Why is Lady Gaga so popular?
- Thread starter Andonagio
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I'll grant you the latter (even though its been true of a lot of kid singers. Hell, even in real life kids think its the end of the world) but the former? Nah. Kids acting tough and street isn't new. Whites kids adopting black culture isn't news. And wasn't when Elvis did it either.
Ha! I was at a bus stop today and this punk goes by smoking a cigarette and sporting an attitude (the chip on his shoulder was practically visible) and I remember almost laughing out loud about how kids try to act like they've lived the same kind of life as a tough guy in his 40s. Hilarious that they think they're fooling anyone.
Who?
Call the authorities!!!! I think we found Bin Laden!!!!!!
I think Lady Gaga is popular because, first off, her music is very catchy and very dance-able.
But I think the thing that really makes her stand out is her presentation. She has this very over-the-top, very camp aesthetic that colors everything about how she presents her music, from fashion to music videos. It's a very extreme thing, but I think that the sheer outlandishness of her fashion sense and performances really resonates with a lot of people.
Personally, one of the things I most appreciate about Lady Gaga is how her camp sensibility has a political agenda. What I mean by that is -- Lady Gaga is actually a really hot, beautiful woman, but she doesn't dress like she is. In fact, if you look at her makeup, she specifically goes out of her way to use many of the makeup techniques of drag queens. These are makeup schemes specifically used by men to make themselves appear more feminine, but Lady Gaga uses them without needing to, to create the impression of transvestitism where there is none. She does that, I think, because she's undermining traditional conceptions of gender roles and of one gender having an appearance they "ought" to have. That's why she's apparently been so delighted by rumors she has a penis or is a hermaphrodite -- she wants to undermine traditional images of a "beautiful woman" and replace them with something a bit more androgynous.
And, again, at the end of the day, her music is really good. "Bad Romance," for instance, I think really captures well that frantic energy, that absolute longing, of being in love with a friend and knowing it can never go anywhere. I don't think, however, that Lady Gaga is truly living up to her potential. I think that her music could be a lot deeper and a lot more moving if she were to give up her desire to be dance-able.
But I think the thing that really makes her stand out is her presentation. She has this very over-the-top, very camp aesthetic that colors everything about how she presents her music, from fashion to music videos. It's a very extreme thing, but I think that the sheer outlandishness of her fashion sense and performances really resonates with a lot of people.
Personally, one of the things I most appreciate about Lady Gaga is how her camp sensibility has a political agenda. What I mean by that is -- Lady Gaga is actually a really hot, beautiful woman, but she doesn't dress like she is. In fact, if you look at her makeup, she specifically goes out of her way to use many of the makeup techniques of drag queens. These are makeup schemes specifically used by men to make themselves appear more feminine, but Lady Gaga uses them without needing to, to create the impression of transvestitism where there is none. She does that, I think, because she's undermining traditional conceptions of gender roles and of one gender having an appearance they "ought" to have. That's why she's apparently been so delighted by rumors she has a penis or is a hermaphrodite -- she wants to undermine traditional images of a "beautiful woman" and replace them with something a bit more androgynous.
And, again, at the end of the day, her music is really good. "Bad Romance," for instance, I think really captures well that frantic energy, that absolute longing, of being in love with a friend and knowing it can never go anywhere. I don't think, however, that Lady Gaga is truly living up to her potential. I think that her music could be a lot deeper and a lot more moving if she were to give up her desire to be dance-able.
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Amaris
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Since she based her name on the song "Radio GaGa" by Queen, it's more of a compliment.
I don't mind her. It's nice to see weirdness and creativity back in pop music. She's certainly talented. I see her as kind of a female Prince.
I've read quotes from people who knew her in the earliest days of her career, who said that she also played stripped-down blues and rock as well as the more extravegant dance stuff, and that she kept switching between the two "personalities" in her gigs. Now that she's hit it big time, perhaps it will allow her to start playing those kinds of songs on her albums along with the catchier stuff; she's already started with "Sleepless" on The Fame Monster.
I have no idea. I've heard two songs and didn't care for either of them.
A
Amaris
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It's not Firefox. The way TrekBBS is set up on the software causes Youtube embeds to disappear when you go to either quote or edit them.
Yes.
Great publicity, strong branding and developing as many revenue streams as possible - concert venues, merchandise, etc - is essential to a musical performer who wants to make any real money now. Internet piracy, among other things, has made it all but impossible for musicians to succeed financially on the basis of recording alone as they did, say, the 1980s.
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