GaGa Studies 101
May 28, 2010 3:06 PM Subscribe
Gaga Stigmata: Critical Writings and Art About Lady Gaga is a new (begun in March), heavily "theory" laden, online journal that takes the much-discussed pop phenomena of the Lady very seriously (or tongue-in-cheek, it's hard to tell).
Get back in the hugbucket, tim.
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:12 PM on May 28, 2010 [7 favorites]
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:12 PM on May 28, 2010 [7 favorites]
but you are participating in the thread, which is tantamount to creation.
posted by boo_radley at 3:13 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by boo_radley at 3:13 PM on May 28, 2010
New rule: every Lady Gaga thread must be counterbalanced by a Janelle Monae thread.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:15 PM on May 28, 2010 [10 favorites]
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:15 PM on May 28, 2010 [10 favorites]
eventually they will collaborate and break your heart, BOP.
posted by boo_radley at 3:17 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by boo_radley at 3:17 PM on May 28, 2010
But Gaga fans are mostly Janelle Monae fans! There needs to be a counterbalancing thread on...I don't know, KISS or Cannibal Corpse or Gorecki or something.
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:18 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:18 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ah, someone that takes Lady Gaga as seriously as she takes herself.
posted by cmgonzalez at 3:19 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by cmgonzalez at 3:19 PM on May 28, 2010
"(or tongue-in-cheek, it's hard to tell)"
I can almost 100% promise that Kate is absolutely serious about this. I haven't seen her in about 8 months or so, but i went through school with both she and her husband. she's been writing furiously about this since Gaga broke through. Kate's very smart and I'm excited to see her work get some recognition.
posted by Bohemia Mountain at 3:22 PM on May 28, 2010
I can almost 100% promise that Kate is absolutely serious about this. I haven't seen her in about 8 months or so, but i went through school with both she and her husband. she's been writing furiously about this since Gaga broke through. Kate's very smart and I'm excited to see her work get some recognition.
posted by Bohemia Mountain at 3:22 PM on May 28, 2010
This existed with Madonna too, and of course, that was also more tongue-in-cheek than some people realized. This seems more obvious about it.
posted by roll truck roll at 3:23 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by roll truck roll at 3:23 PM on May 28, 2010
Someone wake me up when Lady Gaga is yesterday's news.
posted by Saxon Kane at 3:28 PM on May 28, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 3:28 PM on May 28, 2010 [3 favorites]
I think Salon's server is infected with something that crashes Firefox and tosses up a fullscreen ad for a green card lottery. Unless it's on Mefi's end.
posted by fleetmouse at 3:31 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by fleetmouse at 3:31 PM on May 28, 2010
So when we get the updated Camille Pagila for Lady Gaga can we just get the fun art writing and not the noxious conservatism?
posted by The Whelk at 3:32 PM on May 28, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 3:32 PM on May 28, 2010 [6 favorites]
Wake up, Saxon!
posted by longsleeves at 3:32 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by longsleeves at 3:32 PM on May 28, 2010
Oh no wait, I was just surfing with adblock deactivated. That's probably what the normal web looks like all the time now.
posted by fleetmouse at 3:32 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by fleetmouse at 3:32 PM on May 28, 2010
Sorry, let me clarify: when Lady Gaga is not a feature on the MeFi front page every fucking day. I mean, she's not my cup o' tea, and nothing against her or her fans, but Jesus, who else gets this kind of constant attention here?
posted by Saxon Kane at 3:33 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Saxon Kane at 3:33 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
Lady Gaga is a girl!
posted by From Bklyn at 3:34 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by From Bklyn at 3:34 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
good use of the GaGaOverGaGa tag.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 3:34 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 3:34 PM on May 28, 2010
who else gets this kind of constant attention here?
...hipsters? Maybe bacon.
posted by elizardbits at 3:39 PM on May 28, 2010
...hipsters? Maybe bacon.
posted by elizardbits at 3:39 PM on May 28, 2010
Age: ides of march
Gender: fluorescent
Clan: royale
Languages Spoken: face love, studded kiss (reading knowledge only), mediterranean
Astrological Sign: $$$
Alternate Astrological Sign: XXX
Talisman: disco stick
Position: go-to girl
Design: N/A
Virtue: cherry cherry boom boom
Vice: refresh button
Extra Features: trimmings and tipoffs
Sister-Self: rah-rah
Power Animal: fur-less, triple-limbed
guys guys guys - I have an idea for a new D&D module.
posted by The Whelk at 3:41 PM on May 28, 2010 [5 favorites]
I mean, she's not my cup o' tea, and nothing against her or her fans, but Jesus, who else gets this kind of constant attention here?
Ooh, I know, I know!
Hitler!
posted by filthy light thief at 3:41 PM on May 28, 2010 [5 favorites]
Ooh, I know, I know!
Hitler!
posted by filthy light thief at 3:41 PM on May 28, 2010 [5 favorites]
[derail]
Maybe one of the InfoDump magicians can conjure up a graph of popular tags over time. That would be interesting, in a meta-Meta sort of way
[/derail]
posted by filthy light thief at 3:43 PM on May 28, 2010
Maybe one of the InfoDump magicians can conjure up a graph of popular tags over time. That would be interesting, in a meta-Meta sort of way
[/derail]
posted by filthy light thief at 3:43 PM on May 28, 2010
The Whelk: "guys guys guys - I have an idea for a new D&D module."
I put on my telephone hat and cordon tape.
posted by boo_radley at 3:45 PM on May 28, 2010 [5 favorites]
I put on my telephone hat and cordon tape.
posted by boo_radley at 3:45 PM on May 28, 2010 [5 favorites]
Oh man, Gary Coleman died.
posted by boo_radley at 3:51 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by boo_radley at 3:51 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
I mean, she's not my cup o' tea, and nothing against her or her fans, but Jesus, who else gets this kind of constant attention here?
No idea what you're talking about. There isn't one previously link on this post. So this GaGa person has been on metafilter before?
posted by cjorgensen at 3:51 PM on May 28, 2010
No idea what you're talking about. There isn't one previously link on this post. So this GaGa person has been on metafilter before?
posted by cjorgensen at 3:51 PM on May 28, 2010
who else gets this kind of constant attention here?
To add context to my motivations here: I actually I agree w/SK that the LG phenomena is getting tiring, but nevertheless found this particular aspect of it somewhat noteworthy (see below on why). But first, fwiw: I'm not a fan of LG, but neither am I a hater: I don't really feel moved one way or another by the pop pabulum and commodity fetishism of her celebrity. It certainly does not bother me in that I've heard worse dance music: she just sounds like a return to the 1980s, and I don't even claim to know anything by her beyond the one or two songs that have become ubiquitous.
But I was really sort of struck by the plate-of-beans-overthink at work in this journal: the authors seem to have marshaled every PoMo cliche (I too was struck by Camille Paglia's waxing critical on Madonna) at their arsenal in order to give LG just enough pop-sociological and pseudo-theoretical credibility to carve out an emerging academic niche (note that they are planning a book to be fashioned out of the website, which I'm sure will find a publishing contract easily).
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 3:51 PM on May 28, 2010
To add context to my motivations here: I actually I agree w/SK that the LG phenomena is getting tiring, but nevertheless found this particular aspect of it somewhat noteworthy (see below on why). But first, fwiw: I'm not a fan of LG, but neither am I a hater: I don't really feel moved one way or another by the pop pabulum and commodity fetishism of her celebrity. It certainly does not bother me in that I've heard worse dance music: she just sounds like a return to the 1980s, and I don't even claim to know anything by her beyond the one or two songs that have become ubiquitous.
But I was really sort of struck by the plate-of-beans-overthink at work in this journal: the authors seem to have marshaled every PoMo cliche (I too was struck by Camille Paglia's waxing critical on Madonna) at their arsenal in order to give LG just enough pop-sociological and pseudo-theoretical credibility to carve out an emerging academic niche (note that they are planning a book to be fashioned out of the website, which I'm sure will find a publishing contract easily).
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 3:51 PM on May 28, 2010
If Lady Gaga didn't exist it would be necessary for us to invent her.
posted by The Whelk at 3:53 PM on May 28, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 3:53 PM on May 28, 2010 [6 favorites]
Saxon Kane: "Sorry, let me clarify: when Lady Gaga is not a feature on the MeFi front page every fucking day. I mean, she's not my cup o' tea, and nothing against her or her fans, but Jesus, who else gets this kind of constant attention here?"
Sarah Palin.
posted by flatluigi at 3:58 PM on May 28, 2010 [3 favorites]
Sarah Palin.
posted by flatluigi at 3:58 PM on May 28, 2010 [3 favorites]
Well, I have a theory, it could be bunnies i mean, the more a pop phenomenon is overpublicized, the quicker he/she/it/they go away......which means a post a day keeps the Gaga away????
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:15 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:15 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
Somebody create a greasemonkey gaga killfilter.
This mildly improves things. Not enough though.
posted by aerotive at 4:45 PM on May 28, 2010
This mildly improves things. Not enough though.
posted by aerotive at 4:45 PM on May 28, 2010
Heh. Funny how the people who seem most annoyed with the number of gaga posts are the same people who take the time to comment in the threads. It's kind of an "I don't own a tv" phenomenon.
posted by Lutoslawski at 5:29 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by Lutoslawski at 5:29 PM on May 28, 2010
I don't own a Lady Gaga.
posted by maxwelton at 6:01 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by maxwelton at 6:01 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
Dear Salon: this is not an "academic journal".
Dear Durbin and Vicks: this is not scholarship, and when you call it "a new technological breed of journal," it's pretty clear you don't mean that it's an "online journal" in the sense that Blogger is an "online journal."
Attempting to suggest that your blog ramblings are scholarly doesn't make them scholarship.
posted by vitia at 6:04 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
Dear Durbin and Vicks: this is not scholarship, and when you call it "a new technological breed of journal," it's pretty clear you don't mean that it's an "online journal" in the sense that Blogger is an "online journal."
Attempting to suggest that your blog ramblings are scholarly doesn't make them scholarship.
posted by vitia at 6:04 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
also why do I do this to myself?
Because it's AMAZING~! Duh!
posted by cavalier at 6:59 PM on May 28, 2010
Because it's AMAZING~! Duh!
posted by cavalier at 6:59 PM on May 28, 2010
What I really enjoy about Lady Gaga is playing some of her lesser known songs and seeing people who hate her really enjoy them.
posted by boo_radley at 7:01 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by boo_radley at 7:01 PM on May 28, 2010
She fills the Ace of Base/ABBA void, with a twist of No Doubt on top.
posted by Decimask at 7:19 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by Decimask at 7:19 PM on May 28, 2010
With the fashion stylings of Cherbjorkdonna.
posted by Decimask at 7:28 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Decimask at 7:28 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
> PS this kid just got signed to a record label.
Dumbest record exec ever, or one who intends to burn through that kid in months. He's twelve, and testosterone will be knocking shortly.
posted by Decimask at 7:49 PM on May 28, 2010
Dumbest record exec ever, or one who intends to burn through that kid in months. He's twelve, and testosterone will be knocking shortly.
posted by Decimask at 7:49 PM on May 28, 2010
Someone wake me up when Lady Gaga is yesterday's news.
doctor, how can i make it stop hurting when i jam this fork in my eye?
click on by, dude. this site isn't a ludovico machine.
posted by fallacy of the beard at 8:39 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
doctor, how can i make it stop hurting when i jam this fork in my eye?
click on by, dude. this site isn't a ludovico machine.
posted by fallacy of the beard at 8:39 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
who else gets this kind of constant attention here?"
Sarah Palin.
posted by flatluigi
How soon we forget! (Although to be fair, the first five are Micheal Palin.) As much as I love Gaga and all the MeFi chatter about her, she's never going to launch a 5,555 comment ulcer-inducing monstrosity like Moosey McTeabag.
posted by biddeford at 9:03 PM on May 28, 2010
Sarah Palin.
posted by flatluigi
How soon we forget! (Although to be fair, the first five are Micheal Palin.) As much as I love Gaga and all the MeFi chatter about her, she's never going to launch a 5,555 comment ulcer-inducing monstrosity like Moosey McTeabag.
posted by biddeford at 9:03 PM on May 28, 2010
I would love to see a plugin like Shaved Bieber but for Lady Gaga instead.
posted by empatterson at 9:20 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by empatterson at 9:20 PM on May 28, 2010
She writes it, she performs it, and she personally stages it with theatrical flair. The problem is the lack of peers.
She was quoted as saying, "In my own mind, I've always been famous." Madonna once said pretty much the same thing. Makes me feel a little sorry for all those people that must have been famous in their own minds ... only.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:27 PM on May 28, 2010
She was quoted as saying, "In my own mind, I've always been famous." Madonna once said pretty much the same thing. Makes me feel a little sorry for all those people that must have been famous in their own minds ... only.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:27 PM on May 28, 2010
What the hey? It's been hours since the last GaGa post. Hours and hours and hours!
posted by telstar at 11:06 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by telstar at 11:06 PM on May 28, 2010 [1 favorite]
hugbucket or no, I am *this* close to never coming back from behind the great firewall... ;p
posted by infini at 11:08 PM on May 28, 2010
posted by infini at 11:08 PM on May 28, 2010
Could have been worse; I could have posted about this: Lindsay Lohan wants a Chanel alcohol tag
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 12:07 AM on May 29, 2010
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 12:07 AM on May 29, 2010
PS this kid just got signed to a record label.
Okay, now I'm confused. I thought that kid was Lady Gaga. I gotta stop huffing gas and hanging out with hipsters.
posted by philip-random at 12:41 AM on May 29, 2010
Okay, now I'm confused. I thought that kid was Lady Gaga. I gotta stop huffing gas and hanging out with hipsters.
posted by philip-random at 12:41 AM on May 29, 2010
Why don't we just make a fucking gaga.metafilter.com subsite not read the things we aren't interested in, and stop bitching about the things other people are interested in and be done with it?
FTFY. HTH.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 1:11 AM on May 29, 2010 [4 favorites]
FTFY. HTH.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 1:11 AM on May 29, 2010 [4 favorites]
Yeah, a lot of this stuff is bean-plating, and it sure isn't a real scholarly journal, but I enjoyed reading it. The sense I got was of people with new intellectual tools applying them to different things to see what worked and what didn't. This is an important step in learning.
Lady Gaga is complex enough that it doesn't work too badly. Yeah, I'm a fan, but a bit part of the reason I'm a fan is how she plays with visuals. Although I just can't resist lyrics like, "He ate my heart and then he ate my brain." Oh, yeah. When the lust kicks in, my brain totally shuts off.
posted by QIbHom at 7:06 AM on May 29, 2010
Lady Gaga is complex enough that it doesn't work too badly. Yeah, I'm a fan, but a bit part of the reason I'm a fan is how she plays with visuals. Although I just can't resist lyrics like, "He ate my heart and then he ate my brain." Oh, yeah. When the lust kicks in, my brain totally shuts off.
posted by QIbHom at 7:06 AM on May 29, 2010
bonefish: "The realer Lady Gaga ."
What am I supposed to be seeing here, besides the funny costume? I don't see any of Gaga's over-the-top theatricality. (I'd mostly expected this to be a link to a Queen video.)
posted by roll truck roll at 7:39 AM on May 29, 2010
What am I supposed to be seeing here, besides the funny costume? I don't see any of Gaga's over-the-top theatricality. (I'd mostly expected this to be a link to a Queen video.)
posted by roll truck roll at 7:39 AM on May 29, 2010
trying to watch that in camera live interview is infuriating. i can't tell if it is some kind of distraction device to get lady gaga to let down her guard when answering questions, but the interviewer's constant typing during the interview is incredibly annoying. frankly, it comes across as if the interviewer were simply showing off. if the interviewer needs to read submitted questions, he could do it without also transcribing the answers himself. not only that, but the transcribed answers are paraphrased, so it's not really a transcript.
but worst, you can tell how distracting it is for lady gaga. it completely ruins the flow of conversation and train of thought. it's like trying to interview her next to a crying baby.
it's a shame, because the content of the interview looks like it would be really interesting. but damn, two hours with lady gaga and you fuck her over this badly. what a wanker.
posted by fallacy of the beard at 3:10 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
but worst, you can tell how distracting it is for lady gaga. it completely ruins the flow of conversation and train of thought. it's like trying to interview her next to a crying baby.
it's a shame, because the content of the interview looks like it would be really interesting. but damn, two hours with lady gaga and you fuck her over this badly. what a wanker.
posted by fallacy of the beard at 3:10 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
"We only have two hours."
"Only two hours. Poor you."
"I'm good, how are you?"
posted by roll truck roll at 5:02 PM on May 30, 2010
"Only two hours. Poor you."
"I'm good, how are you?"
posted by roll truck roll at 5:02 PM on May 30, 2010
Why don't we just not read the things we aren't interested in, and stop bitching about the things other people are interested in and be done with it?
OK, in the past I've disagreed with so so much of what dnab says, but seriously: this times a gagaplex.
posted by kittyprecious at 10:35 PM on May 30, 2010
OK, in the past I've disagreed with so so much of what dnab says, but seriously: this times a gagaplex.
posted by kittyprecious at 10:35 PM on May 30, 2010
Just Try Not to Watch These Babies Impersonating Lady Gaga
posted by zarq at 10:10 AM on June 7, 2010
posted by zarq at 10:10 AM on June 7, 2010
The reptilian part of my brain wants to post this to the FP. But I know that Jessamyn will turn on the shock collar if I do.
Anyway, Lady Gaga's Alejandro music video's out. The easiest joke to make about it is that it's a parody of conservatives' nightmares of DADT being repealed.
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:36 PM on June 8, 2010
Anyway, Lady Gaga's Alejandro music video's out. The easiest joke to make about it is that it's a parody of conservatives' nightmares of DADT being repealed.
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:36 PM on June 8, 2010
Oh man that video, like she's been reading my crypto-fascist dream journal.
posted by The Whelk at 9:54 AM on June 9, 2010
posted by The Whelk at 9:54 AM on June 9, 2010
I was incredibly disappointed with the video for Alejandro. It was like Haus of Gaga took the videos for JustifyMy Love and Like A Prayer, mixed with the Blonde Ambition tour (seriously, come on, her outfits? the suits? the cone--I mean machine gun--bra?), sprinkled with a dash of HR Giger and set the blender to frappe.
Honestly, after the sheer visual feasts that were Bad Romance and Telephone, Alejandro was just boring. We've seen it before. Madonna did it twenty years ago, there is nothing new in that video at all.
Here's hoping she finally makes a fucking video for Teeth--which should have been right after Telephone, IMHO, and could have continued the story very well--and it's actually good.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 4:34 PM on June 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
Honestly, after the sheer visual feasts that were Bad Romance and Telephone, Alejandro was just boring. We've seen it before. Madonna did it twenty years ago, there is nothing new in that video at all.
Here's hoping she finally makes a fucking video for Teeth--which should have been right after Telephone, IMHO, and could have continued the story very well--and it's actually good.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 4:34 PM on June 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yeah that video was awful. I suffered the extended intro thinking, okay, reminds me of Madonna by way of Michael Jackson pretense, but give it a chance, maybe the song itself will slap me around a bit. But no. Not even remotely special. I want my eight minutes back.
posted by philip-random at 6:23 PM on June 9, 2010
posted by philip-random at 6:23 PM on June 9, 2010
Yeah, Alejandro is kind of a low point on that album. (Well, the chorus is a bit fun, Alejandro Ale-Ale-Ale-jandro). Eh Eh is worse though, but the video is really fun, with these incredibly luscious colours--a great 50's pastiche.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 6:48 PM on June 9, 2010
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 6:48 PM on June 9, 2010
Alejandro is a weak song, but the video seems more like Gaga watched The Night Porter and old Madonna videos or something in whatever soap-bubble disco ball she lives in that is showing her a thousand things at once on a billion glittering screens.
posted by The Whelk at 7:01 PM on June 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 7:01 PM on June 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
I want to live in that place.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 7:28 PM on June 9, 2010
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 7:28 PM on June 9, 2010
With all the Gaga love on the Blue, has MeFi really not yet seen Greyson Chance's Paparazzi? Didn't come up on search, so there you go. Kid's got mad skills on the ivories AND chops.
Not that anyone's still checking this thread, but I ain't gonna be the one to post another Gaga FPP.
posted by yiftach at 3:48 PM on June 24, 2010
Not that anyone's still checking this thread, but I ain't gonna be the one to post another Gaga FPP.
posted by yiftach at 3:48 PM on June 24, 2010
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posted by mccarty.tim at 3:09 PM on May 28, 2010 [2 favorites]