Was this supposed to be the 'twist' in Million Reasons?

[Bebe 17,093]

So Gaga said that the MR video "will feature a surprise and a twist." I just sort of assumed that the 'twist' was that it was a continuation of Perfect Illusion. It wasn't really a twist but I just sort of assumed that the surprise and the twist was the same thing, that it was a continuation.

My main problem with the MR video was with how it presented the story. I wrote this in my initial reaction:

"To me it feels strange. She goes from lying ,collapsed, in the desert and all these SUVs come and take her. It's like "Is she being picked up and being forced to work? Is she being saved?" She walks into the makeup room and there is nobody acknowledging the previous scene, there is a weird disconnect. 

It felt to me like she had just been picked up in the desert where she had escaped, her team had found her and taken her back to work and she had then resigned to having to work again. There was no acknowledgement from anyone that Gaga had just arrived, that she had just ran away into the desert to roll around escape from it all - It was just like 'We've taken you and now we are going to put on your makeup, dress you up and put you in front of the camera to perform"."

"It wasn't until like 2:28 of the video that I realised she was being 'rescued' or that her team had come to comfort her and 'pick her back up' so she could continue on. Maybe just some hugs or smiles with Freddy or Sarah to show that her team is supporting her would have communicated that."

My main problem was that for more than half of the video I was just confused. It seemed by the end that the story was:

"that in PI Gaga has escaped from the pressures of her life to go to the desert. She is driving around in a Jeep (that's now apparently abandoned in the desert) and then gets out and just releases all her energy and imagines/hallucinates this fantasy situation where it's just her, her musical collaborators and her fans and she is just performing for them. In this moment she is completely free.

MR starts she has just released all that energy and is faced with the reality of her situation again, the perfect illusion has shattered. Her team come to pick her up, they comfort her and she has to return back to her actual life. She goes to her dressing room and she gets a gift from her sister with a note and this act of kindness, this knowledge that her sister loves her and is thinking of her while she is struggling, gives her the strength to dress up and perform for the cameras."

But for more than half the video I was working under the assumption that she had been taken against her will, she had escaped the pressures of the world, it was all too much and she had basically had a breakdown of sorts - but these Black SUV's found her and took her to get her makeup done so they could shove her in front of the camera so she could continue working. I felt kinda uncomfortable throughout it to be honest and it also had me feeling confused.

I had assumed that this was just a poor set-up, that they hadn't properly explained the beginning or what was happening. After rewatching the video, it seems it may have been done on purpose though? At 0:18 that sound as the SUV's approach is surely supposed to make us feel uncomfortable, there is this hum while she is in the SUV mixed in with some piano notes and then when the SUV's pull up that sound plays again when the car doors open simultaneously. It's menacing. Even at 0:42 while she is walking through to get to her chair there is this unsettling hum that builds up at 0:45 until she sits in her chair. It's creepy.

Where we supposed to think she had been taken against her will? Was the twist at 2:25 when we finally see, in the flashback, her friends leave the SUV to run over and comfort her? Was the twist that the SUV's were actually filled with people who care about her?

If it was then I'm not sure it was the best twist, it just made me feel uncomfortable and confused for more than half the video. But if it wasn't then they made some bizarre decisions. Everything just felt out of place.

After typing this, I believe that the beginning was just an awkward attempt at linking PI and MR tbh. The opening scene is actually my favourite, but it feels like the MR video would have made more sense if they had just made it a stand alone music video. The desert scenes don't seem to add to the story, they just present the problem of getting her from the desert (where she is isolated) to the set which they don't have time to properly solve. The link they are trying to make works, the illusion is shattered - she has to face her reality and finds her reason to keep going through the support of her loved ones. It just adds this problem of getting her out of the desert which is something I don't think they managed to overcome without confusing the story.

What do you think though? Was that supposed to be the twist? Or was the twist just that it was a continuation?
Also, do you also find the soundtrack at the beginning to be really ominous? Did it also kinda throw you off? Why do you think they used that sound?

[bambi96 1,555]

To be honest, this was tooooo long to read; but what I can say is, I rewatched it from yesterday; and it was actually really good to watch the transition. I'll paste a YouTube comment:

MEANING OF THE VIDEO OF "MILLION REASONS" The video begins where her predecessor "Perfect Illusion" ended, we see a Lady Gaga super energetic giving a show that in the end ends up being just a perfect illusion and collapses in the middle of a desert where she is totally alone. This could interpret the story she suffered during Born This Way and ARTPOP where she collapsed and many fans, friends and even her team turned their backs. Recall that his former manager, Troy Carter, was the most hypocritical with Gaga during its beginnings. He only used it to create one more doll in the industry and that this was his machine of money. He disappeared during his hip problem and in the ARTPOP era they ended their relationship and contract. That was when Gaga "fell again" and all the projects he had for this album, such as presentations, music videos, applications, and so on, collapsed and was dubbed the world as 'ARTFLOP'. In a recent interview, Gaga revealed that she always told her team during the 'Born This Way Ball Tour' that she felt sick and ill, but her team only told her to continue with her tour. As a consequence, this provokes the post-traumatic stress disorder that Lady Gaga suffers today. And this, is what so far the two videos of the #Joanne era shows us; The recovery of an artist who despite having millions of reasons to surrender, decided to go forward by leaning on her fans, friends and family, that is why you see the group of people in pickup trucks that rescue her when she is totally collapsed and alone in the desert .

She stayed for her friends, family and us; yet we're the ones constantly throwing her down.

 

[MillionReasons 402]

To me it was obvious that she was being rescued....and after watching it a few times I've really begun to like this video. It's really beautiful.

I just wish they had not released the A-YO apple music commercial, so all of those scenes wouldn't have looked similar.

But this is a ballad and to me, Gaga did it justice. 

When u look at ballads from other pop girls like Rihanna's Stay, it's just her sittin in a bathtub the entire time, or Adele's Hello (which BTW is still the most viewed VEVO video in the first 24 hours) is nothing special, ( they do the songs justice tho) but the songs peaked at No.2 and No.1 on the Hot 100. One thing that IK is that the GP is really diggin it, it's most of the gays who don't appreciate it  

I've already watched the video more times than I've watched the PI video, which I love btw. It's a grower. Give it a chance.

[The Fame Joanne 5,985]

It was pretty obvious that she was rescued. The video is still not ok for such a long wait. I was never so disappointed by her. Not even by the missing DWUW video bc there she at least had a reason

[warhol killah 8,671]

I only dislike the editing like the cut from one scene to another.

Watching it the 2nd time really did grow on me. I'll admit I really disliked it the first time. I'll be happy what happens next. 

[Bebe 17,093]

22 minutes ago, MillionReasons said:

To me it was obvious that she was being rescued....and after watching it a few times I've really begun to like this video. It's really beautiful.

I just wish they had not released the A-YO apple music commercial, so all of those scenes wouldn't have looked similar.

But this is a ballad and to me, Gaga did it justice. 

When u look at ballads from other pop girls like Rihanna's Stay, it's just her sittin in a bathtub the entire time, or Adele's Hello (which BTW is still the most viewed VEVO video in the first 24 hours) is nothing special, ( they do the songs justice tho) but the songs peaked at No.2 and No.1 on the Hot 100. One thing that IK is that the GP is really diggin it, it's most of the gays who don't appreciate it  

Don't you think the choices are bizarre though?
I mean, 3 black SUVs coming pulling over at the side of the road when I'm alone in the middle of the dessert would be pretty threatening. It didn't help that there was this ominus hum as they approached.

All was saw for the first half of the video was Gaga sad lying on the floor, the SUV's coming (with the ominus hum), Gaga entering the building with this hum behind her, the video going black and white, her noticing she has a present (but we don't see the contents yet), her still sad and crying into the mirror as she sings, her makeup being done, her turning around fully made up in her pink suit and makeup and the screen of a camera filming Gaga in the white background.

So all we know at that point is:

1. After escaping everything to be alone in the desert and dreaming of this perfect freedom, Gaga's illusion has been broken she is back to having to face reality.
2. SUV's have taken her to this studio
3. She is still sad and broken, singing about how there is a million reasons to leave and crying
4. Her makeup gets done.
5. She is being filmed for some music video, promo or performance.

Later we get shown her friends running out of the SUV to comfort her and later than that we see her open the gift in the makeup chair.

I think most of the problem was that it was a clear, simply chronological story told out of order. It confused things.

The story was, Gaga lying there the perfect illusion has been shattered. Her team comes to rescue her and lift her back up so she can continue, she is still feeling lost, when she goes to get her makeup done she finds a present and a note from her sister, the support she feels from her loved ones gives her the confidence to transform and go in front of the cameras triumphantly. 

The problem was that by receiving that in snippets it just gets confusing. It would be like having shots of Gaga and Beyonce dancing in the diner at the very beginning of Telephone, amongst the shots of Gaga still trapped in prison. 

I thought the cinematography was beautiful and very smart, but some of the choices they made where bizarre.

[PartySick 159,824]

37 minutes ago, Bebe said:

She is driving around in a Jeep (that's now apparently abandoned in the desert)

I think the twist is that it's a continuation tbh. I for one didn't see it coming and the announcement that all subsequent videos will follow suit, creating a sort of "Joanne the Movie", has me excited

However, it is quite a twist to show something that's second only to dark green sedans when it comes to symbolizing menacing corporate greed or corruption only to have it turn out to be her support system coming to pick up the pieces and get her back on track. Whether that's intentional or not, I'm not so sure. For all we know, that could be a left over concept from the A-Yo video but instead of being supportive people that set up for her facing a hard reality, it'd be goons and suits that she'd tell off and go all "rebel without a cause" on 

Oh, I also couldn't see her hyping a small plot detail like that pre-video release

[Bebe 17,093]

10 minutes ago, The Fame Joanne said:

It was pretty obvious that she was rescued. The video is still not ok for such a long wait. I was never so disappointed by her. Not even by the missing DWUW video bc there she at least had a reason

It was pretty obvious she was rescued like half way through the video  3 SUV's driving to the middle of a deserted road is generally something pretty ominous even without the strange sound design and from what we were shown Gaga was still unhappy by the time she is getting her makeup done. 

We don't see her getting comforted by her friends until more than halfway through the video. So from what we see, Gaga drives out to the desert to escape the pressure of everything and lets out all this energy. She imagines/hallucinates this perfect illusion where she is among her fans performing with Mark and Kevin. She eventually collapses and is struggling with her perfect illusion being shattered, she is upset and lost, SUVs come and collect her, she is crying into the mirror, she gets her makeup done, she is shoved in front of some cameras.

It doesn't seem like this is what she wants when really, by the time she is getting her makeup done she has found her confidence and she has found her reason to stay. We just don't see that until later on.

[MillionReasons 402]

12 minutes ago, Bebe said:

Don't you think the choices are bizarre though?
I mean, 3 black SUVs coming pulling over at the side of the road when I'm alone in the middle of the dessert would be pretty threatening. It didn't help that there was this ominus hum as they approached.

All was saw for the first half of the video was Gaga sad lying on the floor, the SUV's coming (with the ominus hum), Gaga entering the building with this hum behind her, the video going black and white, her noticing she has a present (but we don't see the contents yet), her still sad and crying into the mirror as she sings, her makeup being done, her turning around fully made up in her pink suit and makeup and the screen of a camera filming Gaga in the white background.

So all we know at that point is:

1. After escaping everything to be alone in the desert and dreaming of this perfect freedom, Gaga's illusion has been broken she is back to having to face reality.
2. SUV's have taken her to this studio
3. She is still sad and broken, singing about how there is a million reasons to leave and crying
4. Her makeup gets done.
5. She is being filmed for some music video, promo or performance.

Later we get shown her friends running out of the SUV to comfort her and later than that we see her open the gift in the makeup chair.

I think most of the problem was that it was a clear, simply chronological story told out of order. It confused things.

The story was, Gaga lying there the perfect illusion has been shattered. Her team comes to rescue her and lift her back up so she can continue, she is still feeling lost, when she goes to get her makeup done she finds a present and a note from her sister, the support she feels from her loved ones gives her the confidence to transform and go in front of the cameras triumphantly. 

The problem was that by receiving that in snippets it just gets confusing. It would be like having shots of Gaga and Beyonce dancing in the diner at the very beginning of Telephone, amongst the shots of Gaga still trapped in prison. 

I thought the cinematography was beautiful and very smart, but some of the choices they made where bizarre.

Now now, this is more Gaga than ever imo. She never ceases to confuse  . MR video is simple but still bizarre. Isn't that what ya'll asked for  

BizarroGa ha 2nd coming 

[Sirius094 2,248]

This video is just messy and bad executed. Simple as that. There isn't a hidden message or a twist at all 

[Jenina 15,067]

The way I've sorted of interpreted it my first time watching was that she tries to be a normal person that just does what she loves but whenever she does fame comes back.  She can't escape it even in the deepest part of the desert.  And then you see her going to the studio where she obviously is not happy so I thought you know she's not happy doing all this stuff.  You see her getting makeup done so I thought oh she's putting up a cover to make herself seem happy but she is really suffering.  The only scenes at this point where she is happy is the music scenes so she just wants to make music, her original passion.  Then the people came out of the car and rescued her.  I was a bit confused at this point because i really thought the cars were supposed to be something negative but maybe it represents it.  Dark, large, menacing cars may be a representation of how she feels with negativity towards her and paparazzi.  They come out of no where in the video, they are loud, and it gives out a somewhat nervous/scary vibe.  Then she finds her friends, family, and fans and they are the reason she continues to do what she does.  This idea carries on with the rosary and how she still is getting support from those who love her.  idk im one of the monsters that love details and stuff so maybe this interpretation is a little weird but ill be watching it more to see if my analysis changes at all

[Bebe 17,093]

10 minutes ago, MillionReasons said:

Now now, this is more Gaga than ever imo. She never ceases to confuse  . MR video is simple but still bizarre. Isn't that what ya'll asked for  

BizarroGa ha 2nd coming 

I don't think it's intended or positive confusion though  I've never really been confused by Gaga before honestly, I wasn't even confused like "Wtf is going on? I need to take a step back and try to understand" it's me understanding the story and going "Why on earth would you make that choice? Why edit it like that? Why that sound design? It's making me feel this way, when really it seems like you want me to feel this way?"

It's not really confusion in a good way. It's confusing as a film student questioning some of the choices made.

I loved Perfect Illusion, I genuinely rate it among her best videos, and it's clear as hell that the director knows a thing or two about creating visually engaging content. The cinematography is beautiful, the opening shot of the camera panning down and her just lying there is stunning, the SUV's coming in this perfect formation is great, I love the documentary feel while in the SUV, I love the formation of the SUVs parking and the simultaneous opening of the doors, I love the shot of the camera panning over to film Gaga and watching her through another screen.

It's stunningly beautiful and I have no problem at all with it from that regard. I'm assuming Ruth directed it and it's brilliant in that department. Sometimes it can feel like they are going for a flashy shot over a shot that's trying to direct you to feel a certain way, but overall I think it looks great. The editing choices and the sound design is what I'm trying to wrap my head around. I'm trying desperately to figure out why they have made the choices they have, because they make little sense to me.

[MillionReasons 402]

4 minutes ago, Bebe said:

I don't think it's intended or positive confusion though  I've never really been confused by Gaga before honestly, I wasn't even confused like "Wtf is going on? I need to take a step back and try to understand" it's me understanding the story and going "Why on earth would you make that choice? Why edit it like that? Why that sound design? It's making me feel this way, when really it seems like you want me to feel this way?"

It's not really confusion in a good way. It's confusing as a film student questioning some of the choices made.

I loved Perfect Illusion, I genuinely rate it among her best videos, and it's clear as hell that the director knows a thing or two about creating visually engaging content. The cinematography is beautiful, the opening shot of the camera panning down and her just lying there is stunning, the SUV's coming in this perfect formation is great, I love the documentary feel while in the SUV, I love the formation of the SUVs parking and the simultaneous opening of the doors, I love the shot of the camera panning over to film Gaga and watching her through another screen.

It's stunningly beautiful and I have no problem at all with it from that regard. I'm assuming Ruth directed it and it's brilliant in that department. Sometimes it can feel like they are going for a flashy shot over a shot that's trying to direct you to feel a certain way, but overall I think it looks great. The editing choices and the sound design is what I'm trying to wrap my head around. I'm trying desperately to figure out why they have made the choices they have, because they make little sense to me.

Gaga directed or co-directed it supposedly 

[Bebe 17,093]

4 minutes ago, jenypeni said:

The way I've sorted of interpreted it my first time watching was that she tries to be a normal person that just does what she loves but whenever she does fame comes back.  She can't escape it even in the deepest part of the desert.  And then you see her going to the studio where she obviously is not happy so I thought you know she's not happy doing all this stuff.  You see her getting makeup done so I thought oh she's putting up a cover to make herself seem happy but she is really suffering.  The only scenes at this point where she is happy is the music scenes so she just wants to make music, her original passion.  Then the people came out of the car and rescued her.  I was a bit confused at this point because i really thought the cars were supposed to be something negative but maybe it represents it.  Dark, large, menacing cars may be a representation of how she feels with negativity towards her and paparazzi.  They come out of no where in the video, they are loud, and it gives out a somewhat nervous/scary vibe.  Then she finds her friends, family, and fans and they are the reason she continues to do what she does.  This idea carries on with the rosary and how she still is getting support from those who love her.  idk im one of the monsters that love details and stuff so maybe this interpretation is a little weird but ill be watching it more to see if my analysis changes at all

No, it's not weird at all, that's literally how I felt. 

She went to the desert to escape the pressures of fame in Perfect Illusion that's essentially leading her to a breakdown and while she is there she just lets loose and ends up dreaming/imagining/hallucinating this fantasy where it's just her performing amongst her fans with Mark and Kevin. 

Then she is lying down, the perfect illusion has been smashed - she knows it's all an illusion and is forced to confront reality again. The SUV comes, I also felt like they were supposed to be menacing, I felt like it was her team though - she has talked about how she felt trapped and like she was being used as a money making machine without people looking out for her health.

I thought she had been found, they took her to the studio and then she was getting all done up and put in front of the camera - even though she was clearly unhappy. 

I also then got confused at the people who came out of the car to rescue her. It was clear by the end that yes, it's the support of her loved ones that gives her the strength to keep doing what she is doing.

I still wonder though, why the menacing music for the SUV's at the beginning? I go between - they clearly wanted us to view them as menacing and then the surprise twist was that it was her friends - to thinking it was just a bizarre choice of sound design and editing on their part.

[Letmelivemylife 8,715]

5 minutes ago, jenypeni said:

The way I've sorted of interpreted it my first time watching was that she tries to be a normal person that just does what she loves but whenever she does fame comes back.  She can't escape it even in the deepest part of the desert.  And then you see her going to the studio where she obviously is not happy so I thought you know she's not happy doing all this stuff.  You see her getting makeup done so I thought oh she's putting up a cover to make herself seem happy but she is really suffering.  The only scenes at this point where she is happy is the music scenes so she just wants to make music, her original passion.  Then the people came out of the car and rescued her.  I was a bit confused at this point because i really thought the cars were supposed to be something negative but maybe it represents it.  Dark, large, menacing cars may be a representation of how she feels with negativity towards her and paparazzi.  They come out of no where in the video, they are loud, and it gives out a somewhat nervous/scary vibe.  Then she finds her friends, family, and fans and they are the reason she continues to do what she does.  This idea carries on with the rosary and how she still is getting support from those who love her.  idk im one of the monsters that love details and stuff so maybe this interpretation is a little weird but ill be watching it more to see if my analysis changes at all

I've always considered "million reasons" sort of a "I wanna be with you 2.0". Yeah she isn't "paws up" gaga anymore and she doesn't say "I love my monsters" 50 million times a day but if people think for one second that that means she doesn't love us anymore, theyre sadly mistaken. She loves us more than we'll ever understand but saying it 50 million times a day makes it lose its special-ness. If you had chocolate cake every single day, having it on your birthday wouldn't mean anything if that makes sense. She had a million reasons to let go but she realized that by letting go, she'd leave us behind and that just broke her heart. Call it cheesy but we're a massive part of who she is. She never ever wants to imagine her life without us in it.