Gaga's Vision for Chromatica Era

[C1trus 4,341]

This will be pretty long so bear with it

Just a reminder: This is just my opinion for the reason why Gaga didn't promote the hell out of Chromatica. I don't want to waste what I was thinking for so many months so I'll just vent it out here. 

Remember when Gaga said "social media is the toilet of the internet"? I felt like she planned Chromatica era to break the norm of overdependence on social media world. She wanted the impact of Chromatica to mainly exist outside the internet.

In today's era,  we can't deny that most of the essential contents from music artists are easily accessible through the internet. We can see their announcements on instagram, we can watch their live performance on youtube streaming, most of gen z kids might dictate the song/artist's impact by the number of views/streams/likes. Pretty much everything. Like you won't miss much anything even if you don't go out. 

With Chromatica, Gaga wanted to to show what pop culture feels like in the past with its retro sound and traditional rollout.

Now remember how Gaga announced Stupid Love lead single.

Yeah she just posted something from OUT THERE. She didn't do an instagram collage or any proper digital poster. She didn't even post the song's official cover art. She wanted the audience to go to that place where that billboard is located (sort of like a pilgrimage in religious sense).

Spoiler

 

Many of us, undeniably, were disappointed by SL music video because it's generally just a dance video for a comeback single. IMO, that's because we'll only see SL's full glory on live performances.

Looking at this rehearsal video makes me feel like she's supposed to introduce us to a theatrical approach with storyline. The videos uploaded on youtube (internet) won't do it justice.

Also, look at how ROM mv is executed. The way Ari and Gaga danced was carefree, "imperfect". Many of the scenes they chose were not very calculated,  resulting to some unflattering, "could have been better" angles/scenes.

Spoiler

Ngl, that hair clinging on Ari's hands kinda irritated me at first

And that scene when Ari is still slightly seen during Gaga's closeup

And how Gaga's dancing is kinda extra

Even that last chorus scene when Gaga swings her hair but her face is still covered like it could have been better executed IMO. 

 

Something that contradicts the trend on the internet about "perfection". 

Also, don't forget this scene.

We'll never get to know this ending pose until rom bts was posted. We're supposed to witness this on live performances. 

Another. Look at these promo pictures

These are posters that were supposed to be stamped on every wall in public. Without the pandemic, i don't think she'll even post these on her social media. 

Live performances/experiences outside the internet, IMO, is the most essential part of Chromatica. With the pandemic forbidding everyone to go out, executing the era is impossible. 

If she still continued spam promoting everything through the most accessible platform at the moment(social media that is) , she might look like a hypocrite eating her words or what she stands for. But if she insist on doing her vision, she'll get backlash because of encouraging people to go out in public during the pandemic. 

The closest thing we might get into Gaga's vision for Chromatica is the fun and excitement of searching/hunting for Chromatica Oreos. Of course you can order it online but you won't get to feel the experience of actually looking for them.

There's this interview where she said something like "the number of likes on instagram doesn't dictate your worth". I felt like with Chromatica, she wanted to show her audience, especially Gen Z kids, that you won't get the full fun experience if you just stayed locked up in your social media world.

Again, this is just my opinion/speculation. Of course,  I also wanted more content/promo for Chromatica but if what posted above is in some ways really her vision, then I wouldn't mind the "drought".

P.S. I'll sleep afterwards. I hope you'll share your thoughts on this thread and I'll read 'em when I wake up. 

[Nano 3,663]

This is a really fresh take. Thanks for sharing! I also think there is a ton of stuff going on behind the scenes that we may never know about. Gaga herself has said in interviews she has depression and other mental health issues. That may have contributed to the silence of this era when the Haus realized none of their hard work would come to fruition. It's hard to imagine how heartbreaking that was for them. I just hope she's doing okay mentally and taking care of herself.  

[prince 4,688]

I think you're right, with the Coachella set, that Gaga and Ari performance that got cancelled. I think this whole album was about building a world that we could literally be in the centre of. I think the era was cancelled when the album came out because that amazing roll out campaign they discussed could never have happened. 

[HausOfAntonio 8,021]

Ok you kinda slapped? That makes so much sense, I’d never really seen it this way!

[BABBLYON 2,072]

I don't know why, but eating the Chromatica oreos makes me appreciate Chromatica more than I ever have before, and I think that's really cool LOL this thread is definitely a fresh take on the era

[G U C C I 5,465]

I think you nailed it and it would also fit so perfectly with all of the product placements. 

[SHALLOW 16,384]

I totally disagree 

You can’t possibly promote an album without socials nowadays, plus she did promote on them so your point is not valid at all

[Reez 525]

Thanks for this. There's too much toxicity on this site sometimes and this is really a refreshment <3

[Red 97,982]

I mean, it does go along with what Bobby said to Billboard in the September interview, I don't remember the quote word by word, but he implied Chromatica just wasn't a project meant to be executed by lives on instagram and that sort of thing everyone was doing last year, it had to be a physical and tangible experience

EDIT: “An album like Chromatica [is not] going to be promoted by her sitting behind a piano over Zoom in her house,”, that's what he said

[r4therupbeat 1,587]

gaga's vision for this era is under MISSING or under $$ with 0 promo

[Anderson123 38,216]

The sound and imagery was very 90's so the promo pictures and everything being more like it was back then makes perfect sense. I really think they had a lot of things planned for it like the Born This Way campaign which the pandemic didn't allow it to happen. 

[B2theRich33 2,239]

All of this! It seems very evident this was and is supposed to be done off the internet... and the only reason I think Gaga had to post some of these images on the internet was for the very reason of just adapting. And that’s also why it’s so minimal. 

[C1trus 4,341]

8 hours ago, SHALLOW said:

I totally disagree 

You can’t possibly promote an album without socials nowadays, plus she did promote on them so your point is not valid at all

 But the world of Chromatica is way much more than inside the social media bubble. That's what I'm trying to point out.  Not like the other artists nowadays that spoon feed everything on digital screen. Of course that not a bad thing (good for their fans )  but that's not, IMO, was what Gaga wanted for Chromatica. 

7 hours ago, B2theRich33 said:

 It seems very evident this was and is supposed to be done off the internet... and the only reason I think Gaga had to post some of these images on the internet was for the very reason of just adapting. And that’s also why it’s so minimal. 

This^^

Gaga always pointed out that she wanted real connection to people.

Just look at how she kinda interrupts Nikkie whenever she over-fangirls her

Or her excitement when the people around her were not that intimidated by her, they just jam with her.

 

[warhol killah 8,672]

This makes a lot of sense. I think we need to pin this thread. 

[Delulu Rogers 7,235]

It makes sense but it doesn’t explain why she didn’t adapt to the situation. Performance and music videos would still have been executed over social media so that could have still gone ahead. Until gaga explains herself we can’t be sure of anything