How do you really feel about idolizing a rich popstar such as Gaga?

[LilyLark 10,104]

2 minutes ago, ARTBOP said:

Absolutely agree on the too much part and would never pay that much money just to see someone up close and shake their hand maybe. But, if you’re doing M&G with someone of that profile I assume you just have to put a higher price on it, because everybody would want to get it. So they’re essentially not made for the biggest fans, rather for people that have the money to spend. What I do respect so much is how she used to bring, at times, dozens even of fans backstage for no money, fans that she knows waited for days on the street just to be front row. And still does bring fans on stage, and stops a lot of the time to sign/chat with fans. Still keeping in mind she’s a human and can’t meet everyone and shouldn’t have to.

To be fair, people generally aren't paying "just" to shake someone's hand. They are usually paying for a whole VIP package that includes a meet and greet (backstage, snacks, etc.). I still think M & G should be done away with or reformed, though. Like they can be part of a standard VIP package but also have several people from general admission be included for no extra cost. Some journalist went off about them a while back and blamed the labels for normalizing them.

[Modern Ecstasy2 2,202]

4 minutes ago, ARTBOP said:

Absolutely agree on the too much part and would never pay that much money just to see someone up close and shake their hand maybe. But, if you’re doing M&G with someone of that profile I assume you just have to put a higher price on it, because everybody would want to get it. So they’re essentially not made for the biggest fans, rather for people that have the money to spend. What I do respect so much is how she used to bring, at times, dozens even of fans backstage for no money, fans that she knows waited for days on the street just to be front row. And still does bring fans on stage, and stops a lot of the time to sign/chat with fans. Still keeping in mind she’s a human and can’t meet everyone and shouldn’t have to.

Totally  she has such a compassionate heart 

[Magui 2,628]

I don't idolize her... I think you look at her in way that I don't quite understand. I just admire her and like her. I think she is super talented and an amazing performer and entertainer. And I also think she is a good human being, a sensitive soul, sometimes too sensitive for her own good. 

As for the money she makes, to me it's alright, in the sense that is what artist of her caliber earn. Like actors and sports players. If she isn't robbing, or committing a crime, it's her work, her endeavor, her business. I buy my records cause i choose too and love to collect them. And I would gladly pay to see her live, if only she could come here. 

[Candy Gaga 5,374]

I idolize her for her success and what she stands for not her money

[StarstruckIllusion 52,790]

The GP chose to make her famous. She’s just an artist trynna express herself. If she has to much money, it’s the system’s fault. 

[LilyLark 10,104]

1 minute ago, rasclautmangos said:

I feel great 

She's an entertainer and she's been about her paper from day one. 

I enjoy her music and I find her to be inspirational in many ways, but she's an imperfect human being just like the rest of us. 

Preach.

[The Child 18,997]

I don’t idolize her but I do look her up to her as inspiration. I think that’s how she wants to be seen, simply as an inspiration.

[MonsterPug 490]

Don’t invest yourself emotionally with pop stars. You don’t know them and they don’t know you. Her music , album sales, chart positions etc. it’s all a business at the end of the day. She’s a good person and just like any other person, she makes mistakes. Makes wrong choices etc. just enjoy the music and visuals ❤️🥰 

[PunkTheFunk 124,466]

I don't idolize her, she idolizes me

[Franch Toast 26,898]

1 hour ago, Modern Ecstasy2 said:

This morning I was thinking about meet and greets, specifically Enigma/J&P (I’m not sure why - maybe because I was supposed to be in Vegas right now seeing her). And I was wondering, how much say/control she ultimately has over the prices of m&g packages. Or is it entirely out of her control? And is all of that money going in her pocket or is it going towards paying people, etc. Just curious. 

I think charging fans in the neighborhood of $2000 USD to meet their idol is unethical quite frankly, and kind of hypocritical? She has spoken publicly so many times throughout her career that she is a flawed, imperfect person, that she isn’t any better than anyone else, etc etc, but then... if you want to meet her backstage you have to pay basically an arm and a leg for it?

I think she has proven herself to be very charitable with her money and does a lot of good with it, but this is just one thing that’s been on my mind lately.

 

1 hour ago, LilyLark said:

99% of the time meet and greets are part of a VIP package. I could be wrong, but I'm almost positive it's that way with Gaga too. Most artists, with some exceptions like Taylor Swift, "charge" for M & G as part of the VIP package...Taylor just "throws" it in sometimes, from what I understand, even if it's not a VIP package.

I think M & Gs aren't great and should be done away with or randomly decided upon without being part of a VIP package. For example, some from general admission and some from VIP get M & Gs. But I also think M & Gs are pretty much a label thing and not something artists individually push.

Edited: I also think making M & G part of a VIP experience is understandable in some ways versus paying only for a M & G (which rarely happens),  because people want a special experience if they're shilling out that much money for VIP. At the same time, I still believe what I wrote above about the issues.

 

1 hour ago, LilyLark said:

To be fair, people generally aren't paying "just" to shake someone's hand. They are usually paying for a whole VIP package that includes a meet and greet (backstage, snacks, etc.). I still think M & G should be done away with or reformed, though. Like they can be part of a standard VIP package but also have several people from general admission be included for no extra cost. Some journalist went off about them a while back and blamed the labels for normalizing them.

I did an Enigma M&G, and I've already shared my thoughts on that, so I'll aim to keep them short here. I'm not the kind of person who would normally pay for a M&G and only did it for my sister's birthday, but the whole thing felt wrong to me. Aside from the obscene amount of money we had to pay, I felt really uncomfortable with the set-up. The Enigma M&G comes with a pre-show reception and backstage tour, and I actually liked both of those parts of the experience. The actual M&G itself however felt artificial and awkward. I felt bad for Gaga who was more or less standing there like a zoo animal on exhibit, with fans quickly herded through for a glorified photo op, and I felt bad for the fans who expected to have a quality moment with her. It's not at all intimate because Bobby is standing across from her, Peter's off to the side, another staff member (maybe with the camera company) is on her other side, the photographer's standing next to Bobby, and other members of her staff are milling around Bobby. The night we were there, people were rushed through and basically only had a chance to say a quick greeting to her and then were instructed to pose for a photo and leave. Only the very last person had any quality interaction with Gaga. 

My sister was extremely disappointed and felt ripped off, and it definitely changed how she thinks of Gaga and has made her question how much of Gaga's persona is simply a façade. I'm not a person who idolizes celebrities to begin with; I appreciate Gaga's work but don't put her on a pedestal, so I talked to her like she was a normal person, and I found her to be very down-to-earth, but I also realized from this process that I am the "wrong" kind of fan for M&Gs. I wasn't crying and telling her how she'd changed or saved my life, and I was more interested in talking to her than coming up with a cute pose for the photo, which I think made her staff eager to move me on because I treated her like an equal and wasn't playing their game of gushing over her and then striking a dramatic pose. 

I'll admit that when I read "In Chromatica, no one thing is greater than another," it's hard for me to take these words seriously. I still believe Gaga is probably very genuine, and I think it'd be super cool to hang out with her in a dive bar and just chat, but the very fact of her being a celebrity is at odds with this message, because celebrity culture at its core creates divisions in which certain people are put on pedestals/placed in gilded cages and the rest of us are supposed to fawn over them. 

[Modern Ecstasy2 2,202]

3 minutes ago, Franch Toast said:

 

I'll admit that when I read "In Chromatica, no one thing is greater than another," it's hard for me to take these words seriously. I still believe Gaga is probably very genuine, and I think it'd be super cool to hang out with her in a dive bar and just chat, but the very fact of her being a celebrity is at odds with this message, because celebrity culture at its core creates divisions in which certain people are put on pedestals/placed in gilded cages and the rest of us are supposed to fawn over them. 

This.

I agree with you; I truly believe Gaga is a genuine and very good, kind person. But, exactly, her status in the world is at odds with “I am no better than you” or “I’m not more valuable than you” etc., because, well, fans are paying wild amounts of money just to see you in person and talk to you maybe for a minute.

I mean we’ve talked about your experience before but God, it just seems so...unnatural, like she isn’t even a person. It really makes me wonder if M&G’s are something she even has a choice in doing, or if it was part of the contract she had to agree to.

[Franch Toast 26,898]

2 minutes ago, Modern Ecstasy2 said:

This.

I agree with you; I truly believe Gaga is a genuine and very good, kind person. But, exactly, her status in the world is at odds with “I am no better than you” or “I’m not more valuable than you” etc., because, well, fans are paying wild amounts of money just to see you in person and talk to you maybe for a minute.

I mean we’ve talked about your experience before but God, it just seems so...unnatural, like she isn’t even a person. It really makes me wonder if M&G’s are something she even has a choice in doing, or if it was part of the contract she had to agree to.

Yes, I felt like she was dehumanized. I know some fans have had great experiences with their M&Gs though, and some of them have chronicled them on this site. I think it depends on one's expectations and the intensity one feels toward Gaga.  

I don't know if she wants to do M&Gs or if it's part of her contract. I was talking with one of the guards at the Park Theatre, and he said that all of the M&Gs there are quite rushed, and only Bruno Mars's is different, and that's because Bruno doesn't sell them. I don't know how he determines who gets to have a M&G, but it's totally unpaid, and he actually spends time with each person. 

One of the women from my M&G was disappointed by her experience as well, and I ran into her and her mom and her friend in the casino later that night, and her friend had done the artRave M&G which he said was 90 minutes of Gaga and fans sitting around chatting. Even though it's a group setting, it sounds like a much better experience. 

I do believe that Gaga is a good, kind, and genuine person, and I think she truly believes in practicing what she preaches. I also think she's a tad naïve about things.  Ultimately, even though she preaches equality, the very nature of her being a celebrity, especially in a paid M&G situation, says that she is better than other people/is more valuable than them. 

Miss Corona might eradicate the M&G issue however. Not sure many celebs will feel comfortable doing M&Gs for a long time. (Not like there are going to be big concerts anytime soon either...)

 

 

[Modern Ecstasy2 2,202]

7 minutes ago, Franch Toast said:

 

I do believe that Gaga is a good, kind, and genuine person, and I think she truly believes in practicing what she preaches. I also think she's a tad naïve about things.  Ultimately, even though she preaches equality, the very nature of her being a celebrity, especially in a paid M&G situation, says that she is better than other people/is more valuable than them.

I don’t want to get this thread locked from me going too off topic 🙈 lol but - I think some of the things about Gaga that I see as naive are trauma based. Having such terrible things happen to you, and being reminded all the time how unkind the world can be, can result in people needing to tell themselves certain ‘stories’ about themselves and others, even if it’s not objectively true, in order to survive in the world. For example, seeing everyone as good and believing everyone is innocent, even when they clearly aren’t. And the whole fame thing, too. Fame is not a natural or normal human experience, and obviously she has struggled with it tremendously, especially not being seen as an average, normal ‘relatable’ person by the world. I think the way she pushes “I’m just like you” is really coming from a place of needing to just feel like a human.

Okay that was maybe a little too meta lol.

[freebit 6,240]

Personally, I've always just liked her and her music, and I've continued to root for her even during boring jazz albums because I think she's talented, gets unfair flack a lot of the time, and I like to see talent win. She's a whole saga for me. She emodies what I value (talent and hardwork winning! among a multitude of things). 

I don't look at her as a personal savior whose opinion is always true and an example I must follow, or a perfect goddess (I don't look at anyone like that tbh). She's not immune to human error. Idolizing people like that is just unhealthy and always leads to disapointment IMO.

I feel like she'd be proud that you found out about all these things through her own references, but I don't think she's trying to do anything with her references but raise awareness of said person or movement and how it informs what she's doing, so we can see where she's coming from with her own work. 

[RAMROD 109,634]

Doesn't bother me

She brings fun. If I have to pay for it, so be it. It is just bartering in the end.