TCB Alice and VMA's 2013

[LG666 1,930]

Alice is my favorite performance on TCB because of it's theatrical components, the direct ties to the brutalist themes, and the dark visuals that allude to torture and performance artists like Marina Abramovic and even Chris Burden.

While rewatching TCB on Max, I couldn't help but feel like the performance was reminiscent of something, and then it clicked. Gaga said recently that TCB is a celebration of the past while also transitioning to a new future. Reclaiming old wounds and shifting to a new part of her music and performance career. The Alice performance reminds me a lot of the original 2013 VMA's concept that got scrapped. While Alice isn't exactly the same as the concept for the VMA's, there are similarities in the performance art aspect and the dark nature of it all. Here is a thread on the original VMA's performance in 2013 that was scrapped, one of many portions of the ARTPOP era and the infamous mess.

I wonder if anyone else has pondered this?

 

[TEANUS 14,927]

Oh wow I never thought about the comparison until as soon as I read the thread title….the “torture” scene/her on the table definitely could’ve been carried over from that concept

[Gaga2645 2,214]

I’ve always viewed Alice & all of Act I as symbolic for her traumatic SA. Given that Chromatica is heavily about revisiting old wounds, confronting them, and triumphantly overcoming them; I see Alice as her experience with her abortion & Replay, Monster detailing spiraling back to those memories in how they relate to her chronic pain. Especially with Gaga being mostly static movement wise then the bridge in Alice detailing getting lost on the dance floor before finally fully breaking into choreography for the middle of the show. Another thing I’d like to note that always stuck out to me is the way the blood like fabric drapes down and lays in front of her.
I think the 2013 table concept however was another way she may have been trying to symbolize and communicate this. 

[VTV 12,788]

i hope so but i think we all know she already forgot that concept let alone remember ARTPOP

[Ladle Ghoulash 21,797]

I’ve always interpreted Alice at TCB as being the more graphic reflection of the implied abortion in the MTN video after the SA she faced in the industry 

[tyler k 5,329]

woah I love this 

[gagzus 15,784]

It was my instant thought as well, even her outfit being covered in blood is very reminiscent of the old concept. Also I feel like the inclusion of Monster in the segment is a confirmation of how it’s about SA.

Because I remember back in 2009/10 when the theory about SA popped up before she even talked about it or implied it.