I cannot relate to Gaga anymore

[Supersonic 49,376]

I relate to Gaga more the older I get. People ask the same questions so you give the same answers you've given before. Once reporters go off the scope (with asking questions about artistic regret and the political landscape) you get very poignant and passionate answers that are far off from the usual rut that her interviews are in.

It's like... "If you don't make an effort, why should I?". It's not just interviews, but you end up losing yourself if you give everything to somebody who is "whatever" about it. Gaga learned that pretty late even I dare say, I'm already more like that at age 23 and she's 32.

[NIGHTCRAWLER 6,985]

I love her so much more now! Of course she isn't as freak and crazy as she used to be but I'm glad she's now remembered for her talent instead of the meat dress or the wigs. And she's now 32, she aint the little girl she was when she dropped The Fame, she's grown up and mature, gorgeous and glamorous, I live for that

[MonsterAura 548]

Don’t listen to the people using your age as an argument. You are right. 

Changing is fine, being obviously fake is not. And that’s what she is right now 

Be glad that you are one of those who can see through the bull****  

[Ada 1,665]

I think she's just in a different phase. Like she recently said, she loves shape-shifting.

That's what I hope, because I'm really missing her strong attitude toward the issues she cares about. Nowadays it's all kind of aimed toward the art and nothing else. And that may sound stupid since she's an artist and that's what artists are supposed to do. But I always viewed her as someone who understands that art in the time we're living is too powerful as a social tool to just ignore that, like all the other so called artists do. I'd like her to get really serious in the mental health and peace in general realm, since I know she's pretty much the only one that can truly get anything done without being consumed by the industry.

It also affects the fanbase I guess because it's becoming more and more about the charts and her success and less about her message 

EDIT: Also I really don't get why people view her previous behavior as immature  Even in her pre Fame era she clearly stated what she stood by and that's always something people have admired: her maturity!

[Ada 1,665]

3 hours ago, Ronk said:

Most people follow Gaga for her music and entertainment, and can relate to her differently over time. 

I'm in a different situation, where I always relate to Gaga.  I look past her stage personas to the person underneath.  That person is always remarkable, always finding ways to help others, always kind, and always leading by her own good example.  That person is largely unknown to most people, because she doesn't brag about her good deeds and doesn't use them to enhance her image.  That person's legacy will live on, long after pop music is forgotten.  She lives within the lives she has touched, the lives she has saved, the lives she has made better, and the people she has shown the way to kindness, and in the lives of the descendants of all those people.  Her impact on a personal level is forever.

 

Ugh we need more Ronks 

[chromadica 636]

I feel like age is definitely a factor here. A lot of people your age relate more to the "newer" generation of pop stars, like Ariana (which isn't a bad thing). Gaga is a 32 year old woman with an evolving career, so of course she would have been more "relatable" when she was fresher and younger. Personally, I'm 26, and I've grown up alongside her, so I'm not particularly bothered by it. Being a Gaga stan in 2011 was one of the best times of my life, and I'll always treasure it.

[matteonster 484]

30 minutes ago, Nymphia said:

I feel like age is definitely a factor here. A lot of people your age relate more to the "newer" generation of pop stars, like Ariana (which isn't a bad thing). Gaga is a 32 year old woman with an evolving career, so of course she would have been more "relatable" when she was fresher and younger. Personally, I'm 26, and I've grown up alongside her, so I'm not particularly bothered by it. Being a Gaga stan in 2011 was one of the best times of my life, and I'll always treasure it.

It’s exactly the same with me, I’m 26 now and grew up with her too  She and her music was always there with me through the biggest changes and most defining moments in my life, we really grew up together 

However I also understand what causes the feeling that some people cannot relate to her the same way.

[ryhanna 3,507]

I don't wanna sound like I'm being condescending, but I agree that age probably ties into it.

I was 15 when Born This Way came out, and I related to a lot of what you're talking about. The self-expression, pride in being different and unique, being able to be rebellious - that was all stuff that was important to me at the time, and stuff that's no doubt important to you now. 

But now, I'm 23 and my life and things that I relate to are a lot different than they used to be. I'm still able to relate to her because I kinda feel like her evolution kinda mirrors my own, I guess. She was there when I needed an outlet to express myself when I was in a stage of my life that I needed to feel like I wasn't alone. Now she's got a more mature vibe in a time when I'm beginning to re-think what's important to me and the direction I want to go in life. 

That said, there's no shame in not being able to relate anymore. I don't think anyone stays the same forever, and our tastes and preferences evolve all the time. Maybe she's just going in a direction that isn't currently compatible with yours, maybe in a couple of years time she'll be in a different direction that you appreciate more. 

 

[misunderstood 8,736]

Hey no hate coming from me, I respect and your opinion is perfectly valid. I know exactly what you mean. I do think she's just trying to be professional as she can, also I think it could be her nerves as well.

[just another gay 836]

49 minutes ago, Nymphia said:

I feel like age is definitely a factor here. A lot of people your age relate more to the "newer" generation of pop stars, like Ariana (which isn't a bad thing). Gaga is a 32 year old woman with an evolving career, so of course she would have been more "relatable" when she was fresher and younger. Personally, I'm 26, and I've grown up alongside her, so I'm not particularly bothered by it. Being a Gaga stan in 2011 was one of the best times of my life, and I'll always treasure it.

Agree. Not sure if it's Gaga who partly shaped me this way or it just really naturally happened when you are no longer a "young" adult.

Sorry Katy ActMyAge.mp3

[gagarox 1,495]

watched the stephen colbert interview.. i was kinda suprised by her shaking so many times its like she was scared to give the interview... She seems to have lost a lot of confidence. Anyway im not gonna judge her...my gurl has gone through a lot in past year... not to forget her hip surgeries and fibromyalgia... She will be confident like before again once she starts doing the vegas shows..

[Hyoha 1,613]

I feel like she's protecting herself in interviews and not being 100% herself. It's like a facade, really. She has all these one-liners for the movie's promotion and she sticks to them because she wants to feel safe. She went through a lot the past years and is probably trying to preserve her mental health any way she can.

But when she lets go of that protective stance and she allows herself to be vulnerable on interviews, magic happens. Her latest interview on Beats1 made me ugly cry when she talked about Sonja and the last scene in the movie. I just wish she allowed herself to be this vulnerable all the time, but we can all understand that that's not always possible or even healthy for her.

[AlexanderMagno 10,746]

She is a pop star. You get older and more mature. You start noticing that there is a real life besides pop culture. To be honest, the only problem here is that you feel bad about it. You shouldn’t! So you’re not a stan who thinks Gaga is your best friend and talks about her like you know her heart and her thoughts. I think that’s a good thing. She’s a singer and a pop star, you can admire her but you don’t need to feel a connection you should be having with people who actually are with you daily.

And it’s impressive to have your kind of maturity with 15 years old.

[Didymus 34,379]

You're right, this is a totally different persona and she's been 100% concerned with her public image since ARTPOP but especially Cheek to Cheek and only 30% with her work and its quality. It's just obvious in the way she presents herself now that she is following a media strategy. This is especially noticeable in the way she repeats the same rehearsed phrases in every single interview, something she didn't seem to do so much before.

Gaga's done being the pop outcast, she wants to be a mainstream superstar now, and make lots of money with mostly safe, boring but commercially appealing projects. It's possible that this was always her goal, and her "look at me look at me look at me, I'm weird and original" 2008-2013 phase was just part of the strategy to be where she is now. I don't believe that entirely since, as some people have noted here, she is palpably more "composed", fake smiles and all, while before she didn't seem to give a **** about much else than her art.

Now her art is difficult to find. In the last couple of years we had only a couple of projects that seemed designed to be creative (and I don't count Joanne because that was an unoriginal, bland and uninspired mess for me, just like its concert tour), and were subjected to tons of performances and releases that seemed designed purely for the sake of catapulting her into mainstream, safe, and boring success.

I've seen that development come since 2011 so I'm not surprised and only mildly disappointed. She's just smart and I have to hand that to her. But she is not who I thought she was. That is not a crime, it's part of her genius and the people who strategized for and with her, but yeah. Just let it go and see and enjoy her as a regular pop star, it's honestly the best.

I'm just here to enjoy the little bits of glory we still get (which we do) and discuss her general progress, which is still fascinating. But yeah, in terms of emotional gratification and relating to her, I don't. Not one percent.

[Didymus 34,379]

13 hours ago, THATFoxyFeeling said:

You’ve obviously not listened to her Beats 1 interview with Zane Lowe. I thought fans/LM’s would have realised by now that Gaga plays a different character each era, it’s so obvious that she is playing ‘Lady’ during the promotional tour for ASIB. She is a chameleon and I can guarantee you she will be different again with LG6. 

I think you’re all forgetting she is promoting a FILM, “99 out of 100” is an iconic quote. She is selling HOLLYWOOD, she is a businesswoman.

The problem with that approach is that this "playing a different character each era" can be interpreted in two ways:

— the "naïve" way which sees it as part of her identity, her art and her genius
— the "cynical" way which sees it as an easy excuse for her (and her label) to just switch to whatever career mode necessary to keep her commercial momentum, while never being accused of being inauthentic

I float somewhere in the middle but I definitely don't want to ameliorate what she does as something admirable or artistic. At the end of the day, if you transform constantly, that means you have nothing important to say.

Now, it would be different if she wanted to communicate her own undefinable nature in an artistic, abstract, "meta" way (this is actually what I thought she was doing from '08 to '09), but that wouldn't explain why she wants Hollywood success and acclaim all of a sudden. That's not an artistic transformation. That's just playing the game of the industry, without any deeper meaning: if there was, she would've stopped playing the "I'm just a mainstream pop star that everyone can relate to" game in '15 already — fans need to realise that this Hollywood era has been her longest running era of all, and that it transcends specific musical projects, which is brand new for her career dynamic.

It would be absurd to claim that she wasn't playing "Lady" during Cheek to Cheek or Joanne. She was. There's nothing new about this ASIB character, so any fan expectation that she'll go fundamentally crazy again for the next album is absurd and bound to fail, especially since she already confirmed she'll do a whole separate "Lady" show for her Vegas act.

She is transforming to become a "Lady" permanently, only using her flashes of "Gaga" to look somewhat unique and interesting in comparison to her peers, and more importantly, to keep her fanbase from falling apart and ending its easy-money-making-machine. Everyone denying that is just deluding themselves with a hopeful fantasy.

That said, Gaga's transformations have been fascinating, well done, and commercially genius. But the more she transforms away from her previously fundamental personal values ("I put all my money in my shows", "I'm a freak and I want to give all the freaks in a world a big hug", "I care about art more than anything"), the more she reveals that that whole part of her identity was a lie and nothing more, and that her "next phase" will be nothing more than that either.