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Originally Posted by Consolator
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Watch her interviews. Gaga preaches acceptance and love (and albeit materialism as well.) She was an outcast in high school and she now wants to be the person that all the "weird people" can call their friend, even if only in heart. If she genuinely means that or is just saying that for publicity, I don't know. I'd like to think she means it out of the goodness of her heart. And besides, I know several people who Gaga has affected in a positive manner. There was also a big video made of people thanking Gaga for giving them the courage to have confidence in themselves, and some of the people talked about how they came out to their parents/friends, or how she helped them stop feeling so alone, etc. I think it was done on her birthday. Also, Gaga has been a part of several charity campaigns, including one with Verizon where she matched people's donations to help gay/bisexual youth who are kicked out of their homes by their parents. She's also a part of the VivaGlam Mac campaign, which encourages their customers to always use protection when having sex. All the proceeds of the lipsticks from the campaign go to AIDS research. And finally, although it's already been mentioned here, Gaga is an adamant supporter of gay rights and has strongly voiced her opinions on the matter in various interviews / events. I'll give you that a good amount (if not most) of her music lacks substance, but there is more to her than the music. As for her clothes, I agree. I wish she'd tone it down.
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I think this is a really good and helpful response to what I have said. However, how she presents herself in her interviews is one thing and how she presents herself in her music and videos is another. The problem is that anyone who is conscious enough to do the research it requires to know what you know about her probably isn't the kind of impressionable person I'm referring to. Let's face it... the majority of her fans don't watch her interviews. They watch her videos and listen to her music and pick up the message she sends there. On top of that, none of the charitable things she does make her any less materialistic. She supports and helps the LGBTQ community and those who feel alienated in our society which is wonderful (I'm bi myself) but she could probably do all that while lessening the intensity of her materialistic message. I mean what is she saying? That if you happen to be weird or gay and no one likes you the best thing to do to become popular is buy as many ridiculous clothes as you can?
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Quite frankly i find your way of thinking tiring as i have heard it too many times now but there is more to music than the charts, of course there is. Not every artist out there is out to make money but also not every artist out there is writing music that is ever going to offer such an appeal to a wide range of people in the general public to ever make any money or get any recognition anyway. Pop music is all about popular music, the music that does have this appeal, the music that fills the top 40/top 100 charts all over the world, the music that shifts the most merchandise and the music that makes the most money but why hate on Gaga for this? Why not hate the thousands of pop stars just like her that came before her, made a lot of money and became idolised by impressionable teenagers all over the world before her?
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If you say you find 2+2=4 tiring because you've heard it too many times now... that doesn't make it any less right. That is a moot point.
the other issue here is that I did not say I dislike Gaga for the fact that she makes money, or is out to make money. I only criticized her for the way she uses her pop-star power. Anyone with the ability to write music as popular as hers deserves that popularity. But with popularity comes power and with power comes responsibility. She may be a good person who genuinely wants to help the queer youth of america, but that doesn't excuse the message she sends with the content of her videos.
Your final point is one of my favorites, I hear it all the time. "Why do you hate her and not every other pop star?" Well, i didn't say anything about any other pop stars so how do you know I do not hate them? The point is... she is the reigning queen of pop right now. She is the new madonna or whatever (which was her goal from the beginning) and she has more power over the people at this time than all the pop stars in the last 2 decades combined. She is also the most grossly materialistic. Britney probably wore maybe 2 or three outfits in her videos... same with beyonce... but lady gaga? She seems out to spend as much money as she possibly can and make it look cool. the only way this could possibly be good is if it somehow gets the economy going again...
After all this, i would probably take back what I said about her being a putrescent ulcer, but i would still put it to her to step up to the plate and send the right kind of message to her fans... that you can be cool, and be happy, no matter how much money you have.