Perfect Celebrity Lyrics

[imogen2133 397]

So I am aware that Perfect Celebrity is about Gaga's struggles with fame and her being mad at herself for wanting to be famous in the first place and kind of mocking that in the song but there are parts of the song that kind of feel more so directed at her haters and critics which confused me:

"I'm made of plastic like a human doll
You push and pull me, I don't hurt at all"

"You love to hate me
I'm the perfect celebrity"

"You make me money I'll make you laugh"

"Show me your pretty
I'll show you mine
You love to hate me
I'm the perfect celebrity"

"I look so hungry but I look so good
Tap on my vein suck on my diamond blood"

These lyrics kind of seem to have a confident, "bad b*tch", sticking it to the haters energy even though the song is supposed to be directed towards herself

and is kind of self deprecating in a way which creates a strange disconnect.

Also the bridge lyrics and their meaning don't make 100% sense to me either with the rest of the song:

"Catch me as I rebound
Without a sound
Save me I'm underground
I can't be found
Hollywood's a ghost town
You love to hate me
I'm the perfect celebrity"

And I found it strange that this song about Gaga hating being a celebrity and being angry at herself, saying it hurts her and causes her pain (like Plastic Doll or Fun Tonight) is on Mayhem when during interviews for the album she said many times "I love being Lady Gaga" and said she was repairing her relationship with the public and her image/status as a celebrity and public figure as Lady Gaga and has a more positive and nuanced view of it then she did before.

 

If anyone could explain that would be great.

[River 125,475]

It's not about her hating being celebrity, it's about the fact that no matter what she does, people will find a negative point, will judge, will shame.

The GP, the media, and the fans, especially the fans, love her but love to hate her..

She's the perfect celebrity, not in the sense of being a celebrity, so in all the rich and famous sense, with all the drama and the gossips.. she's perfect in the sense that she does what expected from, like a good soldier, and she does it with perfection, but despite this.. she'll always be the "poker face and meat dress singer" and less good than her peers despite her working and creating better than any other musician out there.

[Ladle Ghoulash 47,503]

8 minutes ago, imogen2133 said:

the song is supposed to be directed towards herself

I think part of the thought process about directing it towards herself is less that there’s no consideration for “haters” or critics, but more in reestablishing agency: by saying “I chose this,” the negativity of fame isn’t something that she’s passive to, but she’s an active participant in. I also think, if you view it in the context of the contrast between EtherealGa and the Mistress established in the show, the Mistress (or Gaga’s ambition) would be the one encouraging her to internalize the audience’s perception of her in order to become better/stronger (the perfect celebrity in every sense: the object, the trickster, the rebel, the icon). So I think it’s both, but it’s a question of which she’s centering as the starting point: she’s saying it’s directed towards herself because she’s saying I chose to be Lady Gaga, so any **** I get from the public is by extension of that personal choice.

8 minutes ago, imogen2133 said:

Catch me as I rebound
Without a sound
Save me I'm underground
I can't be found
Hollywood's a ghost town

I think if you frame the process described in the song as being dissociative, this makes a little bit more sense (and I’ll work backwards from “Hollywood’s a ghost town”): when she talks about the clone on the ceiling, she’s describing a split between a public persona and a private self (which I think are two of the central points of tension in the song) and so this section, to me, feels like it’s from the POV of the more vulnerable private self, experiencing the pain of the gauntlet of celebrity on a deeper level and I think Hollywood’s a ghost town is her way of saying “all celebrities do this,” they’re all splitting and hiding and dissociating. 

9 minutes ago, imogen2133 said:

she was repairing her relationship with the public and her image/status as a celebrity and public figure as Lady Gaga and has a more positive and nuanced view of it then she did before.

I think part of that process is what I mentioned in the first section about choosing to take ownership of the struggle of being a celebrity because I think that denial was part of what caused her so much pain. I might be psychoanalyzing a little bit but I think when you look at a lot of what she did post-ARTPOP, she was in large part reacting, in some ways negatively, in opposition to her past image. I think she reached a point where the dynamic she had created for herself became a burden and so, for a time, she avoided it in part because it felt like it was outside of her control (“Lady Gaga” is a public object I do not control as it feels as though it has been overly defined by the public’s reaction to it and it’s also borne out of the trauma that happened at the time of its invention; however engaging with those reactions and that trauma is too painful, so I’m choosing to disengage). But on MAYHEM, she’s choosing to take ownership of the sum total of her image and history and integrate it into a broader stronger version of her persona, basically 

[Helxig 44,999]

I think it's all of the above. She loves it and hates it and goes back and forth on it every day. That's why in the bridge she goes into hiding and then rebounds. She plays the game, but it makes her unhappy, but she's grateful for it, and sometimes she enjoys it, sometimes she wants to run away, sometimes she wants to lean full into it. And overall she had times where she gets mad that she brought this whole, complicated, multi-layered, contradictory experience upon hersel

[imogen2133 397]

13 hours ago, River said:

It's not about her hating being celebrity, it's about the fact that no matter what she does, people will find a negative point, will judge, will shame.

The GP, the media, and the fans, especially the fans, love her but love to hate her..

She's the perfect celebrity, not in the sense of being a celebrity, so in all the rich and famous sense, with all the drama and the gossips.. she's perfect in the sense that she does what expected from, like a good soldier, and she does it with perfection, but despite this.. she'll always be the "poker face and meat dress singer" and less good than her peers despite her working and creating better than any other musician out there.

Well in that case I wouldn't say that that is true, sure Gaga has her critics and Joker 2 didn't do well at all(mind you she didn't receive that much criticism for her acting most of it was directed at Todd Phillips) and recently Chromatica and Mayhem received overwhelming positive feedback and responses from both critics/the GP and fans and yes there will always be fans that have certain expectations of her or want her to be a certain way but those(from what I have seen) are a small minority compared to most of her fanbase that are happy with what she is doing and her recent output. So I am not really sure who she is addressing in the song then. Also a certain amount of backlash and criticism is always going to come with being a public figure and celebrity and not everyone is going to like her, that is just kind of how being a public figure works.

[River 125,475]

1 hour ago, imogen2133 said:

Well in that case I wouldn't say that that is true, sure Gaga has her critics and Joker 2 didn't do well at all(mind you she didn't receive that much criticism for her acting most of it was directed at Todd Phillips) and recently Chromatica and Mayhem received overwhelming positive feedback and responses from both critics/the GP and fans and yes there will always be fans that have certain expectations of her or want her to be a certain way but those(from what I have seen) are a small minority compared to most of her fanbase that are happy with what she is doing and her recent output. So I am not really sure who she is addressing in the song then. Also a certain amount of backlash and criticism is always going to come with being a public figure and celebrity and not everyone is going to like her, that is just kind of how being a public figure works.

She hinting about some kind of the criticism for example:

"I look so hungry but I look so good", when she's too skinny "gaga is too skinny, she needs to eat!" when she's gaining weight "gaga is fat and have a double chin".

It's a throwback to the time when she was body shamed by her fans and by the media after she gained weight because she was dealing with eating disorders.. she posted about body positivity on LM.com.. and then after the superbowl, she had to deal with fat shaming.. it's like there isn't a 'perfect weight' that would satisfy everyone.

[Ladle Ghoulash 47,503]

2 hours ago, imogen2133 said:

just kind of how being a public figure works.

Which is the entire point of the song. She’s raging, but ultimately accepting that those are the table stakes of being a celebrity.

The chorus (where that point is the clearest, imo) isn’t as much a condemnation of that dynamic as much as it is laying it out, making fun of it, expressing cathartic rage towards it, but also through defining it, she contains it. By being able to recognize that becoming an object of repeating cycles of idealization and derision is a necessary part of being a public figure, she’s able to defiantly accept the way she felt trapped in that loop before and overcome (or at least lessen) the personal impact it has on her. 

Edited Saturday at 01:54 PM by Ladle Ghoulash

[imogen2133 397]

26 minutes ago, River said:

She hinting about some kind of the criticism for example:

"I look so hungry but I look so good", when she's too skinny "gaga is too skinny, she needs to eat!" when she's gaining weight "gaga is fat and have a double chin".

It's a throwback to the time when she was body shamed by her fans and by the media after she gained weight because she was dealing with eating disorders.. she posted about body positivity on LM.com.. and then after the superbowl, she had to deal with fat shaming.. it's like there isn't a 'perfect weight' that would satisfy everyone.

Well there is nothing in the song that indicates that that time period where she was criticized is what she is talking about in the song that sounds more like speculation than anything to do with what's presented in the lyrics. Also she already addressed it on DWUW from ARTPOP so I don't see the point of bringing that up now.

Edited Saturday at 02:12 PM by imogen2133

[imogen2133 397]

24 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Which is the entire point of the song. She’s raging, but ultimately accepting that those are the table stakes of being a celebrity.

The chorus (where that point is the clearest, imo) isn’t as much a condemnation of that dynamic as much as it is laying it out, making fun of it, expressing cathartic rage towards it, but also through defining it, she contains it. By being able to recognize that becoming an object of repeating cycles of idealization and derision is a necessary part of being a public figure, she’s able to defiantly accept the way she felt trapped in that loop before and overcome (or at least lessen) the personal impact it has on her. 

Well how is she overcoming it in the song? And why is she so angry at the concept of the cycle if she already knew that it was a part of it for many years being a public figure? Gaga even talked about this process of celebrities being brought up as icons and then destroyed when the media/public had enough of them and wanted to see them fall in the Paparazzi video, her 2011 60 minutes interview and in her unreleased song, Princess Die so I don't see why she would be processing it on Mayhem now and especially since she already explored the concept of it affecting her and her status on DWUW.

Edited Saturday at 02:14 PM by imogen2133

[Ladle Ghoulash 47,503]

3 minutes ago, imogen2133 said:

she already addressed it on DWUW from ARTPOP so I don't see the point of bringing that up now.

It’s almost as if the way she has felt objectified by the pubic has been a longstanding issue for her and she wanted to put a pin it with one overarching statement. Huh.

[Ladle Ghoulash 47,503]

Just now, imogen2133 said:

Well how is she overcoming it in the song? And why is she so angry at the concept of the cycle if she already knew that it was a part of it for many years being a public figure? Gaga even talked about this process of celebrities being brought up as icons and then destroyed when the media/public had enough of them and wanted to see them fall in the Paparazzi video, her 2011 60 minutes interview and in her unreleased Princess Die so I don't see why she would be processing it on Mayhem now and especially since she already explored the concept of it affecting her and her status on DWUW.

Already answered your first question in the comment you replied to:

“The chorus (where that point is the clearest, imo) isn’t as much a condemnation of that dynamic as much as it is laying it out, making fun of it, expressing cathartic rage towards it, but also through defining it, she contains it. By being able to recognize that becoming an object of repeating cycles of idealization and derision is a necessary part of being a public figure, she’s able to defiantly accept the way she felt trapped in that loop before and overcome (or at least lessen) the personal impact it has on her.”

1 minute ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

It’s almost as if the way she has felt objectified by the pubic has been a longstanding issue for her and she wanted to put a pin it with one overarching statement. Huh.

^ Also already addressed the issue of timing.

15 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

I think she reached a point where the dynamic she had created for herself became a burden and so, for a time, she avoided it in part because it felt like it was outside of her control (“Lady Gaga” is a public object I do not control as it feels as though it has been overly defined by the public’s reaction to it and it’s also borne out of the trauma that happened at the time of its invention; however engaging with those reactions and that trauma is too painful, so I’m choosing to disengage). But on MAYHEM, she’s choosing to take ownership of the sum total of her image and history and integrate it into a broader stronger version of her persona, basically 

^ Also already addressed the post-ARTPOP dynamic between herself, her public image, and her relationship to her persona.

And re: Paparazzi: she wrote about that from the POV of someone who hadn’t meaningfully lived it and, between Papa and DWUW, I think you’re seeing the tactics of someone who thinks they can effectively outmaneuver the commodification and objectification of celebrity and someone maybe even believes they can transform celebrity culture through bringing awareness to the dynamic. I see PC, on the other hand, as a resignation that that dynamic will always be somewhat out of her control and accepting that playing within it (as opposed to trying to reform it) is part of tension and fun of it (which is more of a tonal and textual observation as opposed to a textual observation).

[imogen2133 397]

18 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

It’s almost as if the way she has felt objectified by the pubic has been a longstanding issue for her and she wanted to put a pin it with one overarching statement. Huh.

Well that's the thing I said earlier at the time DWUW was a direct response to the shaming she was receiving due to her weight gain during 2012 but I haven't seen Gaga being widely objectified at all in recent years and overall the public and fans seem to have a much more positive view of Gaga and don't shame her like they used to. She is a GP darling, she has much critical acclaim and people respect her as a human and artist, from what I have seen.

Edited Saturday at 02:29 PM by imogen2133

[imogen2133 397]

4 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Already answered your first question in the comment you replied to:

“The chorus (where that point is the clearest, imo) isn’t as much a condemnation of that dynamic as much as it is laying it out, making fun of it, expressing cathartic rage towards it, but also through defining it, she contains it. By being able to recognize that becoming an object of repeating cycles of idealization and derision is a necessary part of being a public figure, she’s able to defiantly accept the way she felt trapped in that loop before and overcome (or at least lessen) the personal impact it has on her.”

^ Also already addressed the issue of timing.

^ Also already addressed the post-ARTPOP dynamic between herself, her public image, and her relationship to her persona.

And re: Paparazzi: she wrote about that from the POV of someone who hadn’t meaningfully lived it and, between Papa and DWUW, I think you’re seeing the tactics of someone who thinks they can effectively outmaneuver the commodification and objectification of celebrity and someone maybe even believes they can transform celebrity culture through bringing awareness to the dynamic. I see PC, on the other hand, as a resignation that that dynamic will always be somewhat out of her control and accepting that playing within it (as opposed to trying to reform it) is part of tension and fun of it (which is more of a tonal and textual observation as opposed to a textual observation).

Well I am aware that Gaga post ARTPOP had a negative perception of herself as a public figure and as "Lady Gaga" and she actively rejected it for a long time yes, also you said that Gaga isn't condemning the dynamic of her and the public as a celebrity and how she is treated/treating it as a neutral thing or making fun of it but also said she is expressing rage and anger towards that dynamic??? 

[Ladle Ghoulash 47,503]

1 minute ago, imogen2133 said:

Well that's the thing I said earlier at the time DWUW was a direct response to the shaming she was receiving due to her weight gain during 2012 but I haven't seen Gaga being widely objectified at all in recent years and overall the public and fans seem to have a much more positive view of Gaga and don't shame her like they used to. She is a GP darling, she has much critical acclaim and people respect her as a human and artist, what I have seen.

Already addressed this: 

15 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

post-ARTPOP, she was in large part reacting, in some ways negatively, in opposition to her past image. I think she reached a point where the dynamic she had created for herself became a burden and so, for a time, she avoided it in part because it felt like it was outside of her control (“Lady Gaga” is a public object I do not control as it feels as though it has been overly defined by the public’s reaction to it and it’s also borne out of the trauma that happened at the time of its invention; however engaging with those reactions and that trauma is too painful, so I’m choosing to disengage).

But to further clarify: She may have received praise as of late but she also clearly hadn’t really processed much of what she went through (which I mentioned in the comment you replied to and quoted again above) until around the end of the Chromatica era. She may have addressed it, but she was clearly still haunted by it (“my biggest enemy is Lady Gaga,” her talking about hating being mobbed by paps and pawed at by fans etc.). 

[Ladle Ghoulash 47,503]

Just now, imogen2133 said:

how she is treated/treating it as a neutral thing or making fun of it but also said she is expressing rage and anger towards that dynamic??? 

I never said she treated it as neutral. You can accept something as being real and, to an extent, unavoidable without it becoming “neutral.” A huge part of art is learning to play with pain and my point about PC is that it feels like the mastery of the way she tried to play with (and by extension deal with, process, or accept) the relationship she has to her public persona because previous iterations focused too heavily on the extrinsic part of that dynamic (how she’s seen by the public) whereas PC incorporates the understanding of the public dynamic as an extension of her creating her persona and chooses to wrestle with the way she internalizes it instead of wrestling exclusively with the public’s reaction to it.

Also FWIW, I did also say a lot of this in my first comment:

15 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

I think part of the thought process about directing it towards herself is less that there’s no consideration for “haters” or critics, but more in reestablishing agency: by saying “I chose this,” the negativity of fame isn’t something that she’s passive to, but she’s an active participant in. I also think, if you view it in the context of the contrast between EtherealGa and the Mistress established in the show, the Mistress (or Gaga’s ambition) would be the one encouraging her to internalize the audience’s perception of her in order to become better/stronger (the perfect celebrity in every sense: the object, the trickster, the rebel, the icon). So I think it’s both, but it’s a question of which she’s centering as the starting point: she’s saying it’s directed towards herself because she’s saying I chose to be Lady Gaga, so any **** I get from the public is by extension of that personal choice.