Lady Gaga's Mess Up

I don't usually post about pop culture, however this time, I felt it was necessary. Here is some background:

Lady Gaga is one of the biggest singers in the world. Known worldwide, she is famous for her extravagant performances and odd style. Her latest single "Born this Way" which debuted some week ago at the Grammy's is already the best selling song in iTunes history and is expected to break many more records.

As most of my friends already know, I'm a huge fan of her latest song "Born this way." I like it because of its positive social message and I'm glad that these kinds of songs get famous because, more often then not, they don't. No one will disagree with me that most music today is saturated with images of sex, violence, and materialistic wants; today's music is far different than yesterdays. So when I hear a song like this, I can't help but be a fan. 

Although it can be understood for anyone's acceptance the song is mainly targeted toward the LGBT community to breed acceptance in a society that still doesn't. I've taken some of the lyrics that I feel show this the most: 

"There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are"
She said, "'Cause He made you perfect, babe"
"So hold your head up, girl and you you'll go far,
Listen to me when I say"

I'm beautiful in my way,
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Don't hide yourself in regret,
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

 Up until now we can see that this is to help people be more comfortable with themselves and who they are. It isn't a song about having sex, or  having the perfect body. It talks about accepting and loving yourself. She goes on to sing about how in "the religion of the insecure, I must be myself, respect my youth." This clearly targeted toward teenagers and their insecurity as well as the insecurity of those who hate non-hetero males or females. The most direct part of the song comes in here:

Don't be a drag, just be a queen
Whether you're broke or evergreen
You're black, white, beige, chola descent
You're Lebanese, you're orient
Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'Cause baby, you were born this way

No matter gay, straight or bi
lesbian, transgendered life
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to survive

 It is pretty apparent that it is directed toward outcast, bullied or teased gay, straight, bi, lesbian or transgendered human beings. The message: Stay strong and love yourself because you are "on the right track."

It is no secret that Lady Gaga is a strong supporter of the gay rights movement (as am I) so it would only be expected that she would make a song like this. So why is this significant? Because it isn't only being heard in the U.S., "Born this Way" is a number 1 single in 21 out of the 25 countries it was first released in. In a single day it racked up more than 3 million Youtube videos from people all over the world, even in countries where homosexuality is punished by death.

You see, there are thousands of songs with positive social messages, but only a few make it this big. We must appreciate the message because it inspires millions of people around the world and replaces over-sexed lyrics of most songs with words of tolerance and acceptance, even if the person signing it doesn't realize what they are doing. 

With all this praise, you must be thinking.. Where is the "Mess up?" If you haven't already seen it, the mess up is in the newly released "Born this Way" video. Here it is, but I should warn that those with weak stomachs should avoid watching: 

The video is pure Lady Gaga, however I strongly think that she should have taken it another way. This was the PERFECT opportunity to communicate her message to the audience visually. We already had the message sent through the lyrics of her song, however, seeing a video properly display that message would have gone a long way. What I was looking for was a video along the lines of other great songs (with positive messages) like Fireworks by Katy Perry:

or an older and even more powerful song by Christina Aguilera called Beautiful:

I would recommend watching both videos and listening to their message. 

I know that I shouldn't expect someone as creative or odd as Lady Gaga to make such traditional videos, however, I feel like they should have went along the same lines, just with a little "Gaga taste" put into them. Showing images of gay couples, transgendered males or females goes a long way in breeding acceptance because a newer generation sees the images in front of them and gets used to it. Ignorance is the biggest enemy of any movements and a video can help change that. 

Instead of this, we have Lady Gaga telling the story of "Mother Monster" (which is herself). Lady Gaga fans identify as "Little Monsters" (hence her name as Mother Monster). We see a video of a woman who creates a race that is all accepting and non judgmental, when the message should be about changing the HUMAN race to breed acceptance. I just think that the video could have been a great opportunity, but now, an opportunity lost. I don't want to see a picture of her giving birth to heads, or to her pulling out a gun out of her vagina (obviously all fake). I prefer her Grammy performance which is a much better representation of the song:

 In it, she comes out of an egg (born this way). Gaga and her egg-yolk designed dancers  send the message home when they (eventually) take off their clothes (wearing skin colored clothing) to emphasize the people should be comfortable in their own skin. THAT is the message people need to hear.

I want to see positive reinforcement of the changing faces of families (gay couples, single moms...etc) to finally get rid of the stigmatizing idea of the "nuclear family." There is nothing wrong with being gay and nothing wrong with who you are. But there is clearly something wrong with Lady Gaga if she would throw away such an opportunity. I'll be waiting to see her first interview about the video.

You can get all these page updates by "Liking" the Facebook blog page! here : http://on.fb.me/hWYYmi. Please Share on your network, email, comment or subscribe!