Gaga and her fans rn

[Speechless94 545]

21 minutes ago, Kayla said:

This absolutely has to be it. The fanbase really let her down, IMO. She's been so sweet to us, said nothing but kind things to us, and then when she could have used support and love for her ideas so many of us treated her like ****. 

I think she thought the fanbase would stick by her and see all the work she was doing, all the artistic imagery she was putting into the work, and then we didn't. 

It's funny, because in her previous albums we actually DID take a lot of time and effort to really analyze the imagery, analyze what she was doing, etc., but then in the album where we should have done that MORE, we barely did it at all. That being said, truthfully the message of ART in front of POP didn't carry into the music. Aura, sure. ARTPOP, sure. But a lot of the other songs didn't convey the idea of putting ART in POP; she mostly did that with the imagery and side projects. 

Yeah I definitely agree that it wasn't entirely our fault as fans, as the album wasn't very cohesive when it came to the message the music carried. I think a lot of that though is a result of the environment she was working in with how she was feeling emotionally at the time, as well as all of the other industry s*** she went through with her management and label. If someone wasn't listening to her interviews it would be hard to keep up with it. It might be that she just doesn't see where we, as fans, could be confused. She had the ideas behind "ARTPOP" in her head her entire career pretty much (from what she's said in interviews) so even though the final version of the album was low key a mess, in her head she still saw all the original concepts. Between the promo, the performances, and imagery that she actually put out (which she obviously did to the best of her ability considering the circumstances) I think she just might not see sometimes where the disconnect is between the fans and that album.

Unfortunately she realized a lot of us were the same group of individuals that inspired a lot of the songs on the album. Just a bunch of people with a lot of expectations. 

[Speechless94 545]

I also think it doesn't help that during this awkward period, every one is demanding that she speak and interact with us like were 4 year olds trying to get attention from our mommies. Instead of demanding and expecting her to have a #1 hit, we just now think we deserve her time and attention. And for some odd reason, a lot of us think that paying for her albums is enough for her to act like she's each of our BFF. She's clearly said she has been using the past few months to relax with family. Even if it's been a while since the last album, her time is her time. We just need to sit tight until she's ready. 

[Jase 13,317]

It's very bittersweet for me. On one side I'm really happy that she's distanced herself because let's face it, a large portion of this fanbase are needy, overly demanding, obnoxious teenagers, and I'm sure she doesn't need that **** in her life after what she's been through. On the other hand, it genuinely makes me upset for the rest of the fanbase because it doesn't feel like we're on this huge, magical journey with her anymore - it all feels very cold and clinical now and it just makes me sad.

[Ferrer Zorola 3,966]

On 19 de mayo de 2016 at 10:59 AM, Bambino said:

Didn't she say something like things changed when she got a new management and that everything she did before just wasn't feeling real to her? Maybe that included her fans too

who's the guy on your avi? Dayum

OT: I like your theory. I hadn't seen things from that point of view... this makes me question myself if she's angry with us or something... 

[rivingtonreb 438]

On May 19, 2016 at 8:46 AM, 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:

  Hide contents

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?

Damn you did some digging but the only thing that I would low-key disagree with is the magazine cover where she's covered in oil... wasn't that supposed to be about the oil spill and she just so happened to be filing You & I at the time?? Still very interesting way to look at everything. I think she feels the same way towards her fans as she always has but sometimes she just doesn't maybe wanna talk to everyone cus it can be a lot or maybe she had an off day. When my friends and I met her right before her arrival to Levi's Stadium for the super bowl, she stopped for us and rolled her window down, I want to say she said "Hi" but that's it cus it's really all a blur and I feel like she was saving her voice. Even in her snapchats that day she didn't seem to talk much or just very lightly to save it for the performance LMAOOO idk.

[Varo Yan 2,984]

@Didymus are you Stefani Germanotta or Lady f*cking Gaga?

[Didymus 34,380]

5 minutes ago, Varo Yan said:

@Didymus are you Stefani Germanotta or Lady f*cking Gaga?

[Varo Yan 2,984]

1 minute ago, Didymus said:

If yes - come to my country Armenia  if no - come to my country too anyway I want you know I love Gaga  Join my Facebook page - Lady Gaga Armenian Fan Club 

[Red 97,990]

Do you know that friend that was really close to you till you realized they were really bad and now you are still friends but not like you used to be? That's pretty much how Gaga and LMs are right now, she doesn't hate us, she is just not that close anymore.

[high heeled fem 3]

On 20 May 2016 at 1:51 AM, luckythisway said:

yes I definitely have. I met her after the artRAVE in NYC and the final Roseland show and she didn't really talk to the fans at all. But during the BTW era, she was very talkative to fans. it's apparent in social media too, as she would always tweet love for her monsters, which has been very rare lately. 

Yup I've heard some horror stories about art rave meet and greets inwont name people on here but she is not as friendly or in love with us like she used to be

great post Diddy!

[high heeled fem 3]

On 20 May 2016 at 2:37 AM, GagaMegaFan said:

Remember she wasn't interacting with her fans in her earlier (and more succesful) eras like The Fame and The Fame Monster? Like the fans were "just casual fans" not Little Monsters? Even in her performances she was acting cold to her fans... (You Know what I mean) Then BTW came out and suddenly the fans become LITTLE MONSTERS, and had very huge impact to her life... And you know BTW was not "that" succesful (compared to TF/M).. You understand? I know it's a weird correlation but I have a feeling that it's somehow true...

what do you think??

Yup she was cold in the fame that's why I never was obsessed I grew more interested when she got kind 

[high heeled fem 3]

On 20 May 2016 at 2:01 AM, Didymus said:

"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." (2016)

What interview is this from? I'd love to read it!

[2ndTimeAround 664]

Wow, wow, wow! OP is so so amazing! I was a very strong fan of hers through TF/M, BTW... I really missed the ARTPOP era because I was in a bad relationship at the time and i kind of had to hide my stan for Gaga as i was constantly judged by my significant other, so i occasionally listened to AP, when I could. And i had my favourites and i had my not so. It hasnt been until recently that i've really been able to analyze the album like i did with the last 3, so its been really good (mostly) to interact with the fans here.

One thing that i am much very agreeable on, is that you are all so very quick to post a thread with nothing but negative connotations, yet you all speak so highly about her for the struggles that she's helped you with during all 4 eras.

I completely agree with most of this, and you all only have yourselves to blame for the alienation of this fan base. 

The thing is, she is on here more than you ever think, she might not say she is, but she is. She knows what you are all doing and saying, this is a form of power center for her, this website is a huge manifesto of devoted fans who analyze everything she does, if she wants an opinion on anything, without asking, she knows where to go. Anyone who is anyone regardless of status, race, gender, identity, deeply inside, cares what people think. And when you've been hurt, and you have mental health issues (i can speak from exp with this) you crave acceptance, and you want to be validated, whether you state it or not, and you want to feel like what you're doing, feeling, speaking is of some sort of significance, which of course she has never needed, because shes one of the biggest forces in the world. But smash that force down, and shes a human being, susceptible to all the raw emotion that we do as average joes.

So you know what! Good on gaga for pulling away from you all. Anyone that can have that bitchy, non supportive, vile streak to post those threads and comments, wanting validation for themselves that bashing her is okay, ITS NOT. 

It's social, emotional abuse, whether intended or not. 

I would absolutely love to see more loving, compassionate, humble posts about gaga, because you can have your opinion on her work, her music, her lyrics, but when you start crossing that line and start being cruel, then sorry, but you go against everything she once stood for TFM/BTW era. If you dont support her, don't expect the support back!

 

Anyway! On this note, im loving the wait, seriously, we all love time off work? Let her enjoy it, because when she does work, she works so damn hard!

Hope everyone is having an amazing day! Please don't scorn me for this, i am so anti bullying, being a victim of it myself, this is just how i see it.  

[StarryNight 10,106]

8 hours ago, 2ndTimeAround said:

The thing is, she is on here more than you ever think, she might not say she is, but she is. She knows what you are all doing and saying, this is a form of power center for her, this website is a huge manifesto of devoted fans who analyze everything she does, if she wants an opinion on anything, without asking, she knows where to go.

[Speechless94 545]

13 hours ago, high heeled fem said:

Yup I've heard some horror stories about art rave meet and greets inwont name people on here but she is not as friendly or in love with us like she used to be

great post Diddy!

Really? I feel like everything I read was positive about when people met her at the artRAVE. When I met her backstage, I felt like I was finally meeting the best friend I had been a pen pal with for the 6 years prior to that. Her demeanor and warmth was everything I expected. She was definitely the same person as the friend that I found I've found while listening to her music. She was also suffering from altitude sickness that night and she still spoke with everyone for like 45 minutes.