John & even the German Expressionist film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (thanks in a huge way to Alexander McQueen.  RIP).  But that's the whole point.

In her music, she always has a breakdown in the middle that sounds like a sample from another strong music figure.  Examples: In "Poker Face" she sounds just like Peaches.  That gnarly, school-teaching badass bitch who has been heard in movies like Lost in Translation and collaborated recently with bands like The Flaming Lips.  She's just a little too hardcore for mainstream radio, but she has a following.  In "Paparazzi," her breakdown sounds like Gwen Stefani in "Hollaback Girl."  "Alejandro" sounds like an Ace of Base song and the video looks like Madonna's "Like a Prayer" video.  "Born This Way" is like Madonna's "Express Yourself."  Even "You and I" sounds like the Billy Joel's "Vienna."

I know there are plenty more, but let's make my point.  All of these people before her have been there and done that.  Madonna clearly paid homage to Marilyn Monroe in her "Material Girl" video, giving us the wink that she knows she's not the first blonde bombshell to push the envelope.  She also openly admitted to taking dance and fashion cues from underground drag queen proms that took place in New York City.  In fact, you can watch an entire documentary, Paris is Burning, on the very people she borrowed from.

Madonna at the world premiere of Paris is Burning

That's what icons do.  They take their influences and make them their own, fresh and new, and bring them to the mainstream.  None of these people have had any reason to hide it, in fact, more often than not, they are proud to give credit where it's due.  Right?  Well, sometimes.  In Gaga's case, one minute she claims to be 100% original and the next she either has gotten support from the artist or claims ignorance.

Part of me knows quotes can be taken out of context.  Another part of me knows that there is an empire that needs to be protected/doesn't care b/c they know the fans don't.  I also know firsthand that there are truly accidents where you either don't know or were influenced and didn't even remember it happening.  For instance, on a much smaller scale, I once gave an impromptu (& unsolicited) stand-up routine to a room of fellow high school classmates about mice giving nonstop birth in a shed while my mom screamed and tried to swat them off a tennis racket. After class, one of my good friends pulled me aside and said it had happened to her.  Oops.  There's actually a bit like that in one of my favorite books, The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman, too.  My bad.  But I was funny, right?

No matter what the reasoning, my only advice to Gaga (b/c she asked me for it the other day) is to try and not look like an ass by saying stuff about God giving you songs like you are Billy Graham.  And you should probably do a little research before you perform to make sure you aren't stepping on toes (or fins, in the case of Bette Midler).  No one wants to look as silly as Vanilla Ice did (about 1 minute in):

But if you do get caught, fess up to the homage and move on.  Don't take full credit.  You look less Paris Hilton-caught-on-tape-AGAIN and more like a class act.  And my only advice to people who have such deep-seeded hate for Gaga and feel like they constantly have to "call her out"?  At the end of the day, she's an entertainer.  She is the new "It" girl pushing the envelope b/c somebody has to scare parents.  So she's not entertaining you?  Fine.  I don't enjoy death metal but I don't waste time bitching about it.  To each their own.

And anyways, shouldn't you be more worried about things like health care, national debt, an abused Earth, civil rights, corrupt lawmakers or media moguls and corporations with too much power?  Or, more than anything, shouldn't you be doing your job that many unemployed people would gladly take?  I know I should be.  But that shit is depressing.


why any of it*,

bunny


*so I'm not the world calling the orange blue**, this is a direct quote (early 2000s, Kazi Bonner)
**this is from a Federico Garcia Lorca quote "The world is blue like an orange."  I could go all day.  Ok, not all day.  That's all I've got.

P.S. If we are going to call her out, I would just like to say that I am famous for not wearing pants.  DAMN HER.