I’M WITH GAGA

[defrog]

It says a lot about the second decade of the 21st Century that one of the most polarizing issues in American society is, “What do you think of Lady Gaga?”

I confess I’m a little late to the Gaga phenomenon – a fact that baffles my stateside readers who find her inescapable. But then I don’t have cable TV or watch much television. Certainly the Innerwub alerted me to LG’s existence, and she does get promotion in Hong Kong. But I hadn’t really seen or heard more than just a few snippets of her act until recently.

Indeed, I didn’t know the words to “Poker Face” until Christopher Walken did a reading for British television. And the first time I ever heard one of her songs in full was whilst browsing the stacks at HMV, where she advised me that she was interested in riding my disco stick.

It was love right there, though I didn’t know it yet.

To be clear, musically speaking LG isn’t anything really special. It’s serviceable glam- pop designed for dance floors – good if you like that kind of thing (which I do if it's done well), but technically nothing groundbreaking. And image-wise, she’s invoking pop-diva tradition to the point that she probably owes Madonna patent royalties.

But then by that logic, so do Alison Goldfrapp and Peaches (both of whom I like, as well as Madge). And all pop-rock music borrows from the past. So why not?

Anyway, I subscribe to the bedsitter23  Theory Of Pop Stardom: “I like my pop stars like wrestlers – flamboyant, overdramatic, ego-inflated, and larger than life.”

To which I would add: They should also provoke controversy whenever possible, and in a way that looks intentional, rather than the comitragic reality-show out-of-control train wrecks you get from people like (and I’m just pulling a name out of the air here) Britney Spears.

Lady Gaga – at least for the moment – fits in the former camp. As Exhibit A I offer her new video.

Yes, I know Britney and Christina make sexy videos too. But they’ve consistently stuck to heterosexual sexpot fantasy material. Neither of them would have the nerve to incorporate militant Catholic homoerotic PVC fetish subculture into a mainstream music video that – to hear Violet Blue tell it – “is exactly how it feels to be an attractive, lonely single straight girl with a lot of gorgeous and sexually flirty gay male friends.”

The rifle bra is a nice touch too.

Sure, some people will slag it off as cheap attention-getting shock tactics (which is rich coming from people like Katy Perry, but I digress). But people used to say the same thing about the Sex Pistols. And why not, Jim? No one ever pushed boundaries or challenged the status quo by being polite. 

This is the thing I like most about LG: she alarms people. Fox New frets over her video content and influence on youngsters. Pop fans insult her less-than-perfect looks and dither over whether she’s really a woman. The Westboro Baptist Church hates her enough to sing karaoke versions of her songs. 

And she’s a secret agent for the Illuminati.

What is not to love?

So yes. Put me down for the Lady Gaga Fetish Army. 

SAFETY TIP: Admittedly, I can afford to sign up for the LGFA since I’m pretty much immune to the Gaga media blitz.

What’s my secret? Easy: I don’t watch E! or MTV, and I generally stay away from bullshit celebrity gossip sites and mainstream entertainment sites. That filters out about 95% of Gaga coverage right there. I can cope with the remainder.

Shut up and dance,

This is dF

Comments

[nebris.livejournal.com]

[bedsitter23.livejournal.com]

It should be noted that my original post was inspired by Rush Limbaugh boogeying his butt to "Poker Face" at the Miss America pageant.

So, this was before the Tarantino-esque "Telephone" video which pretty much solidified that Gaga may be our most exciting Top 40 star.

However, this was also before we knew Rush was the type of guy who'd drop a cool mill to have Elton John perform at his wedding.

Well, maybe we knew. Just now, we have the proof.

[figmentj.livejournal.com]

There's some deeply interesting gender shit going on in that video as well as the militant religion stuff. I wish I were better at interpreting that sort of thing, but it's fascinating nonetheless.