Lady Gaga's "Applause"... In Which She Won't Stop Encoring
Monday, August 26, 2013 at 10:00AM This will likely be the only post on the VMAs... and it's barely that. Yet the opening performance by Lady Gaga last night at MTV's annual fundraiser for the eradication of old people (anyone over, say, 28?) reminded me that I hadn't written about her "Applause" video yet and I wanted to.
But first a truth: As it turns out, a big white singing nun's outfit with giant square head is not a good look for anyone. Who knew?
This temporary outfit (a redundancy... all girl pop star ensembles have a shelf life of 1 song at most) was immediately ditched for quick change recreations of the music video looks but at first we were treated to Lady Gaga listening to her haters in layered voiceover "not her again" "i hate her" "watermelon cantaloupe". At some point in every pop star's career they stop talking to the world and started just having a conversation with their fans. Lady Gaga brilliantly skipped the the first step altogether and assumed the entire world was made of her "little monsters"... but she's moving too quickly. Now she's not even speaking to fans anymore.
OH I GET IT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO HATE "APPLAUSE."
— Rich Juzwiak (@RichJuz) August 26, 2013
She rushed through that only talking to fans part of all careers (5 years is too soon for career retrospectives or self-parody) and now she's just talking to herself about herself for herself.
Her only outreach at this point seems to be in the realm of appropriation. It's always amused me that people get so upset about her cribbing from Madonna's playbook when Madonna herself was literally tagged "The Great Appropriator" and oft reviled for it.
Every current pop star is a half-assed Madonna phase.
— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) August 16, 2013
But Gaga has taken this to such mashup extremes that it's getting nearly impossible to enjoy it because there is just too much. It's gilding the lily on steroids. It's gilding the lily that you forget a flower existed and there's just a puddle of gold paint. She just never knows when to quit. Costume changes are supposed to be enjoyable -- they give your eyes something fresh to look at. But too many of them and it all becomes a giant blur... like that feeling of spotting a character actor in a movie "oh, wait I know that face that's... that's " and then they're gone. That effect but at sonic speeds.
My favorite look in the new video is the Candis Cayne (nude/big hair) followed by the Gina Gershon (on the mattress) but I don't like the Little Edie/Sprockets mashup or the Angels in America armature or the Kate Bush with the prosthetic leg or the or the or the or the or the...
If you have any thoughts on the VMAs now would be the time to share them. My only non-Gaga thought at this point is that Justin Timberlake is an awesome pop star so I wish he'd quit with the mediocre movie star business. You're just taking up valuable screen space. Back to the thing you're actually great at!
Reader Comments (27)
UGH. She used to be genuinely funny. Now she's far too arch to be enjoyable.
THANK YOU for pointing out the Candis Cayne look; first time I saw it I kept thinking she reminded me of someone but couldn't figure out who. The second I read that, it clicked, and I kind of love that she went there.
I totally agree with you that Timberlake should quit acting. He reminds me of Chloe (Grace?) Moretz in that the only feeling they seem to be able to successfully convey is smugness.
Her performance was a blast to watch. I enjoyed watching her quote the previous eras before blazing out in her refreshing mermaid bikini. It was laid-back (for her) and got the point of the song across succinctly.
"now she's just talking to herself about herself for herself"
And where in the world did you get that impression?
I wish JT flopped with his movie career and his solo career so he'd forced back to *Nsync. I love their little reunion! That was great.
My favorite moment from the VMA's (the only one I really saw) was the look of panic on Niall Horan's face while NSync was performing. It's like he was just realizing that there is "only one Justin."
Lets just Miley Cyrus is not a very good performer.
How can anyone not crib from Madonna,i think she's well aware she is a Madonna transfer.
Plus isn't it a bit earlt to be referencing yourself,the performance was messy,like her shows,she keept disappearing for new costumes when i saw her,i like her but she ain't the 2nd coming we thought in 2009.
The Miley dance routine with Robin Thicke left me shocked, I have to admit. And poor Paula Patton's husband was so close to hitting A-list with this Blurred Lines, now he's back to the soul ghetto.
And poor N'SYNC... JT gave'em an ol' dose of Beyonce star power and send'em packing within a minute of their performance... Ha! And stopped JC from singing more! *diva*
Lady Gaga brought the usual shtick, that one really needs a reality check. Katy Perry gave such a mediocre performance (not that it's her fault, the song is hideous) that they should've let Bruno Mars end the night. Now that's a good performance.
P.S. - Like Britney, JT has what, ten years of career (subtract his time with N'SYNC + his 'acting years')? How is he worthy of a Lifetime Achievement Award? Heh. MTV really does think anyone over 30 is über-old.
My biggest problem with Lady GaGa is her outright rejection of all things beautiful. There is something so willfully grotesque and unpleasant about the aesthetics of her work. Some of the darkest visual moments in Madonna's career (think about the video for Frozen and Human Nature) have an elegance and magnetism that Gaga's ever-birthing-amoeba-neon-barbed-wire-gutter-couture could never dream of having. I'm not a prude or a philistine (and like her music alright) but I find Lady Gaga's work genuinely difficult and unpleasant to look at. It's just junky, crass viewing.
Every time I watch a Lady Gaga video I have to chase it with a Kylie video as a palate cleanser. That's a woman who gets ELEGANZA.
The reaction to Miley Cyrus has been especially horrifying. So many people slut shaming her (despite the fact that, until recently it seems, she was in a long term relationship) with barely anyone criticising that Robin Thicke's song essentially condones date rape and suggests women don't really mean "no" when they say so. Her performance had bigger issues than her "not being a role model" like I've seen suggested. And at least she hit the MTV order of being memorable, which is more than can be said for most of the performances I saw.
I have a concern: Why is everyone on the TFE home page doing Miley Tongue?
OK, so I just listened to the podcast and ended up on this page again, and... if there is a better picture to illustrate Nick Davis's "Deborah, you in danger, girl!" than the first one in this post, then I have not seen it.
"My biggest problem with Lady GaGa is her outright rejection of all things beautiful. There is something so willfully grotesque and unpleasant about the aesthetics of her work."
Please. There are beautiful, striking images in her videos as well as the campy or grotesque. Just because you don't agree with her approach doesn't make it, as you say, junky.
@denny - The combinations your mind creates..!
I just saw the performance if only to read the article and get what it says :p
I've given up on trying to see who she's referencing or what she means. She's become too much work for me and my eyeballs but I can't say I have stopped enjoying her even a bit.
Cyrous was weirder, though. What. was. that?
REALLY wished that Gaga hadn't just recreated her awful music video for "Applause" at the VMAs. I wanted to see anything other than that again, unfortunately.
Justin rocked it solo. The N*SYNC element fell flat as a pancake. Those guys were not performance ready at all.
I'm way too old to be watching anything on MTV anymore, but sometimes I can't help it, like now.
JamesT
I think Gaga has talked about the symbolic meaning of the video for Applause and therefore her performance.
Supposedly, they all start like saints (hence the nun) who wants to please the audience (hence the jester, the clown makeup) and then they finally find their way, stop trying to convert to the normalcy they try to confide her in and they blossom (hence the Venus/Aphrodite inspired outfit, who seems to come from "The Birth of Venus" painting).
In the performance, she introduces all her phases by her wigs: the Just Dance/The Fame phase, then the Telephone/Bad Romance/Fame Monster phase and now, rebirthed, "born this way", the Applause</Artpop phase.
It's all here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/azafar/every-cultural-reference-you-probably-didnt-catch-in-lady-ga
Personally, I think Gaga thinks too much of herself. She and Kanye West would make such a egomaniac pair...
@Glenn
That performance was awful and it wasn't just about what she was doing. It was how, her voice sucks and her dancing leaves much to be desired. She just looked awkward and trying a bit too hard. Blurred Lines does not condone date rape smh. .... Or did you write the song?
I've got to say, I quite enjoyed Lady Gaga. Coming from someone who quite enjoyed her during the fun and fresh days of the Fame but was quickly disillusioned by the self importance of Born This Way, Gaga very much won me back yesterday. I haven't read interviews or heard her explanations of the "meaning" behind it all, but I thought it created a winning narrative. The deadpan, crazy, (and self important) intro featured a bizarre and unflattering costume and then earned her boos. As a result she returned to her Fame and Fame Monster looks. Notice no reference to Born this Way. It seemed to me that then she positioned her final outfit (the Venus) as a return to the more fun, spontaneous pop days of her early years (granted she has admittedly only been famous for five). It felt like the return of the Gaga i loved back in 2008, a generation ago in MTV speak. Whether or not this was intentional or it was just my reaction to a lack of her customary shamelessness (I guess Miley had that covered this time), I don't know. Either way, I might not be ready to call myself a "little monster" again but I enjoyed the self-referencing and thought she was the best of the night.
The Applause performance was a tribute to her new mentor Marina Abramović. Remember the freaky video of Lady Gaga screaming while naked in a forest? Yeah, that's all Marina Abramović's influence. She took "The Artist is Present," a performance piece where Abramović sat opposite museum patrons and stared without blinking, and presented it to the world at the start of the song. From there, it was various references to major pieces featured in the Marina Abramović retrospective at MOMA last year. Abramović is trying to start a school to teach her art method to the next generation and Gaga is her star pupil.
Gaga is pulling from the Laurie Anderson playbook, not the Madonna playbook. Her songs will get radio play but the actual performances are going to be dissected and argued over. This is different from how Kate Bush approached Art Rock as a genre, telling elaborate stories to craft her own context for some very personal songs. It's certainly different from Madonna who went for pure shock value when she aimed for music and pop culture as art.
Melissa, I did say that "(h)er performance had bigger issues" so I guess I'll expect upon that by mentioning the bad choreography, the unsophisticate symbology, the crumminess of the two songs (although I kinda like "We Can't Stop", it doesn't play well live), and the costume design (why is Robin Thicke always fully clothed but the women around him are half (or entirely) naked?
We'll have to agree to disagree about "Blurred Lines" sexual politics. I think its abhorrent, but lucked out by being incredibly catchy.
@Tim - Thanks. Now I see the self-reference/parody Nathaniel was talking about.
"Abramović is trying to start a school to teach her art method to the next generation and Gaga is her star pupil."
I just threw up in my mouth a little.
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