Gaga and her fans rn

[Helxig 40,823]

The fans used to love her, support her, send her loving messages on social media and keep her strong, want to talk to her if they met her in person, they were friends. Then something changed (whether it be people holding her to too high of a standard, society as a whole changing because of multiple influences, they way people use social media drastically changing and becoming much more negative) and now all you see is 'fans' sending her messages demanding that she does what they want, her fan sites (which she used to frequent but now doesn't) are now full of hate and negativity for her, when fans meets her they don't want to talk to her they just want to take photos of her and use her image for 'likes' on social media, these days they actually treat her worse than paparazzi do. 
A lot has changed over the past few years, the whole dynamic of how the world and her fans exist in relation to her is different, so I don't really think it's specifically one thing that changed within her or happened to her. I think it's more like a combination of factors thatis too much to really break down here.

[Kayla 7,595]

20 hours ago, giskardsb said:

it would actually be kind-of a hilariously awesome subversive artistic statement if the entire Artrave production was a giant FU to an  overly-needy fanbase and their constant expectations on her.

Plus add in the whole gazing ball thing... looking at her, looking at the environment and themselves also.  Is she just a reflection of everything else?  Or is it more that she includes everything else? 

Also related to this, think about the album cover and statue- it's like she's giving birth to it; she's giving birth to art, but all we can see is ourselves. We try to find our own reflection in the things she's creating. 

[doja scat 14,646]

22 hours ago, Didymus said:

Ever since the BTWB ended I've been feeling like Gaga was sending mixed messages to her fanbase..

This is no criticism or final answer, but I gathered my thoughts about it below:

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Who can forget this time? The BTWB was suddenly cancelled and fans' supportiveness quickly changed into frustration. Gaga entered a pretty much constant social media silence for a few months, after a heavy fan dialogue during the BTW era.

When ARTPOP started things seemed back on track, though the era made some, imo, ambiguous references to the fans. For instance:

Pretty much certainly a reference to The Little Mermaid:

Now this can be interpreted in multiple ways, of course, but it stays weird to make a reference to a character who steals a girl's voice; specifically, a mermaid. Gaga of course wore seashell boob coverage, which can't be anything but a reference to Ariel, who wore her iconic sea shell bra. Sea shells on boobs is not a motif in any Venus/Aphrodite image ever made, so the question remains: was Gaga really paying homage to only Venus/Aphrodite or Ariel? After all, Ariel also came out of the sea.. naked, on legs.

This seems to be an eerie reference to her being able to walk/dance again after her depressing wheelchair era.

Now this get really eerie when we remind ourselves of this performance:

A mermaid in mourning on a wheelchair. I don't wanna go all conspiracy theory on your asses, but you have to admit.. that's a weird freakin' coincidence. If I go on in a personal theory: what was The Little Mermaid really about? It was about someone who doesn't feel at home in their natural habitat. Ariel longed for another world, but couldn't live there, unless she made a drastic change. Could this be what Gaga is trying to say when she shows herself as a mermaid in a wheelchair? A being supposed to be free to swim everywhere, but with no water?

Wasn't that, after all, the theme of the Yoü and I mermaid scenes?

Taylor Kinney, in the role of Lüc Carl, conducts all sorts of experiments on Gaga, including her transformation into a mermaid.

Tellingly, her long dark brown hair disappears during this transformation, to give rise to the exact same hairdo in the wheelchair performance: a typically Gaga-esque teal (while the long black was more Stefani-like of course). Note how we see a kind of flesh-colored shell-like boob coverage.

The point, however, is that Gaga has no real purpose there. The bit of water she has is a tank and a bathtub Taylor has to keep filling. In the Yüyi fashion films with I&V (note: same photographers who made Applause), we see her mermaid character in another very unnatural position: a director's chair.

In another photo shoot, we see her apparently (how I see it) having crawled out of a defiled ocean.

And again in the same position (also shot by I&V btw):

The implication seems clear: this mermaid has nowhere to go, has no room to breathe, is out of her natural habitat, her freedom stolen from her, but she still has to run the show. Perhaps she still wants to run the show. Indeed, at the end of Yoü and I she runs back to her torturer, dreaming of a marriage, half-human, half-robot. Remember what she told Billboard magazine: "When did you become the fashionable robot?" about her 2012-3 period.

So after all this (incl. a mysterious "some of you will betray me" comment at the BTWB, seemingly foreshadowing the ARTPOP era), Gaga has returned, has her legs back, comes out of the sea as a new woman. But does she still have her voice? Has it been taken from her? And there we re-enter Little Mermaid zone. Gaga also seemed to identify with Ariel on Twitter after her little moment with Azealia, posting this:

Clearly then there's a Little Mermaid undercurrent between era's that deserves to be noticed.

How does Gaga appear at artRAVE? Oh yes. As Ursula..

This reference is undeniable, since she is wearing the exact same hair as Ursula (also an octopus obviously): short and white. What does this mean? Remember the song she's singing: Paparazzi. Written from the standpoint of a.. fan. And what does she do next?

She sits in a monster claw.. or is caught in it? What song is she singing again? Do What U Want.. Let's look at some lyrics:

You can't stop my voice 'cause
You don't own my life but
Do what you want with my body

And, perhaps more tellingly when the theme of Yoü and I is concerned:

Sometimes I'm scared, I suppose
If you ever let me go, I will apart
If you break my heart
So just take my body and don't stop the party

This sounds like she's clinging to a lover who is basically treating her like a human without a voice (*ping*). Of course this is the same claw appearing in Applause, which obviously was a Mermaid reference. Do we need to see it as a coincidence that Gaga not just dresses as Ursula (during a song which is about an obessed fan) but is caught in one of her claws a minute later during a song about her ambivalent feelings about freedom and love?

Connect to one of her latest Instagram posts:

Again, paparazzi (oops, it's actually fans - *ping*) hounding on her, Gaga standing there out of place, not engaging, not smiling, plus an ambivalent quote about freedom with a clear reference to the dark side of fame: now it's something done to her.

This of course isn't the first time she's made a reference to fame being a dark force. Remember Fame? 'It's black like the soul of fame'. Connect to Applause's lyric: 'If only fame had an IV, baby, could I bear'. 'I live for the applause'. The undercurrents can't be missed imo.

Now what is she saying about this whole period?

"I was ****ing tired! I was overworked. It became all about the money. I began feeling like a corporate machine – and my art was paying the price. I didn’t get into this business to sell perfume or take selfies with strangers."

"I’m grateful for what I have, but that doesn’t mean I don’t value the gift of life. Because while this house is beautiful, once I cross my property line I’m no longer free; it’s legal to stalk me all over the world. The thing that makes me happy is that piano."

The piano she couldn't write on during ARTPOP, that is, 'cause she'd realize she was selling someone else. Cue Ariel having to seduce Eric without having a voice.

Now the conspiracy possibilities just go on and on. Take a look at Paparazzi.

Wheelchair, turns into.. the robot/seductress from Metropolis:

A reference she made before:

Probably just coincidence, but eerie stuff.

So all in all, I'm sensing some serious double messages here, artistic expressions of the things she's saying quite straightforwardly now in interviews. What's going ahn? Not concluding anything, but the ambiguity is real.

Whether you read or not, please share your opinion about the subject

How do you think Gaga feels towards her fans at this point?

Have you noticed a change? If so, when/how?

I absolutely agree with the Ariel/Ursula reference. I didn't think of it like that before but reading what you wrote makes sense of it all. 

I just hope she is happier nowadays that's all that matters to me. 

[doja scat 14,646]

24 minutes ago, Kayla said:

Also related to this, think about the album cover and statue- it's like she's giving birth to it; she's giving birth to art, but all we can see is ourselves. We try to find our own reflection in the things she's creating. 

!!!

 

[CatelynnMarie 4,108]

 Gaga loves us deeply, but there are a lot of ungrateful fans. I feel like we live in an era where everyone wants EVERYTHING instantly and no one really thinks about artists in general. They just want content thrown at them instantly. No one knows patience, or rather not many people know how to be patient and understanding. I'm glad she's taking a step back for her own sanity. However that doesn't mean she doesn't love us any less than she always has. I mean, you have to know that she truly cares about us. It's just when people are constantly demanding you for things and holding high expectations for your every move, you kind of need breathing room. It's a hardship and yes it is part of the price her career comes with, but that doesn't mean she isn't allowed to have feelings and be effected by it. 

So yeah, she has changed how she goes about talking with us and showing her affection, but I know in my heart that she doesn't love us any less than before.

[FLP13 159]

Damn...I need that Michael Jordan long hand From Space Jam gif because this is the biggest reach eva!!!

[giskardsb 12,565]

8 hours ago, CoCo1 said:

BTW attracted a much younger and more immature niche audience, and then ARTPOP pandered to that audience and brought with it an added element of pseudo-intellectualism. But hey, she made her grave, so to speak, and now she's digging her way out of it .

as if TF was designed to attract a "mature" audience.

 

[HighlandHeart 993]

On 19/05/2016 at 5:13 PM, Didymus said:

Reminds me of the awkward period where she blocked her fans on Twitter because they didn't express her love and kindness message That only lasted for like two weeks, but it was really weird. First time she really broke the "my fans can do no wrong" atmosphere, same with when she criticized her fans for attacking Bieber the same year.

So yeah it's stuff like that that makes me think there was such a change or moment you're talking about.. Can't blame her

Remember when One Directon got booed onstage at the VMAs? The footage of Gaga being unable to believe that fans who were cheering her, after she deliberately put those boos in the beginning of her performance, were booing young boys who weren't even in their own country. She was so disgusted that she left the arena.  

I really don't blame her. Many fans did betray her and her message. I'm disgusted too. And I can't understand why they did it. These are not true fans, nor are they an accurate representation of her fanbase. We're all different and have different opinions, but I'd like to hope that we all respect Gaga and understand and accept her need and right for freedom and evolution as an artist and human being. 

[Ronk 14,331]

44 minutes ago, giskardsb said:

as if TF was designed to attract a "mature" audience.

 

That would leave out this fanbase .

[giskardsb 12,565]

2 hours ago, CatelynnMarie said:

 Gaga loves us deeply, but there are a lot of ungrateful fans. I feel like we live in an era where everyone wants EVERYTHING instantly and no one really thinks about artists in general. They just want content thrown at them instantly.

Not to sound like "that old guy" but the younger generations have grown up in an environment of information overload where they spend more time consuming content than generating their own.  It's too easy to "be entertained" these days and if they can't find stimulation from outside sources they don't know what to do with themselves.  We are losing the ability to be creative and find meaning in ourselves and relying too much on others.

[CatelynnMarie 4,108]

3 minutes ago, giskardsb said:

Not to sound like "that old guy" but the younger generations have grown up in an environment of information overload where they spend more time consuming content than generating their own.  It's too easy to "be entertained" these days and if they can't find stimulation from outside sources they don't know what to do with themselves.  We are losing the ability to be creative and find meaning in ourselves and relying too much on others.

You're not sounding "old". You're sounding factual and correct tbh. 

[Didymus 33,814]

4 minutes ago, giskardsb said:

Not to sound like "that old guy" but the younger generations have grown up in an environment of information overload where they spend more time consuming content than generating their own.  It's too easy to "be entertained" these days and if they can't find stimulation from outside sources they don't know what to do with themselves.  We are losing the ability to be creative and find meaning in ourselves and relying too much on others.

As someone from those younger generations, I can acknowledge this lol

[Ronk 14,331]

33 minutes ago, giskardsb said:

Not to sound like "that old guy" but the younger generations have grown up in an environment of information overload where they spend more time consuming content than generating their own.  It's too easy to "be entertained" these days and if they can't find stimulation from outside sources they don't know what to do with themselves.  We are losing the ability to be creative and find meaning in ourselves and relying too much on others.

Well, I am "that old guy" and I agree.    But it's just the way things are.  We are all a product of our times and our environment.  Not to sound fatalistic, or anything.

[Sister 9,907]

I think that from time to time we all change and this includes Gaga, what was good last year with the fans, can be tiring and all consuming at another time frame, same as how fans get about Gaga's career and it's ever changing development. It's like any relation to everything, if it's put to extremes, it goes sour. Gaga loves her fans and we love her, but we all have our moments where there can just be too much and a stand back period can do wonders.

I do believe that a lot of this creeps into Gaga's work and she's known it from the beginning, since it's THE subject matter, ALL about The Fame.

We can exist together, she hasn't given up, nor have we.

[display name 4,360]

Just to answer the question, I do not think that Gaga's feelings toward her fans have changed. She has a problem with the "strangers." Those are the kids who are only interested in her when they want something from her. They want to take pictures of her to get those extra likes and followers on social networking sites. They go to a concert to experience it all through the lenses of their phones' cameras. They're leeches who use her fame and celebrity status for the sake of bringing attention to themselves. That is how I've understood her recent statements. I think she appreciates her fans, but I don't think she appreciates how the modern fan typically works and how the way of being a fan has been changed by the impact of social media.