GAGA GOOGOO DADA

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There’s nothing scarier than watching American Idol. What really gets me every time is the desperation of the contestants and their hunger for fame. And you have to think, these people are shaping their personalities and reactions on what they think we want; it’s basically a popularity contest, so you have to be liked to win. And some people are so deluded. It becomes part of the entertainment to watch writhing Americans flail and mould around demonic forms and indecisive attributes. Personality is such a big influence on the eventuality of performers and pop stars; the whole basis and corporate success of American Idol and The X Factor et al. are reliant on those personalities to flourish and hook themselves around the wallets of every avid TV junkie for the course of the show, creating a pre-determined audience for an arbitrary money grabbing song at the end of it all.

And that is the dichotomy of what’s got me hooked on Lady Gaga.

At the beginning of 2009, before she really came into her own, it felt a bit like there was no-where else to go with pop music. Record bosses always seem to look back to move forwards, cashing in on the proven inevitability of another 80s revival. But even that was stale; audiences were and still are craving more than the same boring shit.

And so along came Gaga. She was the first to realise that absurdity was the only way to go.

Lady Gaga is a complete product and a result of commercialism and capitalism, which is so far enforced that her personality doesn’t really exist; she lives what she does. And none of her traits are familiar with real life situations; she’s like a human sacrifice for her art, which just so happens to be the most sellable and popular pop you could ever pop. She recently said “I would rather die than have my fans not see me in a pair of heels”. She will do nothing to hinder the spectacle and abject of her brand. She’s based on her performance, as herself, as a product. A sculpture. Testing your taste with absurd costumes and avant-garde performances. Her music is not the predominant product, but her shock factor and sensation are; her boundaries are limitless, because unlike other artists, her selling point isn’t familiarity and regurgitation, but unexpected absurdity. So theoretically, she can’t go wrong.

There’s a massive contradiction because her whole appeal is her individuality, and her desire to do what she wants – she never shies from nudity, is always propping nods to the gays, swears like a trooper, and overall rejects traditional wholesome American values. But in doing this, she has normalised her own absurdity, and plays into those crazy expectations, which is quite scary. Her music is also quite the contradiction to this individuality.

In the same way as every average clean-cut pop star, and perhaps even more, Lady Gaga is a spectacle, something cathartic which diverts us from our, and indeed her actuality. It’s easy to forget that she’s a person, a person who is only 24. She MUST have insecurities and imperfections and moments of slack.

And then there’s also the money, she’s doing this on a fucking high wage, with a lot of people and institutions riding on board and helping her empire. And it’s then that it all starts to become a bit exploitative.

She is very self-aware and clearly takes herself deadly serious. She is very quick to enforce her links to the art world, referencing Warhol and calling her performances “shock installation”, which along with her slightly patronising play on sexuality, seems a bit fake. And the endorsements – they’re so self aware, it’s like she’s complimenting her audience for being too intellectual for subliminal advertising. But it’s still advertising. I can’t ignore this contradiction of play between manipulative sensationalism with democratic diversity. Lady Gaga displays these situations, people, and costumes to assert her own identity, and in doing so, borders on abusing these things for the sake of her own popularity. But maybe that’s not her fault – just because she’s popular and rich and successful, it doesn’t mean she’s corrupt...or does it..?

Nevertheless, Lady Gaga is presenting and creating interesting and thought provoking ideals, and at least she is someone in pop who is reactionary towards modern and current culture and society, not a product of ‘retro culture’.

Her whole persona seems (or tries) to be a commentary on the consumption of popular culture, and either way, we are gagging to see the next crazy venture she comes up with, just because there is literally nothing else exciting in pop music.

Much like she herself is within her balance of mainstream vs. anti-mainstream ideals, when it comes to Gaga, I am on the fence; I just don’t know whether I love her or loathe her, but like I said, I am hooked.