Lady GaGa

I can't say I'm a rabid Lady GaGa fan, I'm not going to any concerts any time soon but I do love her quite a bit. A lot of people don't and clog up comment threads with their complaints, claiming to 'not get it' or wondering out loud why anyone else on earth can possibly like her in that smug way people do when they believe they have good taste. You don't like Lady GaGa - we get that, we really do, we hear you saying it all the time & if that's all you have to say then sod off 'cos it's the musical equivalent of disliking football but then seeking out discussions about football for the sole purpose of complaining about why people pay to watch this shit/it's just men kicking a ball around...blah blah blah

Chances are the Lady GaGa haters don't actually like pop music all together but wander into these discussions in some sort of confused state, baffled as to why everyone else seems to like her including people they respect, 'if that person I respect like her' they think 'then I must to, right?' But then they don't and can't understand why and lash out in the manner of a confused cat getting a flea bath.

Lady GaGa is easy to get & easier to like but you don't have to, it's perfectly acceptable to just not be a fan, you don't have to like her & you don't have to understand why other people do. If you like pop music, and by pop I mean cheesy throwaway pop that is anywhere & everywhere one minute then nowhere the next then you probably like Lady GaGa. If you have an ipod filled with songs you don't really like, by artists you absolutely can't stand but dammit that song they did that one time was so catchy that you secretly love it although you hope no-one ever gets a hold of your ipod & finds out you have it on there then you probably like Lady GaGa. If you like pop music videos, those trashy, crappy, bright & sparkly images that litter your screen with their vapid personality free icons & their meaningless imagery then you probably like Lady GaGa.

If you dislike all of the above then there's a pretty obvious conclusion you will reach, right? If you're not saying 'I don't like Lady GaGa' then I clearly don't get you. I might add, also acceptable to like all the above & still not like her personal taste being what it is and all, I'm just saying the above kinda makes a person more inclined to like her.....

The criticisms;

'She has no talent' - Well yeah she does actually, singing, playing actual, genuine musical instruments, writing/producing songs for herself & others, plus there's her image, stage show & music videos....which leads to...

'If you strip away the image you're left with nothing' - Which is almost true, you're left with a woman who seems to have interests & opinions beyond reality tv style fame & a mind of her own creating pretty decent pop music, pop music that you either like or dis-like.

'She's nothing without the image/her music means nothing' - Again, is pop music, you like it or dislike it, image is something that goes with it, not a new concept. Every artist has an image, as with the music you can like or dislike it, some people like theatrical costumes & extravagant stage shows - I should add those to the list of 'probably likes Lady GaGa' .....

'She's not a feminist' - This is usually in response to the many self identifying feminist fans that love her, well Missy Elliott has never claimed to be a feminist either but I like her too, I like her music which is also pretty decent pop music created by herself that is brought to us with an image & over stylised music videos.

'She's sexualised/sexist' - This confuses me a bit, sure she wanders around with hardly any clothes on at times, she's skinny & white so she's sexist or perpetuating sexism right? I'm not sure, yeah I get the male gaze but I've not yet come across many men who drool over her almost naked self, most seem genuinely confused by her existence, she's indulging in a bit of what's considered male approved sexual imagery but it's not titillating them, why it's almost as if she's revelling in her own sexuality so really isn't that subverting the sexualisation of women in pop music? I don't know, I really can't answer that one but I do think dismissing her on the basis of clothing is like dismissing The Beauty Myth because Naomi Wolf wears make up.

'She's not original/David Bowie did it all already & better' - Nope, maybe she isn't but her not at all original self isn't exactly being replicated & saturating the market in a way that makes her genuinely unoriginal self completely uninteresting to all & sundry who see her as yet another version of the same thing therefore not worthy of discussion. She's taken the average pop star persona made it interesting. Also David Bowie references = Awesome.

I'm not claiming she's the perfect pop star but she's definitely far more interesting than most of the current female pop stars, genuinely seems to have control over her career, has a mind of her own & the guts to use it whilst at the same time being one of the most famous artists around right now.

*I'm using the comments section as a link dump for interesting Gaga related blog posts*