Why I Admire Gaga Less Now

[Hyperballad 4,309]

I just posted this to get to 119 replies

[Hyperballad 4,309]

Bi 'Johne' no Itoones

[TheJackMonster 1,857]

Well look at the marry the night video. I think its pretty far from the truth and its to make her rise to fame seem painful and for us to feel empathy for it.

[MelbHawker 6,583]

I think you're just admiring her less because she's no longer portraying her image as one that is a 'larger than life' pop-star. 
 

[FlopSlurper 34,336]

You seem like you have too much time on your hands. I suggest that you find yourself a hobby or something.

 

[Seeka 12,372]

God stop comparing people. That's all I have to say.

[Omar Vela 2,744]

profile pic says it all... end this mess now

[YeehawKylie 7,817]

8 hours ago, jojuun said:

In Gaga's Anderson Cooper hosted 60 Minutes special, in the early days of the Born This Way era, she was so cocky during the segment where she talks about "the art of fame". She spoke about people wanting to see her fail, the demise and downfall of a superstar. She claimed that she had studied that pattern and implied that she was not heading down that path. Minutes later during the same special, she was shown crying on a staircase and the clip of her crying in her dressing room before a Monster Ball show was aired too. A complete contradiction. 

The full quote is even more upsetting. "I prayed that God would teach me something, that he would instill in me a creativity and a strangeness that all of those people that I love and respected had." It has always bothered me. What the f*ck is that about?

The photographer looked at her like "What kind of name is that?" And she quickly replied to his confused face "You'll know it soon enough." 6 months later, she was the biggest new popstar in the world. She knew damn well what she was getting into. 

I strongly feel like Gaga has inflicted a lot of her struggles upon herself in order to emulate the tumultuous, tragedy-filled lives of her personal idols and iconic stars. 

Mind you, all those quotes and the first anxiety pills came YEARS before Troy and the BTW Ball hip-break/ARTPOP mess. A lot of you think her struggles started there when it's well-documented the signs of self-inflicted struggles have always been there, her drug habit at 18/19/20/21 being one of them.

I truly believe Gaga has some kind of tragedy-wish, in the VF article she basically admits it. 

I think that kind of Madonna-esque American Dream biography that smells of light heroism is honestly what Gaga has always longed for. From the get-go she's talked openly about her drug abuse, about her dead aunt and now there's a song and an entire album dedicated to it... Why is that? I'm sure it HAS impacted her in some way. How could it not? But I think there's a self-destructiveness inside of her more than anything that's at the root of her struggles and I don't like that because I know that she knows that too. 

I think that bold part says it all. Gaga sees it as a strength, while I consider it as her biggest flaw. I think she needs to resist that self-destructive side. She's still hinting about recreational drug use (not the medical kind) on Joanne.

I like strength in my idols and not in the look-at-what-I-overcame way Gaga is doing it.

I feel like Gaga genuinely likes the victim role and also the quite unauthentic praise she gets because of it.

01. You realize the Anderson Cooper interview was likely edited for effect right? Do we know why she was crying? Depression or emotional? 

02. Lady Gaga was young when she said that ****. Who isn't reckless or mildly self-destructive as a young adult? I agree that the quote is stupid, but again, she was young and young people do stupid things for affirmation. 

03. Gaga worked the club scene in NYC. Do you not think drugs are heavily common there (and in the industry in general)? I'd be questioning her if she wasn't doing drugs back then. 

04. Is it hard to believe she wanted to do a personal album? Plenty of artists released 3, 4, or 5 albums without confronting a theme or part of their past that they have always wanted to, but typically never knew how to vocalize. 

05. I think the suggestion that she is or was doing hard drugs just to write songs is a little insulting? Perhaps as a young singer she started to fit in, or emulate what she believed pop was. But to fault her for continuing to fall into old habits a decade later? Drugs are addicting. It's a constant challenge, once you start you never stop being addicted. You just hopefully stop partaking. Look at Lana del Rey, was her alcoholism just for her career? To write songs? I mean, her father has money and helped her career. She still writes about alcoholism, she actually waited until Ultraviolence to really confront it. So, did she orchestrate all of it? No. 

You're reading into things way too much. I'd probably agree there are times Gaga played the victim card a bit. But, I don't believe she's been orchestrating her rise and fall for a decade. She was young and naive. Some of that she never shook. 

[djBuffoon 12,117]

3 hours ago, giskardsb said:

Here is the fundamental misunderstanding of the OP and Gaga's motivations..... she decided that she could help more people by being open about her struggles and letting others know that it was ok to work through these issues, rather than trying to hide from them or building facades.  She wanted people to know that there are different forms of strength, and sometimes it requires admitting to yourself things that have happened and dealing with them openly.  If you wonder why she keeps going "on and on" about it, it's because exactly of the type of victim shaming that is throughout the OP, and that the problem doesn't go away easily because of these patriarchal ideas of what it means to be "strong", and people not understanding the damage that can be done by not confronting issues.

You nailed it.

[Luc 4,775]

I disagree. Gaga doesn't like being a victim, she wants to inspire others. There's so many cases where Gaga kept things to herself and stayed strong where it ultimately made everything much worse. See the BTWB. She was performing in pain for months and still going strong, not showing anything of her weakness and not at all victimising herself.

Her goal with all of these victim stories is to inspire others to be brave, to 'come out of the closet', empowering all the people going through the same thing. She didn't exploit the relationship with Taylor that went downhill. She did stand up for openness about drug abuse, mental illness, physical illness, physical abuse, sexual abuse and equality.

[Bogdan 164]

7 hours ago, jojuun said:

She knew damn well what she was getting into.

No. She only hoped. You can only hope when you want a destiny this big.

8 hours ago, jojuun said:

She WANTED to be a huge superstar

Of course she did. Who wouldn't? I mean, there are introverted and extroverted people in any industry. There are a lot of people that want to be in the spotlight. I, myself, even if I'm an introvert, would love to be in the spotlight.

8 hours ago, jojuun said:

her parents had invested heaps of money into it, her father registered corporations (he's listed in some of them) in Gaga's name months ahead of the final deal with Interscope so she could get a more-than-average cut of the royalties/publishing rights from her soon to be global hit-music.

I have no idea where you are getting this information from. Before her deal with interscope, she had GREAT music and I only feel she deserved it. In fact, my favorite song is pre fame era

9 hours ago, jojuun said:

had to move to New York as a young adult to pursue her dreams all by herself (as opposed to Gaga's parents paying for her elite education, expensive vocal teachers, allowed to perform at talent showcases in nightclubs aged 14, prestigious higher education at an expensive art school and her father helping her out business-wise before her career even went anywhere).

Now this is where I start thinking you're an exclusively Madonna fan that came to troll on this forum. Gaga said that she went from home at the age of 18 to live in a cheap apartment while going to college where she was admitted RIGHTFULLY so. I really hate people who say her parents paid her college. It has no basis. Do you have any proof?

9 hours ago, jojuun said:

I like strength in my idols and not in the look-at-what-I-overcame way Gaga is doing it.

She only wants people to acknowledge her for her struggles. I know what I'm talking about when I'm saying that a lot of people think she's just a cheap fame grab pop star. She opening herself allows people to see more sides of her and realize her complexity.

 

9 hours ago, jojuun said:

I'm sorry, they don't weigh up in my book when you compare them to the death of your mother or the loss of your unborn child.

How about rape? She was extremely reluctant to speak about it and it took her more than 2 years from the moment she expressed that thought through music (Marry the night - the most beautiful song on born this way in my opinion).

She opens herself because she KNOWS what she can accomplish by dwelling into those painful moments. She's not like other people. Other people would just shut certain painful memories and never think of them again. They are unidimensional in that sense and don't allow themselves to use that kind of emotion to express themselves through art.

9 hours ago, jojuun said:

I just don't like the self-destructing, then victimising herself because of it part of her.

You have no idea about that. You can't know how she thinks. Maybe she's more prone to addiction, mentally, than other people. Maybe she feels better by sharing those thoughts afterwards. You can't just simply dismiss that and say it's just an act.

[Kanye West 1,676]

9 hours ago, jojuun said:

Like I said, that's not my intention. I still LOVE Gaga. I still ROOT for her. I just think she has a tendency to inflict struggles upon herself while being aware of it. I don't get that. Why would you say you're aware of it, then take some more amphetamines and go deeper into your downword spiral? The first step to healing, any therapist will tell you this, is being aware of the problem and traps. She's aware of the traps and the problem, she's told us. So why can't she escape it? Why does she go back to self-destruction time and time again? That's the topic I'd like to discuss here.

It's not that easy. Mental illness can send you back into a downward spiral, despite being aware of the problem. It's a much harder fight than you can imagine. It can be uncontrollable.

[LaLuna 12,732]

Personally, when I'm not that interested in an artist anymore, I just find someone else to listen to and move on. I don't write an essay about it on a fan site hoping people will agree with me because I need validation. But hey, whatever makes you happy

[President Trump 3,508]

Just now, Scathach said:

Personally, when I'm not that interested in an artist anymore, I just find someone else to listen to and move on. I don't write an essay about it on a fan site hoping people will agree with me because I need validation. But hey, whatever makes you happy

Another conclusion searching for evidence. sheesh. 

[Valgorie 44]

This is a rather controversial topic and I can see why people would find it insensitive.

I don't know Gaga personally, so I can't speak on her experiences. My main problem with her work nowadays is that it feels fake, like her artistry is forced. Back in the golden days of The Fame-The Fame Monster, the music spoke for itself. We could learn about her struggles and visions through the lyrics, and find out her motives through the way she carried herself. She was untouchable back then.

With Born This Way, that started to change. Although the music still spoke for itself, she started becoming more vocal about it. But it went well because that was the whole point of the record: speaking out and bringing awareness.

Since ARTPOP and Joanne, I've been feeling as though she now has to try to get a point across. It's obvious that in no moment during ARTPOP the music spoke for itself: Gaga explained herself over and over again (never making much sense), taking away any artistic meaning the album could have. Now with Joanne... It's all just weird. I think it's a beautiful record and the meaning is touching, but it doesn't feel authentic. It's like she's trying to be vulnerable to fit the theme of the album.

At this point, I don't even know. I stopped caring about my favorite artists this deeply. I love Gaga, but I've learned that artists are better when we don't constantly psychoanalize them.