TMB Was Inspired By Agatha All Along

[Wombat 504]

First of all, I’m not saying Gaga copied Agatha or that the MAYHEM album itself was inspired by it, but the Mayhem Ball in particular really reminds me of the show.

The biggest thing for me is the Salem Seven vs. Mistress of Mayhem. The long dark silhouettes, creepy movements and this group of women almost hunting the main character… they have a very similar vibe.

Then there’s Lilia falling in her pale/white dress, which instantly reminded me of the Mayhem Ball interlude where Gaga falls through the darkness in a similar kind of dress.

look at the first clip on the right here:

now look at the “and she fell into a gothic dream” interlude (although not full)

There are also a lot of smaller things: witches, tarot cards, potions, roses, rituals, gothic imagery, death/rebirth, different “trials” or worlds, costume transformations etc.

And honestly the whole structure of the Mayhem Ball feels a bit like the Witches’ Road to me: Gaga goes through all these different gothic worlds and battles/transformations until she reaches the end.

Since Agatha aired months before Coachella/the Mayhem Ball debuted, I do wonder if Gaga or someone from the Haus watched it and took a little inspiration from it.

Maybe it’s just shared witchy/gothic influences, but some of the similarities are kinda suspicious lol.

Has anyone else noticed this?

[Taumaturg0 1,436]

Lady in Red = Scarlet Witch 

But being serious, no I don't see a direct inspiration, but overall shared themes that are common in storytelling in general (the hero's journey (which tarot in itself represents), the trials, etc.) and witchcraft in particular.

The Salem Seven reminded me of some AHS coven visuals when I saw them, and AHS is a side of media that Gaga can relate to visually. There's also a heavy Burton inspiration for the animations used in TMB.

There's also the Phantom references thrown in there

Edited Thursday at 06:24 PM by Taumaturg0

[gagzus 26,061]

It’s inspired by The Phantom of The Opera. The Lady in Red is directly inspired by the Phantom.

Shallow’s boat performance is a direct recall to the Phantom taking Christine across the underground lake.

And overall the show is about shame, obsession, identity and the duality of the performer and shadow self. Which is what the Phantom and The Lady in Red/Mayhem represents.

There’s also inspirations from Lady MacBeth. And MASSIVE inspirations from Alexander McQueen shows and collections from his 98 Joan collection to his It’s Only a Game 05 show and Scanners from 03. 

The Paparazzi and Poker Face performances are direct McQueen references to It’s Only a Game (PF) and Scanners (P). 

The skeleton dance sequence from the original Coachella show is an almost direct Hamlet reference which was reworked to a more meta version.

Edited Thursday at 06:35 PM by gagzus

[Wombat 504]

@Taumaturg0 @gagzus

Yeah of course it was inspired by Phantom Of The Opera, but I couldn’t ignore the similarities of the show with AAA

[gagzus 26,061]

1 minute ago, Wombat said:

@Taumaturg0 @gagzus

Yeah of course it was inspired by Phantom Of The Opera, but I couldn’t ignore the similarities of the show with AAA

To be fair AAA is inspired by a lot of theatre (obviously) but it’s also inspired by A LOT of Shakespeare (so is the Mayhem Ball) so they share references.

[CYCLOPS 6,228]

It's a collection of pretty standard gothic fantasy and opera / ballet / theatre references. That shot to me is a more of a reference to Alice in Wonderland. As Gagzus said there is also a lot of Shakespeare, Phantom and McQueen in there. The narrative structure of TMB is similar to the structure of her previous rock-opera shows (BTWB and TFMB); it's really just a setup to explore different tableaus built around the setlist.  

I really doubt AAA was on the moodboard at all, it's just that they share similar inspirations.

 

[mamo 20,724]

It actually was inspired by my p*ssy 

[LG10 14,188]

nah