Is Gaga wearing another "mask" this era?

[Slayer 9,227]

I read a recent review (can't remember the publication) saying that with this album, Gaga dons authenticity like another one of her outfits, implying that she's not being truly authentic and is just wearing an authentic mask to "win back the public".  In fact I've seen a couple of reviews saying something similar, i.e. suggesting that there's something fake and pretentious about this era, like she's trying too hard to prove herself.

Personally I think there is definitely a deliberate marketing strategy behind this more authentic, toned-down era. The Americana vibe also feels very convenient considering she's about to perform at the biggest, most American sports event in the US. It's pretty clear to me that all this talk about her family, and relating to the girl in a field in Midwest USA, is definitely a calculated way to make her less offensive and more likeable. It feels like a deliberate retreat from everything she represented before, which in my mind makes her more inauthentic than, say, during the ARTPOP era when she was doing what she wanted to do (for the most part). I think that may be why she is doing hardly any promo this era: she's not excited about it because she's not being her true, artistic, outrageous, authentic self, she's putting on this dressed-down, earthy, good Italian daughter act in order to damage control the ARTPOP era. I think if she had it her way, we wouldn't be getting what we currently have. 

What are your thoughts? Is this really her first "genuine, authentic" era or just another calculated act to control the way the public sees her? 

[Maleficent 6]

Low-key hoping it's a calculated plan and she's really a diabolical genius (but bad at PR and social sciences, obviously). 

[Computer 10,973]

It's totally calculated and a mask, imo.

[He8MyHeart 9,530]

In her Australian radio interviews this week, the whole 'family oriented girl' thing seemed a little forced IMO. 

[leecy 1,476]

And she's even forcing herself to believe what she's doing now is what she wants to do 

[hELXIG 41,378]

I feel like I understand her a little bit, and that it's more like 85% genuine and 15% artificial. And what I mean by that is that she's the kind of person who will always do whatever she wants, so we know that she isn't putting on some act. She's said countless times (and I agree with her on this) that it's so much more exhausting to put on an act to win people over, than it is to just be yourself and do what you want. However, every era there is obviously a push for her to be quite... consistent in how she delivers herself and her work, and sometimes I'm sure she's just not 100% feeling it. Especially after giving 30 interviews asking the same questions, it'd get tiring to give the same answer completely authentically. Sometimes we also don't want to talk about our deep feelings, and I know that personally I've had to express things and fake my passion, just because I'm tired out, even though the passion is authentically there, I'm just not in the mood. Does this all make sense?

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

I think you have it the other way round.

This is Gaga finally showing us the girl behind the aura.

For anyone to think otherwise is petty and borderline neurotic. 

[Stewful2929 786]

Alright I have mixed thoughts. She's an artist and likes to change herself a lot. Admittedly I am confused. The thing is was gaga a David Bowie type deal. Bowie made ziggy stardust up and Gaga worships him. In a way I think she made gaga up but now doesn't want to continue it. 

Could this be the real her? I don't think it is for several factors. She's not from the Midwest, she's from NY. NY is the biggest art city there is. Before she was famous in old videos she never acted simple she always had a diva feel to her.

Did her aunt like country music and was laid back? That we don't know but I'm more confused about the style of this music being the real Gaga. It could be none of us will never know but I think this era is hard for her because she's still putting on a show. I think Gaga's albums are based off who she dates which I hate to say. Taylor seems like a laid back country person. Luc was a glamour type rocker. I wish we knew the real Gaga and not her influences 

[synched 734]

Of course she's wearing a mask lol i mean i'm not saying this as a bad thing. she kinda has to. She's always been a performer on stage and off stage so everything she does/wears/says is calculated and planned. It doesn't always work (obviously) but she's definitely not being her true self when she's repeating that whole "family girl/father's daughter/normal girl" thing over and over again on every interview

[PartySick 143,973]

8 minutes ago, Lord Temptation said:

I think you have it the other way round.

This is Gaga finally showing us the girl behind the aura.

For anyone to think otherwise is petty and borderline neurotic. 

I don't think it's all that far fetched. We're talking about the girl-turned-woman that's been glitz and glamour, darkness and gore, rebellion and gayness, classical/modern/futuristic and mythical (), jazzy and classy, and I don't think it's much of a stretch to think she'd put on the craziest show of all - normalcy. It's an interesting conversation at least.

That being said, I personally do agree that what we're seeing now is what little Stefani dreamed she'd be back in the SG Band/teen years. While it's less exciting in some ways, I'm finding the charm that the Joanne era has brought is more than worth it

I just wish everyone else could be as happy with it as I am

[Bebe 16,699]

You follow any celebrity and they generally talk about similar things during interviews. They usually are asked the same questions constantly and they have their answer for those questions. 
It's just a natural part of being constantly interviews - you develop your answers.

Whether you like this new era is one thing, but it seems as authentic as any other Gaga era. I don't think this is her turning away from anything she has represented before, this is just her changing (as we all do). I think her new toned down image is a natural progression, but that's obviously something that is going to be marketed. 

I don't think this is her first "genuine-authentic era", I see her as authentic in all eras. I find this era is just as authentic as any previous eras.

We heard her complain (during the C2C era) about how her label used to force her to edit her vocals in previous albums, she comes out with an album that includes tracks that are sometimes one-take and totally unedited. We heard her complain about how she felt overworked during ARTPOP and that she felt like she had become a money making machine, now she comes out and talks about trying to find balance between promo and just living and being around family. We saw her tone down her image with C2C and embrace a stylish, but more toned down look now she comes out with an album and it seems like she is still embracing that look.

I personally wasn't surprised by the sound of the album, I wasn't surprised by her decision to scale back the promo, I wasn't surprised that we haven't had many crazy avant-garde outfits. We have seen her move in that direction for three years. 

" I think if she had it her way, we wouldn't be getting what we currently have. "

I mean... I really don't think there is much to indicate that Joanne isn't what she wanted. We saw her jumping and dancing to AY-O we have seen her break down in tears over the reception of Million Reasons, we have seen her cry over PI. It seems obvious to me that she is connected deeply to the music, I have no reason to suspect she is lying when she talks about how she wants to find balance now and balance work with family. She has expressed regret over missing her sister grow up, over missing birthdays and family events and said right from the beginning of this era that this balance was important to her. We saw her talk about how she felt overworked during BTW/ARTPOP and that she eventually just broke. We saw her talk about how she felt like she was being used to make money and was being treated like a machine. Is it that surprising that she came back and toned it all back a little?

[Karl 3,110]

If it is an act it's a bad one because no one has a clue what mid western America is outside of America, so she's alienating the rest of the world and becoming more and more local. Although the album is spectacular so that helps.

[HEARTSTOP 3,136]

I think she just goes with the flow, and then works from there once her ideas are realized, like most good artists do. And, since she is Lady ****ing Gaga, of course she overexaggerates everything she says or does to better portray the message she is trying to get across to the observer. But that doesn't make it false. There's still a true feeling/message behind it but she puts it under a magnifying glass through her theatricality and performance art.

It's just like what she said on the intro of the Marry The Night video, she decorates her memories and storytelling in order to make them more pleasing. It doesn't mean they're lies, it just means they're recreated in a more digestible manner.

 

I can easily relate to that...when I want to draw but I'm out of inspiration, I simply let the pencil take my hand wherever it goes and draw some random lines on the paper. Then I continue from there and work on it until I think it's complete. Once it's done, I can try to interpret my drawing and give it a meaning that wasn't there when I started to draw but grew over the time I worked on it. Other people can also give it their own meaning because art is subjective. And I will defend my work even though it had no meaning to me in the beginning, even recurring to "storytelling decorations" to get my point across.

What I'm trying to say is that she is just going with the flow, standing by her work with pride, even though she might not feel as strongly about it as she portrays (the simple cowgirl act I mean).

 

37 minutes ago, Karl said:

If it is an act it's a bad one because no one has a clue what mid western America is outside of America, so she's alienating the rest of the world and becoming more and more local. Although the album is spectacular so that helps.

Gurl, no. "Cowboy culture" has been spread all over the world looooong ago.

[Tellerphone 123]

By "mask", essentially you mean fake or phoney? And if some see Joanne as the real Gaga then what does that mean... that she lied to us and fooled us all for 8 years then? 

[Slayer 9,227]

44 minutes ago, Bebe said:

" I think if she had it her way, we wouldn't be getting what we currently have. "

I mean... I really don't think there is much to indicate that Joanne isn't what she wanted. We saw her jumping and dancing to AY-O we have seen her break down in tears over the reception of Million Reasons, we have seen her cry over PI. It seems obvious to me that she is connected deeply to the music, I have no reason to suspect she is lying when she talks about how she wants to find balance now and balance work with family. She has expressed regret over missing her sister grow up, over missing birthdays and family events and said right from the beginning of this era that this balance was important to her. We saw her talk about how she felt overworked during BTW/ARTPOP and that she eventually just broke. We saw her talk about how she felt like she was being used to make money and was being treated like a machine. Is it that surprising that she came back and toned it all back a little?

Yeah, I do agree that it's not surprising she's toned down her music and style, but there's got to be a reason for that. It may not be surprising that she has untouched vocals and uses analog instruments and does songs in one take, but you have to admit the Americana vibe comes out of nowhere. I don't think she's ever shown a passion or taken inspiration from that sound before (except for You and I), and then suddenly she comes out with Joanne which has country influences running throughout. Like someone else said, 'Stefani' is from downtown NYC and used to hang around the Guggenheim museum for fun and lit hairspray on fire while go-go dancing to heavy metal music. She's not some cowboy hat-wearing, mid-west American sweetheart. That's not the real Stefani, that's Gaga preparing a palatable, likeable image for football fans at the Superbowl. 

However I think you're right that the minimum promo is most likely her attempt to find balance. I shouldn't have said that she doesn't seem as excited or invested in this era, because she is still putting everything into the few performances she's done. I just can't shake the feeling that her image and sound has something inauthentic about it this era. (I don't think there's anything wrong with her being inauthentic - I believe she built her career on it. But I definitely think she's just wearing another mask/playing another character.)