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Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video

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battleaxonista...is a humorless bitch
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
I like how all her music videos have an undercurrent that makes you truly uncomfortable. It's like her songs are the pretty cover and her videos always show the seedier underbelly of her subject. I don't think it's world-endingly awesome or anything, but I do think it's clever and well-done. And I don't get the people who smack on her sound but then pop in their Rhianna, Ciara, or Britaney cds. If she were any more unique she probably wouldn't sell, period.
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Remedios Varo can't see no huevos.
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
Re: "And what if the "man" in the video is actually a stand-in for fame itself, and what it does to women?"

I think you might be right. Gaga has said in interviews that her album is called The Fame because it's about how anyone can be famous. So, maybe this song IS comment about how, yes, anyone can be famous but the consequences aren't always good?

Maybe I'm reading into it too much.
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Phyllis Nefler
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
I just skipped the parts that didn't contain any Alexander Skarsgard.

mmmm...skarsgard.
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Grim Reaper of the Forest
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
I find her look and her videos a lot more interesting than her actual music, which sounds vaguely generic. She is definitely an entertainer though.
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tomatoheart
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
I find songs about paparazzi so fascinating because there frankly are So Damn Many of them because it is something that celebrities deal with on the daily. However, I think these songs are so unrelateable to the majority of us non-famous people.

the video is interesting, though all the dead women make me very uncomfortable.
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la.donna.pietra
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
I still prefer the video for "Smack My Bitch Up." Same director, too. More innovative and possibly even less sexist.

I am *very* happy to be having a insightful discussion about a music video once again, though! Hello, late '80s-early '90s! How I missed you so!
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Penny
06/10/09

@la.donna.pietra: Oh, god, that takes me back.
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katie.scarlett.o'hara
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
I sort of love her. I've been totally sucked in. That said, I don't think this video is as visionary as she thinks it is, but se definitely puts a lot more thought and effort into her music and her persona than her peers.

I love that she sort of taste tests the poison at the end, like she knows she's flirting with danger by seeking fame. And the Minnie Mouse outfit was awesome!
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birminghamdrunk
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
whatever. nay-sayers will nay-say and find endless ways to justify their nay-saying. fans will love it and find endless ways to justify their love. either way, it gets her more publicity, and inevitably makes her more popular either way. it was the same way with madonna, really. none of this is really new.

that being said, i liked it. i thought it was beautiful, and just generally aesthetically pleasing. i know that's vague, but that's about as specific as i care to be.
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Penny
06/10/09

@birminghamdrunk: Yeah, in the end you're right.

It felt redundant to me, but that doesn't mean it was not visually fun.
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kkatt
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
This video appeals to me in the same way Kubrick movies appeal to me. I am disturbed, but I find it fascinating. I don't like what the images say but I like what they mean - does that make sense?
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birminghamdrunk
06/10/09

@kkatt: yes. i don't know how to elaborate on that- but yeah, i see what you're saying (as a kubrick fan myself).
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margareita metermaid
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
Pretty lame, sorry. Narcissistic and stupid (really, that's the most accurate descriptor i could come up with. just feels stupid.) -- but I could care less about celebrities elaborate fantasies about how their lives are ruled by their exposure and their relationships with the public. I just don't fucking care, and NONE of us care as much as they obviously do. This supposed critique-on-pop-culture trend, with this and Britney's 'circus' and lily allens 'fear'(there's so many more, too) is just as shallow as something like madonna's 'material girl' or whatever, but feels a hell of a lot more disingenuous, therefore harder to appreciate. and with lady gaga, who is relatively new and obscure*, it also seems a little premature. (*obscure to someone who pays medium-attention to pop culture-- very few people i know have even heard of her). that said, the songs are catchy as hell. espec. 'fear'!

*i realize i got a little over-analytical, but it's fun!
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greengrey
06/10/09

@margareita metermaid: I'm not sure how I feel. On one hand, I think this video is cool. But on the other hand, I'm getting really tired of these women complaining and basically biting the hand that feeds them. No one FORCED them to be famous.
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Penny
06/10/09

@margareita metermaid: Agreed. Plus, taking it to the length she did just weirds me out and makes no sense. To me.
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margareita metermaid
06/10/09

@greengrey (is not a star!): Yeah, that's the part that feels so self obsessed to me. Their pop culture critiques are so damn hypocritical and boring. it makes me really, really not care. but, like you said, the video is cool in the sense that it's been a long time since I've seen a video that had a fair amount of stylistic effort put into it, if not intellectual effort! @Penny: I'm not sure WHAT she wanted as a reaction to this video. I suspect she was just doing her usual schtick-- a mix of narcissism, shocking "art", and shallow "self-awareness". Which altogether, in this piece, makes no sense to me either!
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Penny
06/10/09

@margareita metermaid: I think this was the last really cool and different video I saw. And it was FOREVER ago, so either people are making crap videos or I haven't seen a video in far too long. Probably a bit of both.
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Penny
06/10/09

@Penny: Ooops.

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katie.scarlett.o'hara
06/10/09

@greengrey (is not a star!): @margareita metermaid: I don't think she was really complaining about fame, but more pointing out the weird lengths that people will go to to acheive it.
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margareita metermaid
06/10/09

@Penny: Dig the bird heads, dried poppy heads and the whirling dervishes! As irritating as Madonna has been at times, I still appreciate the fact that she never seemed to bite the hand that fed her, nor did she preemptively see herself as a superstar deserving of our pity. I appreciate her religious and sexual critiques way more than these newbie's 'fame is CRAAAAZY/ my life is haaard' sentiments.
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margareita metermaid
06/10/09

@katie.scarlett.o'hara: Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess it's just such a redundant statement these days... I want either deeper social commentary that isn't complete navel gazing, or ridiculous and silly stuff. But that's just me!
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Ionic
06/10/09

@Penny: What I love most about this song is that it was written by Bjork. And it shows.
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Penny
06/10/09

@Ionic: That's SO FUNNY. I hadn't seen it in so long and watching it now I was thinking "wow this sounds kind of Bjork influenced." Thanks, I never knew that.
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Sputnik_Sweetheart
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
It took me a while to decide how I felt about the video, but I really like it. I think it is pretty smart and powerful. It really hits the nail on the head about the aspects of modern fame-- how we love to build people up to tear them down, then build them up again; how talent has become secondary; how we think we have a right into a celebrity's private life; how people will do anything and risk everything, just for their fifteen minutes; and that fame is addicting.
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vamusical
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
"High fashion" in Lady Gaga videos = Whoever makes these wardrobe choices that don't include pants is hiiiiiiiiiigh out of their minds.
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Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
I don't think be differently-abled is a fashion statement. We wouldn't champion someone dressing in black-face in a music video, why is pretending to be differently-abled any different? Maybe I'm not seeing this correctly, but there are so many people confined to a wheel chair for life that I just don't find the use of it as a fashion accessory to be appropriate.
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stoprobbers
06/10/09

@Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.: But it's appropriate in the context of the video -- she's recovering from her fall of the balcony.

Dammit people, WATCH before you judge!

(Also, I cannot believe I just defended Lady Gaga.)
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greengrey
06/10/09

@Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.: I don't think they're using it as a fashion accessory. It's part of the "story".
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Penny
06/10/09

@stoprobbers: It's not the props that bother me as much as the shots of the dead women.
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Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.
06/10/09

@stoprobbers: I did watch it.

Dammit people, DON'T make ASSUMPTIONS!
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katie.scarlett.o'hara
06/10/09

@Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.: Yeah, those quotes about the rhinestone studded wheels were pretty offensive.
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Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.
06/10/09

@greengrey (is not a star!): If it wasn't a fashion accessory than why did it (and the back brace and the crutches)need to be bedazzled and emblazoned with Gucci fabric?

This is not cinema here. This is Lady Gaga. She makes out with the Swedish Triplets in this video. How does that fit in with the "story"?
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online persona
06/10/09

@Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.: I feel like the wheelchair and the crutches are supposed to be metaphors. I never thought I would be one to discuss the "art" inherent in a music video, but I think it says a lot about how we build up these starlets just to take them down.
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Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.
06/10/09

@online persona: Yeah, I don't buy it. Sorry. Like I said she makes out with Swedish triplets in this music video. And again, they could serve as metaphors without being painted black and hung with chains and studs.
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stoprobbers
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
A friend of mine had me watch this video at another friend's house the other night. It's incredibly pretentious, would have been FINE without those goddamn "acting" acting sections, and I MIGHT be considering trying to duplicate the derranged Mickey Mouse looks at the end.

However: It got the chorus of that fucking song stuck in my head for THREE DAYS. It's like a fucking drill. AUGH!!
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margareita metermaid
06/10/09

@stoprobbers: Yes, pretentious also. not in a fun way.
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egg cream
06/10/09

In reply to Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa's Video
You know, this was the first Lady GaGa video I willingly watched, and for a second I was like, "Wow, that was like, a total statement on fame and violence and the simultaneous abuse and love performers endure at the hands of the media. Maybe she's onto something with that whole art thing."

And then I was like, "Wait a minute, I saw Chicago like five years ago."
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katie.scarlett.o'hara
06/10/09

@egg cream: Yes! It reminded me so much of Chicago.
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