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I don't like Lady Gaga.
Blasphemy alert. I’m a sixteen year old American girl and I don’t like Lady Gaga. And no, it’s not because I don’t like her music, her costumes, or her performances. I just don’t like being manipulated.
Actually, I lied. It’s partly her music, costumes, and performances. But not so much because they’re hideous or outrageous or tiresome. But looking back at those pictures of her as a “normal” girl and seeing what and who she is now, it’s almost insulting. The fact that this girl had to change into something almost non-human to finally get noticed is unsettling, at best. She’s instead this cold, faceless force. No one noticed her when she was trying to “make it”. But then the fame machine (monster, she calls it?) seemed to eat her up and spit out an entirely new person, repackaged and revamped to “shock” us all.
And in the end, it really isn’t even that shocking. It’s almost a little pathetic (and you’ll see what I mean by insulting) when it seems that the state of the nation’s youth has degenerated so much that we need a woman in a mask and sparkling breasts to tell us that we’re all okay. Okay to be different, okay to be loved, the whole package. Because then we really aren’t, are we?
She's been quoted as saying, “I would rather die than have my fans not see me in a pair of high heels. I'd never give up my wigs and hats for anything.” I'm afraid that this mentality about possessions and image, to her millions of female fans, is dangerous. She speaks almost as if these material things are as vital to life as water is. This is the same woman who says that “I'm always saying something about art and music and fame. That's why you don't ever catch me in sweatpants.” She claims that her style and her persona is for art, and yet, it begs the question if she ever does anything for herself. She makes herself a martyr for the love of her fans. And if she is as passionate as she says she is about new frontiers in art, why are the vast majority of her lyrics about sex and money?
I'm not asking her to be anything different, not exactly. Give me a David Bowie reincarnate, an rebel in the music industry. But give me a little more complexity, a little more beauty, a little more thought than just what's on the outside. Give me another facet than just the freaky hair and makeup and clothing, because if that’s all there is, her opinion about simply being yourself is lost somewhere in the jumble of cosmetics and oversized sunglasses. But most of all, give me a break.
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This article has 471 comments.
My name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, also known as Lady Gaga. I am deeply insulted by your article and all I can say is that I appreciate all my little monsters who love my music and my creations. Bless you,
Gaga
I totally agree with this article! :]
It's a good point you brought up in your article, that life isn't all about looks and materials. There's more to life than just those.
Well done!!
Jen920, you couldn't be more right about the things you're saying, and that's why I think making a statement in her favour is in order. I think in the beginning, When she released Poker face and all the other songs in that album, she was true to her purpose. As she liked the attention, she continued to mutate, resulting in "Telephone". I think at that point, she was already bewitched by her own purpose, becomming a fanatic to an unaccepted fact: "There will always be people that will judge you by your appearance" and as much as you say that you don't care, at a certain point you do. One thing Lady Gaga did in my life, was showing me it's allright to be yourself, only as everything else in this life, the extremes are always bad.
That's what I think anyway.
Wow! This is awesome.
And I agree with you 100% on this, because there truly is more to life than looks and none of us should look to people who only value looks.
Ooh hating on a popstar... bold...
welcome to the world of a metalhead.
PS... I agree with medina d.
you should be a crtic someday and i thought it was bold that you could go aginst the peer pressure nd express your feelings. :-)
im glad somebody finally realized what she is saying in her songs!! Everyone likes her , but dont really realize the message she is trying to put out there...
Anyways, i thought your review was awesome... :-)
oh my gosh THANK YOU. i thought i was the only 16 year old girl who hated lady gaga.
and to those who say shes a great inspiration and example to other girls... inspiration to do what? sing songs with dirty lyrics and wear slutty clothes? i dont think thats the kind of "inspiration" girls need.
Yes, you're right, doomtreat. But I feel that the use of phrases like "begs the question" have changed over time and while are not technically correctly used, the intent still comes across.
Much like the word "quote". It's technically a verb by all formal and academic standards, but it's often used in the vernacular as interchangeable with the noun "quotation". It's been used that way for the past 100 years, actually. While still technically incorrect, it's accepted as common use.
Sorry if I phrased that oddly. But do you kinda sorta get what I mean? :)
I respect your opinion, but you dont understand exactly what lady gaga is trying to say.
your probably some popular prep girl who's daddy buys her everything and is disgusted by anyone who wants to be different.
You see that ^. I just made a complete ass of myself by saying that, because i assumed. (please dont take that seriously, it was just for example)
What you posted was very well researched, but an assumption. You assume that because she loves to dress up, and because her music is is about risque subjects, and because shes actually trying to help the youth of America, that she is bad, or more so, that you dont like her.
Here's another shocker, i dont like her for her music, her videos, her costumes, or any of that stuff. I love her for who she is. Our youth needs somebody like her, and while your scoffing at that statement, hear me out, like i heard you.
Lets talk about the 5 or more deaths in the LB GT community. Lets talk about the deaths caused by bullying. Lets talk about the disrespect we have for each other. Not one single person stepped up to try and change that until gaga came along, and her ways of changing all of that might not be your "forte", but every single day she tries to change it, and you cant deny her that. I'm sorry if you dont like her, but i absolutely adore her and that will never change. She has given me more hope then any other person in my life, and i will continue to respect her until the day she dies, and even after that.
No one is forced to like her, and you really dont have to like her, but I'm just telling you that she really is only trying to help, it may be hidden in her sequins and high heels, but its defiantly there. Just look a little harder.