ThreeWay: The Prof is Gaga for the Lady… At Last!
Wherein Prof C (Women’s Studies/Literature) and Prof Watson (Gagadolatry) offer their analysis and critique of the lesbian themes in Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video/short film extraordinaire.
Prof C: Try not to gloat too much, Julia; but yes, Lady Gaga caught my attention with this awesome “Telephone” video.
Julia: AHAHAHAHAHA. I will try SO SO hard not to gloat. And be on my best behavior for this chat. Cross my Gaga-obsessed heart.
Prof C: Diana texted me at 3 a.m. the night it was released telling me to watch it "immediately."
Julia: Bless her.
Prof C: I think the lesbian alarm sounded.
Julia: Cage emailed me the next morning to ask if I'd seen it, and had I not been so ecstatic to hear her call the video, and I quote, "awesome," I would have been offended. Um. Hello. Of COURSE I watched it when it premiered, to a house full of guests and my girlfriend who made fun of me for insisting on watching it right that second with the rest of the world. But that’s the fun of it. It was an event. I had been looking forward to that moment all week.
Prof C: Yeah, well you've been touting Lady Gaga like the second coming of Lesbos for some time now.
Julia: Um. Yeah. Because she IS! And not just of lesbos. But of thoughtful, heartfelt, good silly fun, subversive pop culture at its shiny best.
In the name of the Mother, the Daughter, and the Holy Sheer Fit.
Prof C: But I just kept seeing recycled Bowie etc etc, her occupying the androgyne, queerish space that's always been there.
Julia: I hear that. But she's so terribly sincere in her desire to make that space and that energy accessible and available to everyone, including people who have been afraid to embrace it for fear of being labeled too freakish or too queer.
Prof C: That "prison for bitches" bit at the beginning is awesome btw.
Julia: Prison for bitches is now my favorite phrase of all time. As well as my hope for what heaven will look like when I die.
Prof C: I know!!!!
Julia: Haha.
Prof C: She totally reclaims all the horrible women in prison clichés which deserves much gratitude.
Julia: Totes. Even the presumed-to-be-horrid prison
Comments [14]
I know my baby loves when I'm
I know my baby loves when I'm an annoying, obnoxious know it all so I figured I should point out the references to Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers
www.dianacage.com
@dianacage
oh god who wound you up?
where? you know i don't watch his movies!
I'm so hot for GaGa. The
I'm so hot for GaGa. The video is a mixed bag for me, but I love it more than I hate it. The prison dancing is the hottest thing I've seen in a long time. Rawr!
www.carollani.com/wordpress
@carollani
www.gaynation.posterous.com
Who knew Gaga could be so
Who knew Gaga could be so darn educational?? Thank you, Professors!!
No kidding. This blog made me
No kidding. This blog made me miss grad school and my rhetorical criticism classes. If I was still in grad school I'd do a Jungian criticism of the video. And the title would have at least one colon.
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
Zee Bedroom
I'm all about colors and the color and americana of Beyonce's bedroom section of the video had me nearly acid tripping on Little Edie Beals and her patriotic prance in the foyée of Grey Gardens...
I know it's just my brain (working in mysteriously weird ways) but it made me want to go back and visit the Gardens.
Visit the FREE Lesbian Coloring pages at ~ illustrocity.blogspot.com
i was thinking
very david la chapelle
tweet tweet @gracemoon
Yeah, now
that I googled him and peeped his stuff - for sure "Fellini of photography" or a recreation of his style.
Visit the FREE Lesbian Coloring pages at ~ illustrocity.blogspot.com
Not exactly lesbian when it
Not exactly lesbian when it comes from a pathologically homophobic man.
dirt
Can you clarify?
Who is the "pathologically homophobic man"?
Become a fan of "Sodomy: The Musical" on Facebook!
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Ciggy glasses
Ohhhhh, I just realized those glasses were made up of cigarettes! I must need new specs.
Civility is not a sign of weakness.
Minnie, everytime I watch the
Minnie, everytime I watch the video I pick up on something else I missed last time around.
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
I'm surprised
you guys didn't mention all the very self-conscious product placement (v. mobile, diet coke, miracle whip)
how do you think that is working in this all-over-the-place piece? do you think that its poking fun at the very campy styles they are paying homage to?
(not that there was product placement in reform school girls - but it seems like tv these days exploits art in the name of consumerism)
I think the community pretty
I think the community pretty well-covered the product placement angle in the comments on the the original blog where we posted the Telephone vid on Vp. So for me, this chat was a continuation of the conversation that got started there. Plus, we just really wanted to tackle the lesbo content, since some of the great blogs about the vid in other web locales had great breakdowns of the fashion, consumerism, and other angles, but sometimes didn't even try to tackle the queer overtones.
To address your question, though, I'd argue that in this project, Gaga is exploiting consumerism in the name of art at least as much, if not significantly more than the other way around. I think Gaga and co. are absolutely poking fun the brands and stories they're appropriating (even at themselves) at the same time that they're paying homage to American culture, pop culture, and all of these foundational texts.