I don't like Lady Gaga. | Teen Ink

I don't like Lady Gaga.

April 2, 2010
By betterhappyending BRONZE, San Ysidro, California
betterhappyending BRONZE, San Ysidro, California
2 articles 0 photos 11 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin." - Leonard Cohen


Blasphemy alert. I’m a sixteen year old American girl and I don’t like Lady Gaga. And no, it’s not because I don’t like her music, her costumes, or her performances. I just don’t like being manipulated.

Actually, I lied. It’s partly her music, costumes, and performances. But not so much because they’re hideous or outrageous or tiresome. But looking back at those pictures of her as a “normal” girl and seeing what and who she is now, it’s almost insulting. The fact that this girl had to change into something almost non-human to finally get noticed is unsettling, at best. She’s instead this cold, faceless force. No one noticed her when she was trying to “make it”. But then the fame machine (monster, she calls it?) seemed to eat her up and spit out an entirely new person, repackaged and revamped to “shock” us all.

And in the end, it really isn’t even that shocking. It’s almost a little pathetic (and you’ll see what I mean by insulting) when it seems that the state of the nation’s youth has degenerated so much that we need a woman in a mask and sparkling breasts to tell us that we’re all okay. Okay to be different, okay to be loved, the whole package. Because then we really aren’t, are we?

She's been quoted as saying, “I would rather die than have my fans not see me in a pair of high heels. I'd never give up my wigs and hats for anything.” I'm afraid that this mentality about possessions and image, to her millions of female fans, is dangerous. She speaks almost as if these material things are as vital to life as water is. This is the same woman who says that “I'm always saying something about art and music and fame. That's why you don't ever catch me in sweatpants.” She claims that her style and her persona is for art, and yet, it begs the question if she ever does anything for herself. She makes herself a martyr for the love of her fans. And if she is as passionate as she says she is about new frontiers in art, why are the vast majority of her lyrics about sex and money?



I'm not asking her to be anything different, not exactly. Give me a David Bowie reincarnate, an rebel in the music industry. But give me a little more complexity, a little more beauty, a little more thought than just what's on the outside. Give me another facet than just the freaky hair and makeup and clothing, because if that’s all there is, her opinion about simply being yourself is lost somewhere in the jumble of cosmetics and oversized sunglasses. But most of all, give me a break.



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This article has 471 comments.


taco5 SILVER said...
on Dec. 11 2010 at 4:01 pm
taco5 SILVER, Palo Alto, California
5 articles 3 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all," -Helen Keller

I think it depends on how you look at her; you could see her as an artist breaking new ground, like Madonna or somebody, or just another hideous product of corporate pop. I think you see what you want to see.

on Dec. 11 2010 at 9:54 am
writergirl13 GOLD, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
11 articles 8 photos 261 comments

Favorite Quote:
All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.
Ambrose Bierce

I agree completely. I can't say I hate her; rather, I pity her. Maybe she started out with some talent before this revolting transformation happened to which, I think it is safe to say, she lost herself. She must have had some kind of talent and good traits because she got signed and was put on the a big stage. So she got her dream of celebrity, fame, and recognition. But I think she sacrificed herself for it without even really, consciously recognizing that. Her ridiculous outfits and revolting shows are actually most likely due to the lack of good advice and encouragement from the people that should have supported her from the very beginning and made her believe that she could be recognized and loved by fans without the negative icons of her persona. She could have used a great voice to write more meaningful songs and remain herself, uncorrupted by the makeup, high heels, and inappropriate outfits. There may not be anyway out of this for her unless she is willing to walk away from her current life and start over fresh, which would take an unbelievable amount of effort. I'm just afraid that this image of sickeningly fake and flashy celebrity will break the self-respect of her audience, whom I expect every day now to dress in short, skimpy, plastic "dresses", wear big fat white high heels and over-sized strangely shaped sunglasses, reveal as much of their skin as possible, and strut down the sidewalk in a big congregation of "Lady Gaga-ism".

. said...
on Dec. 7 2010 at 6:44 pm
I know what you mean, but I still like her.

on Dec. 7 2010 at 5:30 pm
There_Is_No_Forever SILVER, Marshville, North Carolina
6 articles 2 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Love what you have while you have it."

M'kay I agree, Lady Gaga is NOT a good role model for kids or even young teens. But I feel like she is just having fun and the art she's talking about is her outragous outfits. Personally, I find them out there and a part of why she's as well known as she is.

Anyway, great article! It's well written and has great points.


Vorpalrabbit said...
on Nov. 27 2010 at 1:44 am
And yet, if she knows this and doesn't do anything about it, she's just another cog in the machine - force feeding her 'individuality' to teens with disposable income who are just coming to have a sense of how the world works.

on Nov. 24 2010 at 9:26 pm
StarlightStormcloud, Pasadena, California
0 articles 3 photos 34 comments
You sound like a smart gal so I find it hard to believe that you don't even realize the irony GaGa inserted in the creation of her persona.  "The Fame Monster"?  "Paparazzi" which literally shows her crippled from the environment that fame and the media present?  You may think that GaGa's shock factor is just a manifestation of her management, but in reality every piece of symbolism she uses is deliberate.  It's true that she's totally trashy, a bad role model, and a victim of the entertainment business... but don't think for a minute that she doesn't realize it. 

on Nov. 24 2010 at 6:54 pm
AmandaPanda123 SILVER, Brookville, Pennsylvania
9 articles 0 photos 64 comments

Favorite Quote:
Memories are forever.

Same here. I wish that younger girls had better role models. :(

on Nov. 22 2010 at 8:57 am
misstywaterfall SILVER, N/a, Massachusetts
5 articles 1 photo 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
"if you dont understand my silence how will you understand my words"

omg so true i totally agree with everything you say ")

taco said...
on Nov. 21 2010 at 10:57 am
I agree she is a TERRIBLE role model!  

on Nov. 21 2010 at 12:14 am
I love to listen to Gaga's "Telephone" and her other songs but I don't look up to her. *cough* Bad rolemodel *cough*

bootsonit said...
on Nov. 20 2010 at 12:42 pm
I completely agree with you,Hun. I've meet A lot of girls around twelve talk about how lady gaga is their rolemodels and how much they look up to her.

Kund said...
on Nov. 19 2010 at 11:28 pm
Your essay is too subjective. What defines "normal", we have grown up in a society wher one is shunned if they are not exactly like the molded robotic beings that humans have become. But then a ray of sushine that is Gaga comes and tell these robots who are not feeling in place, they know something is wrong, that they can break free from the premade plaster molds from which they are cast and have the ablity to fashion themselves however they wish. She is not trying to be a role model for a 6 year old girl or boy, she is role model for teens and young adults who are feeling lonely, and sensualty is just another part of being a teen. You cannolt hide from sensuality and u cannot be obssed with it, and Gaga provides them with a happy medium. in short Gaga has stopped 1984.

on Nov. 19 2010 at 8:46 pm
Alexandrathepoet PLATINUM, Leesville, South Carolina
35 articles 0 photos 119 comments

Favorite Quote:
If nothing else, believe in art.
~Unknown

One word: Brilliant, though I never "looked up" to her as an individual, you have shed another light on GaGa......

jkjk123 said...
on Nov. 19 2010 at 4:58 pm
sorry typo i meant neither

jkjk123 said...
on Nov. 19 2010 at 4:56 pm

shes an individual because nobody is like her, not because thats it

her song speechless was incredible its a breakup song saying that if her bf is going to ignore her and not talk then heither will she!!!!

 

she cares about her appearance because when she went to high school she was hated for being creative! that brought out the best in her and she is a multi millionaire! shes creative pretty and just plain awesome


on Nov. 19 2010 at 4:47 pm
okay i like lady gaga's songs like speechless thats pratically the only one. But i think she is a bad influence on teenagers and little kids hearing bad stuff on the radio and then repeating i think thats wrong.

TIMAs said...
on Nov. 19 2010 at 1:08 am
TIMAs, Bierut, Other
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
LOVE yourself before you LOVE anybody!

u're definitely right......I agree with u !

MMAGirl said...
on Nov. 17 2010 at 4:06 pm
Haha! That made me laugh so hard! I completely agree with you! p.s I wish I were allergic to onions :/

rachelsmith said...
on Nov. 17 2010 at 4:05 pm
Hey, schlage, check out the article "Does Hollywood Have a Double Standard?" it's kinda about what you're talking about. I believe it's in this section...or else the movies/music section

schlage GOLD said...
on Nov. 11 2010 at 3:33 pm
schlage GOLD, Erie, Pennsylvania
10 articles 0 photos 37 comments
sorry typo meant to say should