Why Harlequin Exists: A Theory

[nATAH 42,776]

21 minutes ago, Nycboy said:

I know, but it’s just so hard for me to believe that. Like WHAT are the chances that it’s so Joker coded, and released weeks before the film. I believed her…until I saw the film, and saw how much she was underutilized. 

Just like there’s scenes of the film on the cutting room floor…I’m sure there’s also music that was sadly cut.

I feel like Joker should have been an ACTUAL musical, Todd did Gaga dirty, and DWAS could have been the film’s Shallow moment.

 

it's not really for you to believe or not, it's what factually happened

DWAS is bruno's song that he wanted Gaga to be on, it is completely unrelated to joker in every single way

[Nycboy 967]

5 minutes ago, NATAH said:

it's not really for you to believe or not, it's what factually happened

DWAS is bruno's song that he wanted Gaga to be on, it is completely unrelated to joker in every single way

Actually I am allowed to form beliefs, thanks, I have a brain, and it has thoughts. 

[MOT 2,704]

Good thread this. I really want to know the full story of this movie, every nook and cranny.

The OP makes a good point imo. Gaga randomly releases a song called DIE With A SMILE a couple of weeks before JFAD and it has no connection to the movie ? I'm just not having that. Also, haven't seen the movie yet, but I gather there's a lot of smoking ... why was she smoking in the video ? Very odd and random if it's not a nod to JFAD. And what evidence do we have for the story that it was Bruno's song and she just helped him finish it ? Only one piece of evidence that I'm aware of .... she said it. It's credited as Gaga and Bruno, it's on her youtube channel and when they performed it live Bruno said 'I'd like to thank Lady Gaga for letting me be on her record'. When I heard that first I thought maybe he was being snarky about the fact that it was his song and she was taking more credit thsn she deserved, but .... maybe he was just being honest.

So I want to know the truth about that song. Where did it come from ? Why was it released immediately before JFAD ? Why was Harelequin made ? How the hell is Michael's name all over it ? Why was JFAD marketed as 50/50 Phoenix/Gaga only to end up as nothing like it. Why were they rewriting scripts ? Why were we shown so much footage that didn't make it into the movie ? Did they decide to make it a musical first and then hire Gaga, or vice versa ? How were things on set ? Were there fights in the trailer ? If so, did Gaga bring Peter ? I want answers.

[Nessun Dorma 2,383]

The timeline just doesn’t make sense to me. Todd Philips start editing Joker FAD on April, 2023. Big productions with visual effects can take at least 6 months to be completed. We first heard about Harlequin on June, 2023. Gaga said she had wrote and produced music, so we know for sure it happened before June, 2023. That said, it doesn’t seem possible that she watched the movie, thought it was bad and decided to make her own companion album. 

Honestly, Gaga is a jazz singer, whether this fanbase likes it or not. These type of projects will keep coming throughout her career. The way I see Harlequin is a celebration of her passion for music and not a subterfuge for any reason. 

[gumzy3000 6,962]

I just watched JFAD last night and I went with around 20 people. None of us liked it, some hated it. The songs, unfortunatly, were the worst part. They added nothing to the story, were done so lazily, and came at the worst times. Whenever something interesting was about to happen, a song comes. It was horrible.

I 100% think DWAS and Harelquin are ways for Gaga to quickly disassociate with this mess. She does not want anyone to think LG7 or any of her future projects are connected to this in any way. Releasing a companion album gives her credit to that theory. She can essentially start the LG7 Era on a clean slate. I think it's also damage control to release LG7 so fast because the attention is on her and she wants to show everyone what she is really capable of. If Gaga weren't so established already, JFAD is one of those movies that would destroy careers, not because of her acting, but simply because the online haters will hate the movie and it would look bad for the actors/actresses in the film too.

[Celloo Deng 53,586]

Maybe she decided to release DWAS, Harlequin and the LG7 lead single all close to JFAD to dilute the negativity 

[nATAH 42,776]

52 minutes ago, Nycboy said:

Actually I am allowed to form beliefs, thanks, I have a brain, and it has thoughts. 

yes but not when the facts are proving your beliefs completely false  maybe use that brain to connect those dots?

[ode 1,329]

29 minutes ago, NATAH said:

yes but not when the facts are proving your beliefs completely false  maybe use that brain to connect those dots?

gurly, chill. 

if we tried to stop fan speculation on GGD, this forum would be boring as hell. 

also, we KNOW that show business is a political monster && often requires public figures to give false explanations (or incomplete explanations) for why things happen the way they do… @Nycboy's ideas could very well be true. 

[nATAH 42,776]

5 minutes ago, ode said:

gurly, chill. 

if we tried to stop fan speculation on GGD, this forum would be boring as hell. 

also, we KNOW that show business is a political monster && often requires public figures to give false explanations (or incomplete explanations) for why things happen the way they do… @Nycboy's ideas could very well be true. 

well they couldn't cus they're not  why speculate over something that's false? it's a bruno mars song that he got Gaga on, end of story

[PMM 3,163]

2 hours ago, Rahrahbitchson said:

Wasn't DWAS Bruno's song? I heard that he asked her to jump on it, what is the truth?

definitely nycboy why would you even suggest that

[tyler k 4,829]

2 hours ago, The Ew from Judas said:

I really think that Harlequin may exist as a way for her to dissociate from the movie-so that her fans think of the album first and not the movie

i mean, think about her press appearances in the last week. They may be for JFAD but she’s dressed for and talking about Harlequin. She kinda took it and did her own thing, and part of me wonders if she knew people would be disappointed in the movie and she’s kinda doing damage control

i think this is the truth tbh, just watch that video of Gaga & Joaquin being asked what they thought of the movie lol, they didn't have to say anything their reactions said it all.

the album is in a way some damage control and tbh she's brilliant for that if it's true 

[Nycboy 967]

1 hour ago, Nessun Dorma said:

The timeline just doesn’t make sense to me. Todd Philips start editing Joker FAD on April, 2023. Big productions with visual effects can take at least 6 months to be completed. We first heard about Harlequin on June, 2023. Gaga said she had wrote and produced music, so we know for sure it happened before June, 2023. That said, it doesn’t seem possible that she watched the movie, thought it was bad and decided to make her own companion album. 

Honestly, Gaga is a jazz singer, whether this fanbase likes it or not. These type of projects will keep coming throughout her career. The way I see Harlequin is a celebration of her passion for music and not a subterfuge for any reason. 

Very valid counterpoint. Perhaps Todd starts editing Joker in April 2023, and by June 2023, Gaga starts to realize the direction the film is taking and decides that the best path forward is to create Harlequin? 

[4SeasonsInADay 56]

14 minutes ago, Nycboy said:

Very valid counterpoint. Perhaps Todd starts editing Joker in April 2023, and by June 2023, Gaga starts to realize the direction the film is taking and decides that the best path forward is to create Harlequin? 

Summer 2023 was when the actor's went on strike and all work would have stopped on Joker from Gaga's perspective. That lasted for 6 months. If the work really did start on Harlequin last summer then it makes sense as a way of staying in that headspace before eventually recording ADR or the soundtrack. As she was going to have to pick it up again on short notice whenever the strike would end.

Plus it was professional pride in knowing she could do those songs justice.

[Oriane 19,826]

While it probably felt good to her to be able to perform these songs in a "proper" way, I will say two things.

It is very obvious to me that the music heard in the movie is from Joker's point of view, very dark and broken. Harlequin is the same music heard from Lee's point of view, a delusion of happiness and the evolution of her emotions throughout the movie.

Also, people saying that she was disappointed about the treatment of her character just prove once again they didn't understand the movie  Unless she's dumb af, there's no way she got involved the movie without understanding where the plot was getting at.

[gagzus 14,585]

I think we’re over complicating it tbh.

i think she liked the music they chose for the movie, decided she wanted to cover the songs for herself for fun because she loves music. And maybe Michael said she should link it into promo for the movie? Since she was so attached to Harlequin as a persona; this album feels very much like the final exorcism of all her troubles from the last decade of her career.

In short; I feel like she wanted to make an album of music she was enjoying covering already and Michael as a supportive partner said “hell yeah do it!” similar to how I think he was supportive of her making strong choices and trusting her gut for LG7.