I assumed that Katy Perry would hold onto the top spot of the music-related portion of my Extreme Dislike List well into 2009 (for now, I’m still giving Chris Brown the right to be presumed innocent). Byt somehow Lady GaGa got the impression that a No. 1 hit gave her the right to have outlandish, ridiculous opinions, and that she was entitled to share them with the public.
In a way, I have to thank Whitney Pastorek. Her Entertainment Weekly article (and “outtakes” on the mag’s Web site) have exposed GaGa for the ridiculous loudmouth that she is. When she disappears from public consciousness in a year or so, we can all look back and laugh. “Remember her? The one who seemed to hate pants? She thought she was a groundbreaking artist.”
On feminism:
”I think it’s great to be a sexy, beautiful woman who can f—- her man after she makes him dinner,” she says. ”There’s a stigma around feminism that’s a little bit man-hating. And I don’t promote hatred, ever. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate women who feel that way. I’ve got a lot of gay women friends that are like, ‘Put your clothes on.’ People just have different views about it. I’m not wrong. I’m free. And if it’s wrong to be free, then I don’t want to be right. Things are changing. We’ve got a black president, people.”
On sexuality:
“Being a woman in the pop world, sexuality is half poison and half liberation. What’s the line? I don’t have a line. I am the most sexually free woman on the planet, and I genuinely am empowered from a very honest place by my sexuality. What’s more primal than sex? I mean, it’s so honest. If I didn’t think I had the talent to back that up, I wouldn’t have done it.”
On success or something:
“I’m of course very confident in the way that I got here, and I feel that it prepared me, and at six o’ clock in the morning on my 23rd hour on a video set, I dig way down into my soul and I find that place where I was born to be an artist, and it carries me through. I am everything about what I do. Every marrow in my bones and blood is for this work. GaGa is the greatest creative journey of my life.”
This is Perez Hilton’s fault somehow, isn’t it?
Going GaGa [Entertainment Weekly]
Lady GaGa: Bonus quotes from the dance-pop queen! [EW.com]
I imagined her quotes with a kicky English accent, and suddenly she didn’t seem so bad. Is it that we don’t have any tolerance for homegrown kooky electro eccentrics?
So based on that mention of her “gay woman friends” it sounds like she’s equating being a feminist with being a lesbian. Sorry, a man-hating lesbian. (But she’s got gay friends, guys!)
I will say her music makes me less stabby than Katy Perry’s (and she’s a marginally less crappy singer/they’ve ProTooled her voice better).
(That said, maybe Gags could realize what she’s doing isn’t that deep. At least Britney had that self-awareness.)
Note to self: start using “We’ve got a black president, people” as justification for absolutely anything.
Whenever I see Miss Thang, all I hear is a loop of that whistle melody from Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Wishing Well” in my head. For obvious reasons, of course.
Whenever I see Miss Thang, all I hear is a loop of that whistle melody from Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Wishing Well” in my head. For obvious reasons, of course.
@Maura Johnston: At me or at Jezebel? I blame Perez.
@Bob Loblaw: Beat me to it!
She’s a post-feminist poet! Kidding… No, she’s surprisingly articulate, though. “Sexuality is half poison, and half liberation … What’s more primal than sex?” Whether you like what she’s saying or not, at least she can speak.
@Laurrel: Lady MoTracie
What is with these young pop star females being so ignorant of what feminism really is? (equality) Don’t they teach this shit in public school these days, oh wait… I mean, sure, I went to college in Santa Cruz, but bitch please, are you that willfully ignorant, or is it part of yr shallow stage persona?
Anyway, i’ve been hearing her damn song on the gay dance station here in SF for like a year now…it never seemed like it had crossover hit potential to me. My guitarist says that what he heard/read is that while she has worked hard for what she has, she has had all of the opportunities put in place for her via privilege/family connections and shit like that. Whatever. She’s no Kylie.
@eriq78: She’s no Kylie.
Precisely. Every song I’ve heard of hers I first mistook for a really “good” Pussycat Dolls song (not a compliment).
@lempha: Oh, and by the way, when Colby O’Donis starts his verse on “Just Dance” (esp. in the video), it’s sooooooo Hot Chicks With Douchebags.
I’d like to take this time to tell you all I told you so. All y’all thought she was harmless, and I am, depressingly, vindicated.
Also… she’s not even Dannii.
Any time I hear someone talk about how “sexually free” they are, I immediately start wondering which relative molested them.
Combine that with a little acting out (”I’d talk about things and do things that were very ostentatious, and over the top, and very vain.” - “When you’re 12 years old … trying to choreograph shows at your school that are entirely too sexy”) and some narcissism (”I am a brilliant musician,” - “My gift is that people see something artistic and special about me. And you’re gonna f—ing watch”) and you really have to wonder what happened to this chick. Well, I do, at least.
Stay classy, Lady Gaga.
So, her crimes are not dressing like a man, and answering questions in interviews? And those answers make some people uncomfortable and angry for some reasons they can’t quite explain. Also, she was probably molested as a child. And she hasn’t covered “The Locomotion”.
I suppose she just needs a good man to (allegedly) keep her in line.
I’m not mad; just disappointed.
@K-Rex: No, her crimes are giving phonily “edgy” answers that try to put the Obama election on the same level her fameballing, and making crap pop music.
@K-Rex: I can’t speak for the others but I’d point out that that first answer on feminism is two cans of word soup. I almost got a nose bleed just reading it.
@Maura Johnston: Are the edges phony or the answers? Can someone supply more appropriate answers? I want to learn.
@K-Rex: Well for starters, if you’re “the most sexually free person on the planet,” you’re probably liberated enough to not feel the need to remind people of that fact all the time.
@Maura Johnston: Speaking of which- her tour is called the “Fame Ball Tour”. I don’t think she realizes the irony.
It upsets me that some people think Lady GaGa is anything other than completely derivative of other artists. And everything she does just SCREAMS “trying too hard.” In that sense, she’s kind of like katy perry. Perry is more of an “industry puppet” I suppose, but my problem with gaga is that everyone seems to think she is such a rebel. Honey, bangs + ugly ‘wacky’ outfits is not original.
Oh and her lyrics (the thing she’s SUPPOSED to be good at - she was a songwriter) are so dreadfully bad. Even when I’m listening to the songs of hers that I like (there are several), I have to cringe at the lyrics.
@Maura Johnston: If you have a objection to exaggeration in art, I’m assuming this is something you’ve acquired within the last ten minutes. Otherwise I’m afraid you may have landed yourself in the wrong biz.
Would you say the same thing about Prince? Because he claims to be a sexy motherfucker, despite the fact that he appears to possess none of the qualities usually attributed to masculine sexuality. Yet, if one is able to suspend ones disbelief and accept that Prince is indeed a sexy motherfucker; one will find a deeper meaning and joy in his work. Or, one can just chalk it up as a neurotic Jehovah’s Witness from Minnesota mewling about all the sex he’s never had.
As for Ms. GaGa, (and do you really expect clear and insightful commentary from a fictional character who passes herself off to be some sort of landed gentry from the nation of Gibberish): One can believe that the, (to my knowledge), only song in recent memory (which, in my case, is admittedly not that long) to successfully celebrate the joy of living outside of the socio-sexual hierarchy that rules the land of Pop is being created by 1)a talentless, opportunistic moron who probably had unwanted sexual relations with a trusted family member, or 2)an artist creating opportunities to discuss our conceptions of Art(ifice) v. Authenticity before and after bouts of ecstatic jumping up and down.
Pop artist is batshit. Film at 11.
Jezebel tells me that I should look upon this creature with awe, for being a fierce, independent woman and yet- she really ticks me off. It’s the hair-bow, the lack of pants, the song that I don’t think should be so popular, but mostly because she seems to be holding herself up as this pinnacle of ultimate artistry, and I think she’s undeserving. And I hate her stupid stage name, too.
@Varina: [biting tongue, drawing blood]
I’m suspect of any woman who ever commonly uses the phrase “my man” or “her man.”
@Varina: She kind of reminds me Jezebel. I liked her song but I could never actually be a fan. Even when I agree with her I find her annoying.
I really like her! But in that way where I just want to listen to her songs and not read her opinions about things. (Although the whole reason I fell for her so hard was based on her TRL appearance last summer.) But really. I thought this post was going to be about her covering that Heidi Montag song.
None of that in any way makes her more annoying than Katy Perry. She may be the world’s biggest butterface, but at least she’s got a vision (even if she does come off a little like a Kanyette). Perry’s an industry puppet, through and through - her tits and her stupid, catchy little fake lesbian song are the only reasons we know about her. You don’t see Christina Aguilera jackin *her* styles…. that’s gotta count for something.
@Laurrel: On the other hand, I’m sure she’s trying to make the most of what is probably a short time in the public eye (to this extent), so she’s just throwing everything out there.
For the love of Christ, where do they find these girls? I wish Gaga’s “idol” Grace Jones would deign to descend to earth and kick that ass, but I guess the rest of us will have to try to ignore her until the inevitable flameout…
I am the most sexually free woman on the planet
Did somebody make sure Madonna got that memo? Because I smell a beat-down brewin’.
I kinda hate the phrase “on the planet.” Like have you met everyone on the planet to know that you are the most____”?
The song is okay as far as trashy dance songs go, but it’s not that interesting and neither is she. I wish she’d take herself a little less seriously. At least Kate Perry isn’t claiming to be some great artiste or anything like that.
Press is press is press. Good for her.
@K-Rex: No, my objection is not to exaggeration. It’s to cliche dressed up in a bad hairbow. Prince wrote “Sexy MF” what, 18 years ago? Are you honestly comparing the norms of then and now?
@owenmeany: Well, sure, but that doesn’t mean we have to live with her idiocy on a neutral level, does it?
@Maura Johnston: I would say that, if anything, the world has changed in the direction of Princiness. Not that it has changed much. Of course, back in his day, the conversation was more likely to center around whether Prince was or was not fake rather than the nature of his fakiness. So, I guess that’s progress.
And, to reiterate, I believe that Prince is a relevant topic when discussing today’s pop music.
Furthermore, I avoided using the song title’s “MF” because the same conceit applies throughout Prince’s career, as well as the careers of most pop artists.