(RAH)² (AH)³ + [ROMA (1+MA)] + (GA)² + (OOH)(LA)²

You’ve probably heard this formula. It’s one of the most recent products of Stefani Germanotta, better known as Lady Gaga. Now a small warning here to all Gaga haters. This is very much a Pro-Gaga post. You have been warned.

To put it lightly, I consider Gaga to be a genius. She does do quite a few odd (and sometimes questionable) things, but even with that, she is doing something incredible. In a word, she is changing, almost molding, modern day culture. You’ve got her pop music, which is taking over every party from San Fran to Japan. Then you’ve got her extremely odd fashion sense which took the media by storm (hello Beyonce, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera).  It doesn’t stop there. She is very talented operatic (and of course other sty) singer and a prodigal pianist.

I’ll start with her fashion. So many people seem to think that she dresses in an abnormal, often provocative way simply for attention. At first glance, yes, that would seem to be the case. Just after watching a few videos, and interviews it become clear that she has far more depth than that. She wears what she likes and that happens to run a little off the beaten path. She also chooses countless outfits from small or less well known designers (she really supports the arts in all ways). Not only are her outfits a personal expression, but more often than not, impressive pieces or art (the crystal dress), or even installations (Kermit the frog?).  She is often pushing the limits of acceptability and slowly letting the abnormalities of yesterday become accepted trends of today.

Her music, is another hot topic. Not only is it all over the pop charts, but it is often looked down upon. She sings about, yes I’m the first to admit it, trashy topics (drinking, sleeping around, etc). Sometimes this is simply her life–and the lives of many others. Other times, she wields the intense imagery and emotion to create her vision. In either case, it doesn’t take much to look further than the surface of the lyrics to see a more complex, tasteful meaning; if you are willing to. For example, a well known line “Bluffin with my muffin”, along with the rest of the song (in an extended metaphor) is about her sexuality and how she “thought about women while she was with her boyfriend”. It’s not simply about her wild escapades and drunken one night stands, it’s entirely a song about her internal battle, and how being Bi-sexual impacted her in a certain relationship. As I said, there are too many places to site where she may say something seeming whore-ish and shallow and actually have a deeper meaning for the modern, open minded man.

In regards to her visual work, I absolutely love her to bits. She often takes reality and morphs it into something new, or something with a twist (our favourite Muppet turned evening attire). She really seems to live by the motto “Go big or go home”. It’s either over the top–like “dying” on stage for a huge audience–or nothing. And that is something I really look up to her for. The idea of almost a “shock culture” is one of her biggest visual tools. The emotion that she gets out of people is astonishing, and usually quite simple. A great example of this is in one of her newest videos, Alejandro, you see the incredibly intense imagery of her swallowing a rosary. For me, someone is not religious at all, that really set a shiver up my spine. Not only did she get a strong emotional response, but got a subtle message (political vs religion, trust, faith failing, etc), which is something I really believe art should be able to do.

Gaga is, in my eyes, incredible. She really works some visual magic, and brings awesome raw musical talent to the stage (something which the world seems to lack now-a-days). I look to her for inspiration often, if not in literal, direct ideas, but in the concepts she lives by and displays in all her work.

For those who are still reading, I did fairly warn you that I am very pro Gaga. I invite any and all people to comment or email me about her. I love her work very much, and love to hear what other people think of it (I often hear a lot of bad, and that is just as interesting as all the good).

P.S. If you really want to understand why I love Gaga so dearly, take a look at this interview. This interview, along with tons of others, show how real, caring and not shallow Gaga really is. The interview

*Images courtesy The Fab Life.

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