Culture Campaign president Sandy Rios named it “disgusting... poison for the minds of our kids,” The Guardian newspaper called it “ blatant commercial opportunism,” whilst the usually conservative Telegraph perhaps most appropriately – and objectively - posed the question “ When was the last time a pop video became a global talking point?” As much as fans of the late King of Pop would probably hate to admit it, the obvious answer to that question is of course Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’
With her usual signature dose of controversy and selection of off-the-wall, visually-stimulating images, Lady Gaga’s latest video has commanded more attention than perhaps any other in almost thirty years, marking a true return to the video-age. This epic ode to the cinematography of Quentin Tarantino and her outrageous fashion sense has not only divided opinions like no video in recent times but more impressively has provided an in-depth look at the effect of Pop Culture on the modern society.
Beautiful, Dirty Rich: Pop Culture Personified
Singer India.Arie dubbed the video “socially irresponsible” via her Twitter account, stating that she had respect for Gaga’s creative mind but felt that the ‘Telephone’ concept was “going too far” due primarily to its raunchiness and nudity. Is anything that originates from the House of Gaga ever really that one-dimensional? Internet bloggers and conspiracy theorists alike have been buzzing at the alleged use of Illuminati symbols in the form of the so-called “ritual killing” of the American citizen. In essence, however, surely the true brilliance of this video is that it satirically manages to utilise the blatant product-placement and multi-layered interpretations to simultaneously contribute to and critique Pop Culture and its effects on the modern consumer.
Is it, however, really the claims of supposed mind-control, Masonic and occult imagery coupled with violence that people are actually taking issue with? If so, then where was the outcry following her ‘Paparazzi’ video, which also toyed with these concepts? Considering that a number of violent videos usually manage to evade the reaction that Gaga seems to be getting for her artistic effort, it does beg the question whether it is really the “mass-murder” scene or “lesbian-prison-sex” that has her critics like Rios working overtime.
Lezploitation at its Finest
Through her use of less than implicit lesbian scenes and clichés, Lady Gaga has successfully dragged the dialogue regarding LGBT issues out of the closet and into the mainstream media in a way that no other artist has since Russian pop duo T.A.T.U.’s venture into queer culture with ‘All The Things She Said’ in the early Naughties. Openly bisexual, the pop superstar works the stereotypes to her advantage in order to help showcase gay themes into the commercial music scene.
In an interview on Australia’s The Kyle & Jackie O Show, Gaga explained that she felt the outcry for the video was more a case of homophobic attitudes than anything else. She stated bluntly: “It is my personal belief that this video is not getting so much attention for those [violent] themes because I’ve used those themes in my videos before, haven’t I? It’s because it’s with Beyoncé and it’s because there are so many homosexual themes, and transgender women in the video. Some people believe that being gay is a choice, and it’s not a choice. We are born this way. It has one foot in the art community and one foot in the commercial world.”
Whether you love or hate the video itself is completely redundant; there is little doubt, however, that you have probably formed an opinion on the video by now, which in itself is a rather impressive feat in a time where videos are usually as quickly forgotten as they are churned out. Put frankly, violent and raunchy or not, Lady Gaga has opened up a discussion that will hopefully serve to bridge the gap in the so-called sexual apartheid that evidently seems to still exist even in the MTV generation. Whilst ‘Telephone’ may not be as groundbreaking as ‘Thriller,’ it is certainly a pioneering project in its own right and deserves credit for that if nothing else.
Hannah O'Connor - With several years of experience, gaining a reputation as one of the hardest working and more creative young writers in hip hop ...
