I’ve said it here a few times before-I’d like Lady GaGa a lot more if not for her “image”. The woman is talented-powerful voice, she writes a mean song, and is quite musically talented. Of course, despite the fact that she possesses those talents, there’s no guarantee that she’d have gotten anywhere. Hell, I can make a list of 100 female singers who sing well, write good songs and are musically proficient, yet sell 10% of what Britney Spears (who can’t so any of those three things) sells. So, yeah, I get it, the talent gets you there and then the imaging puts you over the top.
“Born This Way”, as much as a Madonna rip-off as it is, is still a pretty good song. The video? Well, it’s long and self-important in the way that many of Michael Jackson’s later short films were (“Black or White”, anyone?), although it’s way more off-putting and bizarre than anything the King of Pop ever brought forth. The choreography definitely owes a debt to MJ and Madonna, but I’m personally still bugging out at the parts of the “Born This Way” clip that remind me of the scenes featuring Lena Horne as Glenda the Good Witch in the camp classic “The Wiz”.
Anyway, it’s a spectacle, as should be expected from anything GaGa related. It’s interesting to watch, but doesn’t make me like her any more or any less, and I’m also starting to feel like all the pro-gay stuff is just her pandering to her audience. I also find myself thinking “wow, she is rather homely. No wonder she needs all the craziness.” Whatever. As I keep trying to tell myself: it’s the music, dummy. So why am I posting her video on my blog? Hell, who knows?