When it comes to the complicated world of teen bullying, there’s really only one expert of consequence – Lady Gaga.

After all, she’s been vocal on the subject for months now, and she’s clearly done enough field research to put the anti-bullying movement in high gear.

Perhaps that’s why she’s visiting the White House today to lend her expertise to Obama administration staffers on the subject. Who can’t identify with being ostracized for wearing an outfit made of meat to school?

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Here we go again. Prepare to be shocked, appalled — even offended! — by another attack on Christians, namely Catholics, by none other than pope hater Sinead O’Connor. I’m just kidding about being offended; it’s obvious she’s screaming for attention (killing the pope? bet it took her a few weeks to think up that one) and, unfortunately for her, this article won’t just be about her but all of Hollywood. Sorry, Sinead.

What the formerly relevant singer said is not surprising, but then again, it’s never surprising to hear a celebrity disparaging Christianity. Remember this gem from Rosie O’Donnell?

I have news for Hollywood. It’s not risque to attack Christians, and it’s long been a cliché even for our side to say it’s overdone. If you want to be risque, attack Islam, atheists, or agnostics. My husband is a cradle Catholic (meaning raised Catholic), and he says most of these attacks just roll off his back. Most don’t offend or bother him anymore because it’s simply become the norm. But that doesn’t mean it should be ignored or criticism should be spared for trite offense-mongering like Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” video.

If you don’t want to watch the video, I understand. Lady Gaga is dressed in a blood red habit and swallows a rosary. This desecration of the rosary is offensive to Catholics because of our veneration (not worship) of Mary, mother of God. The director of the video claims Lady Gaga just wanted to take in the Holy. As a lifelong Catholic, Miss Gaga should know better than that, and if she wanted to “take in the Holy,” there are ways of doing it that won’t cause as many digestive problems, like attending Mass and taking Communion. (more…)

Fox News:

Strange songstress Lady Gaga prompted many jaws to drop during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night when she channeled her foul-mouthed, whisky-drinking, chain-smoking male alter-ago, Jo Calderone.

“She left me! She said it always starts out good and then the guys — meaning me, I’m one of the guys — we get crazy,” the Calderone character said in the opening monologue. “I did. I got crazy. But she’s f—ing crazy too, right?” 

During Gaga’s multiple appearances on stage throughout the night, she continued to find the need to reinforce that “Gaga wasn’t here tonight” and that “Calderone” “was accepting the award on her behalf.”  

However, we’re told Gaga’s somewhat crass drag routine wasn’t just restricted for the cameras. An insider told FOX411’s Pop Tarts that the performer also spent the day using men’s room.

We’re sure that was … interesting … for male attendees.

But the strange behavior didn’t end there.

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Welcome to Big Hollywood’s monthly review of all things notable in the world of music.

This is Vintage Now, released a few weeks ago, is a retro music compilation that isn’t designed to cash in on nostalgia– rather, it’s a harbinger of a growing movement to revive not only the style but the values of classic culture. Featuring 10 songs from artists of all ages and nations, This is Vintage Now embodies the sound of classic jazz, rock, and pop music but doesn’t come off as pure nostalgia. Producer David Gasten, who appears on the record with his band The City Kids, explains the reason the disc doesn’t sound like a cynical ploy preying on older generations’ memories:

The Vintage Movement is a new social movement of people who are essentially trying to escape back to the 1940’s, 1950’s, and early-to mid-1960’s. Many times attempts at bringing a period back have been short-lived (e.g. the Nineties Swing Revival) because they were not rooted in a inside-out, values-based way of doing things. People come to these older styles because they want to escape. They want to visit an alternate world where class and quality are the rule, not the exception. They want to be excited about life and culture instead of slimed by the same old garbage over and over again. And they want to get along with others, have good conversations, flirt, dance, enjoy great music and movies, etc. The ladies want to be treated like ladies, and the gentlemen want to be able to be gentlemen.

Spanning a wide range of styles, from Beverley Kenney’s whimsical ’40s-era piano ballad to Big Jay McNeely’s raucous boogie-woogie to The Necro Tonz’s edgy jazz to Caro Emerald’s catchy neo-swing tune “Just One Dance” (see the YouTube Video below), This is Vintage Now is a well-paced, engaging listen, and its intent is exactly the type of culture-changing  media we need to combat the values-destroying narcissism and nihilism of the world’s currently dominant “artists.” TIVN is available from iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, and other online retailers, or you can order it directly from the compilation’s home website to get extra tracks from a special Release Party edition.

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We’ve already taken a look at the content of this month’s big bestseller, but digital sales of Lady Gaga’s Born this Way have illuminated an important caveat about new music distribution technologies. In an attempt to harness demand for Lady Gaga’s Born This Way and drive more and more customers to adopt their Cloud Drive Player, Amazon overloaded their server capacity and could not deliver the full album to thousands of customers for much of the day. Digital copies of the album sold for just 99 cents on its release date, but since Amazon has made it so mp3s can only be downloaded once they load into users’ Cloud (web-based storage) Drives, incomplete and delayed downloads turned many off from the service.

British singer Adele has sparked debate about British’s public services in an interview with Q magazine, covered brilliantly by James Delingpole. The singer said of her taxes, “I’m mortified to have to pay 50 per cent! [While] I use the NHS, I can’t use public transport any more. Trains are always late, most state schools are ––––, and I’ve gotta give you, like, four million quid – are you having a laugh? When I got my tax bill in from [her album] 19, I was ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire.”

In other news, Adele’s albums are currently available wherever music is sold.

Hipster music journalists have fallen head over heels for a shock-mongering rap group known as Odd Future, led by “Tyler, the Creator,” whose first label-released album Goblin has earned accolades hand-in-hand with feeble excuses for its deeply nihilistic, violently misogynistic lyrics. Canadian singer Sara Quin of the indie band Tegan & Sara published an open letter on her blog pushing back against justifications of Tyler’s indefensible bile. Quin cut right to the heart of the issue– fear of the race card:

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If you scroll down just a few short inches, you’ll see a thoughtful review of Lady Gaga’s recently released album by Ezra Dulis. We’re sincerely grateful Mr. Dulis not only endured multiple-listens to the latest queen of pop’s faux-edgy anti-religious lyrics and canned Madonna-esque electronica, but he assessed it in a far more sophisticated way than either of the editors of this site could.

In the midst of a Lady Gaga media barrage that includes a piece in Forbes naming her the most powerful celebrity, it’s only fitting that the two finalists for “American Idol” season 10 have practically nothing in common with her. I have only watched “American Idol” sporadically since the first season, but I have long defended it as a very special show. It’s competition in as pure a form imaginable and the American people democratically choose who they want to win.  That’s a thing of beauty.

At this point we don’t know who will be tops this season, Lauren Alaina or Scotty McCreery, but one thing we know for sure is that the winner will be a country artist.

“Idol” finalists Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery

So while Lady Gaga continues to grab headlines with her cheap-trick glam-bisexual-protest-blasphemy pop, America is choosing between two aspiring country artists to be their “Idol” for this year.

I guess this is Middle America’s not-so-subtle way of reminding the coasts it might be a good idea to keep “flyover country” in mind when they’re producing entertainment for mass consumption.

From the New York Post:

Just a few months ago, the producers of “American Idol” declared that this would be the season they dragged the aging goliath into the future.

With ratings sagging over the past few years and its winners finding it increasingly difficult to sell records, “Idol” was in need of a dramatic reboot.

“Maybe it’s like a diva, maybe it’s more like Lady Gaga,” Randy Jackson mused about the type of star he hoped would emerge. “Maybe it’s Muse, Bono or Brandon Flowers of the Killers.”

Now, at the season’s end, with “Idol’s” first all-country finale on tap, the “c” word — for contemporary — is not much heard.

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So, here it is. It’s no secret that Big Hollywood isn’t a fan of Lady Gaga; I’ve even made my own little snarky putdowns in the past. But when it comes to reviewing music, I have to do my best to remove personal prejudices– address the music itself and the ideas they communicate. On the first count, the album is a major mixed bag; a few enjoyable moments show up on a majority of the songs, and two or three are palatable all the way through. On the second, it’s a total mess–a self-important repackaging of “if it feels good, do it” that tells listeners no one has to validate them while Gaga repeatedly reveals her own insecurity over lacking validation.

MotorGaga

The Lady in question, known at birth as Stefani Germanotta, has progressed beyond wanting recognition or even fame; now she craves Importance, that vain pursuit which has derailed many a talented artist (and you can quibble about putting that label on her, I’m just being polite). And on Born This Way, this attitude goes beyond didactic lyrics; Gaga puts on the airs of a prophet/oracle/Messiah for the courageous, self-endangering causes of same-sex marriage and female empowerment, doing her best to conflate sexual identity with Christianity–not just any religion, but Christianity specifically.

The album has more references to Jesus than the latest Wovenhand record, the inevitable clash of her Catholic-school upbringing and her professed bisexuality. On the aggressive yet perversely endearing “Judas,” she sings, “I wanna love you, but something’s pulling me away from you / Jesus is my virtue, Judas is the demon I cling to.” Throughout the song, “Judas” has been the “Dear Abby” pseudonym for an abusive lover (perfectly appropriate to compare a bad relationship to the betrayal of the Christ), so first she’s Jesus (a “holy fool”) being betrayed by Judas, then Jesus is an external entity from which Judas is pulling her away… I’m instantly regretting the decision to analyze these lyrics. (more…)

CNSNews:

In his new book Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World, conservative crusader and new media pioneer Andrew Breitbart has plenty to say about the mainstream media (the Left controls it), Republicans (many are spineless), Democrats (America is the bad guy), academia (Marxist at heart), the Tea Party (real and relevant) and, of course, online “citizen journalism” (it could save America, if not the world).

But it is clear throughout the story of his transformation from liberal slacker to passionate conservative and his unplanned plunge into the new media tidal wave on which he is now riding high, that Breitbart thinks Hollywood and its pop-culture-promoting celebrities have more political clout than a multi-million dollar ad campaign.

“When Lady Gaga tells her flock that she is for a certain political position, she affects people with the wave of a pop-culture wand far greater than 10 million dollars in political advertising can do at the height of political season,” Breitbart told CNSNews.com by telephone from his not-too-far-from-Hollywood home in Brentwood, Calif.

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As readers of Big Journalism know, a tidal wave hit a lefty snark-pit of a blog called Wonkette, where editor Jack Stuef posted a disgusting article that relentlessly mocked Trig Palin, Sarah Palin’s down syndrome afflicted son.  Underneath a picture that involved a superimposed animated stripper grinding on Trig’s face, Stuef made vile comments that insinuated lovely things like incest, and stated that Trig doesn’t dream because “he’s retarded.”  A few hours later, Wonkette advertisers such as Papa John’s, Huggies, and Nordstrom abandoned ship.  The reason was because people took to Twitter, and used it to show these companies that their products were being associated with a bigoted, hateful brand of pseudo-comedy.  The people spoke, and they listened.  The wonder of social media!  (Note that Stuef has since issued an apology…sort of)

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Meanwhile, another passionate controversy flared up on the internet.  “Weird Al” Yankovic posted an entry titled “The Saga of Gaga” on his blog, stating that he asked Lady Gaga’s people if he could do a parody of her latest single, “Born This Way”.  Now Weird Al could legally do a parody of “Born This Way” without even asking, but because he’s a classy guy, he always asks first, so as not to step on any toes. Weird Al asked permission, and he was told Gaga had to hear it first.  He then sent them the lyrics, their response was “She has to HEAR it first.”  So he figured, hey, I’ll just do the song, and she’ll approve it, and that’s that.  He labored on the tune, spent the time in the studio, laid it down, and sent it to Gaga’s camp upon completion.  They told him she said no.  So Weird Al, in an unusual display of extreme testicular fortitude, went ahead and posted it on YouTube anyway.

Before I get started, let me let you in on a little personal bias that I share with Kurt Schlichter: I really, really don’t like Lady Gaga.  When she first hit, I confess that I found tunes like “Pokerface” and “Just Dance” to be bouncy, catchy and fun.  Guilty pleasures?  Perhaps.  Unfortunately she jumped the shark pretty damn quick.  The stupid outfits, the pretentious artiste posing, the stealing from Madonna ad nauseum, the arrogant self-anointment as the leader of the gay rights movement, the awful music videos, and the gutless prods at Christianity (note to the Catholic League: stop encouraging her).  Gaga went from fun new pop star, to the total embodiment of all that is dull and politically correct in the world of pop-culture.

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There are apparently people out there who not only find Lady GaGa’s music appealing but, further, find her a powerful and insightful musical voice for a new generation.  These people are idiots, and the fact that most of these morons can vote goes a long way to explaining why so many Democrats keep getting reelected.

It’s not just that her music is bad – though it is, an intermittently catchy collection of overproduced beats laid over nonsense lyrics that would embarrass a slow-witted high school sophomore.  It’s not just that her singing is reminiscent of the hum of a dental drill, a monotonous, atonal mind-chisel that – when combined with her inane lyrics – reminds one of the chanting of some unholy love child of Rain Man and Tiny Tim.  

And it’s not just that she’s pretentious, presenting herself as the sorta-androgynous spoke-being for a coterie of alleged nonconformists whose nonconformity is expressed via rigid conformity to GaGa’s vision of pseudo-transgressive fashions and brain-dead self-affirming slogans.

No, the biggest problem with Lady GaGa isn’t that she’s another lame pop star.  It’s that she’s so damn boring.

As an act of personal sacrifice, I listened to the sneak release of her latest song, an atrocity called “Judas.”  If you want to share my pain, be my guest, but don’t say you weren’t warned.  The Huffington Post, your number one source for all things that suck, is right on top of the earthshaking cultural event that is “Judas”:

The song and video are told from Mary Magdelene’s perspective, with lyrics such as, “When he comes to me, I am ready/ I’ll wash his feet with my hair if he needs/ Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain/ Even after three times, he betrays me/ I’ll bring him down, a king with no crown…”

Wow.  Heavy.  I guess I’m supposed to be one of those bourgeois squares whose mind is going to be blown by GagGa’s willingness to take on those terrifying Christians.  I’m here to report, however, that the only thing that blows is the song.

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For the entertainment industry’s practitioners of political correctness, 2010 was another banner year. Even as conservatives have made deserved headway in La La Land and other areas of the industry, there still aren’t enough conservatives to bring much needed patriotism, logic, and common sense to the scene. Sadly, the industry is still filled with those slavishly dedicated to anti-American tropes, left-wing blather, and self-hatred. From comic books, to music, to radio, TV and movies, PCism still runs rampant.

Without further ado, here are (in no particular order) just a few examples of PCism from 2010 in music, TV, movies, and publishing. Certainly there are many more and these are not necessarily a “top ten,” but these examples do serve to show that PCism is not dead despite the Tea Party uprising, the growth of the conservative new media, and the resulting Republican tsunami from the midterm elections.

Movies and Actors

Who could forget the film Machete, starring Danny Trejo and directed by Robert Rodriguez? This one was a sort of pastiche of 1970s exploitation movies with a Mexican twist. The film was replete with White sheriff’s ruthlessly murdering pregnant Mexican immigrants, American businessmen working to keep Mexicans down, overpowering racism against Mexicans by white Americans and it all seemed intended to inflame militant Mexican nationalism and to goad illegal immigrants in America to put all the blame on white America. The creators claimed it was supposed to be just good, over-the-top fun but in the climate of racial tensions in America today it was as funny as a militant Mexican flavored attempt to start a race war. (more…)

Hollywood, hear our plea:  Could you make some mainstream movies that don’t suck?  There’s nothing worse than a Christmas season where going to the movies seems about as appealing as sharing a straw with Lindsay Lohan.

Throw us a bone – how about more than just one or two flicks a year not targeted to the demographic that thinks Lady Gaga is a boundary-pushing icon of limitless creative vision?  Maybe a couple that are not focused on shiny supernatural creatures who chat about their feelings and stare longingly into the eyes of dead-eyed starlets acting as the surrogate for the millions of lonely shut-ins who adore them?  Just a few films not aimed squarely at creepy man-children dwelling in their moms’ Kleenex-strewn basements wishing they too could winch their bloated tushes into tights and fight crime just like their cinematic heroes.

How about more than just a handful of movies for men and women who need more than five hands to count out their age, who breathe through their noses, who have lives?  I have some dough – well, at least until the President and his fellow travelers declare me rich too – and I’d like to take my hot wife out once in a while to see a movie.  I used to go a lot, a few times a month.  But it seemed that five years ago there were always at least a few movies that piqued my interest.  Perhaps it’s me – perhaps I’m too demanding, what with my stubborn insistence on interesting stories told in a coherent manner by competent actors.  Or perhaps it’s just that the recent crop of movies is exceptionally crappy.

Let’s address the curmudgeon question here and now – yes, I have occasionally turned my hose on those damn kids when they messed up my lawn, but hobbies aside, the fact is that Hollywood is both leaving money on the table and sacrificing what little artistic credibility it has left by ignoring the normal adult demographic.  It appears that Hollywood has simply thrown in the towel and decided to focus on feeding formulaic moron fodder to a waiting cohort of slack-jawed ninnies eager for the next story about a magical robot or a superhero with issues. (more…)

There are a lot of things in music that don’t make sense.  The popularity of Justin Bieber is one of them.  Why this carbon based Muppet is currently a media sensation is a good example of things in the music industry that just don’t add up.  Another inexplicably silly part of the current music culture comes from the “Area 51” section of today’s Pop scene.  It is the persistent speculation about what gender Lady Gaga really is.  The absurd question about whether or not the oversexed diva is actually a teamster named Larry has a number of gullible people scratching their heads.  Some of them, a good bit lower than that.  Personally, I wonder how The Who can still sing the line “Hope I Die Before I Get Old” with a straight face.  While all these are interesting in an “Access Hollywood”/”Jerry Springer” sort of way, there are some questions of substance out there in the music world.  One thing that doesn’t make sense is how the country trio, SheDaisy, is sitting out there in Nashville without a recording deal.

For those who are unfamiliar with this band, it is comprised of three sisters from Utah: Kristyn, Kelsi, and Kassidy Osborn.  Originally they were brought to Nashville by CBS records as the band The Osborn Sisters.  While the name was possibly structured in that manner to evoke such acts as the Andrews Sisters, the moniker didn’t stick.  They presumably got sick of questions about whether or not they would be biting the heads off of bats during their live shows, or how it was working with the late Randy Rhodes, so they changed their name to SheDaisy.  If She-Myth is to be believed, the word is Navajo for “my little sister.”  My Navajo is about as good as my German, so somebody could tell me the name means “hold the pickles” and I would have to give them the benefit of the doubt. (more…)

Is there no end to the many talents of Lady Gaga, already recognized as the greatest Madonna impersonator of this century? Of course we all know her as a singer, musician, fashionista and female impersonator, but recently she has revealed herself as maven in two new areas: military expert and political advisor.

It started at the MTV Video Music Awards. That is ironic in itself since I think that MTV stopped being a music channel sometime in the 1990’s. Ms. Gaga, (I don’t know if “Lady” is a title or simply the first part of her pseudonym) appeared in a costume made of meat. When asked the meaning of her get-up by Ellen DeGeneres, she explained it wasn’t a slam on vegans.  

“As you know, I am the most judgment-free human being on the earth,” Gaga replied.  

Wow! Did the irony of that statement knock anyone else down into their La-Z-Boy? That might be the truest thing she has ever said. It wasn’t too long ago that having judgment skills was considered a plus. Not anymore!

Be that as it may, the whole idea was to call attention to the plight of gay folks in the military. If you don’t see the linkage between “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” narcissistic self- indulgence and wearing a Porterhouse, come on over and sit on the terminally un-hip bench with me while I try to figure it out.  (more…)

“Feminism is a Crock – and Other True Stories.” That’s the title for a book I’d like to write someday. The reason I say feminism is a crock is because it has morphed from “equal rights for all” to “women are better than men, and if you disagree you’re a sexist pig who should be castrated.” It’s also morphed into a sexual free-for-all: what used to be sauce for the gander (and those ganders were usually considered cads) is now sauce for the goose. This image is being perpetuated by pop culture and entertainment, and women are more and more frequently being portrayed as strong through their sexuality, not through their actual accomplishments. Is this the standard to which we want our daughters to aspire?

Early feminists fought against the centuries-old image of a “woman on a pedestal.” Gloria Steinem (she of the “a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle” who in later years ended up getting married anyway) once said, “A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space.” I suppose a bra is also a small, confined space, which might explain the bra burnings of the 1960s. But the early feminists had a point – to a point. If a woman wants to be put on a pedestal and admired and adored, fine. But if she doesn’t, she should have the right to do with her life as she chooses. She should be free to pursue any vocation for which she is qualified, either as a single or married woman, children or no children.

But one of the problems with the new feminism was the annoying little fact that children could get in the way of this brave new world. Having to either stay at home with the little tykes or find daycare for them – not to mention all of the discomfort and disfiguration that comes with pregnancy itself – sure put a damper on Gloria Steinem’s idea of a “liberated woman” being “one who has sex before marriage and a job after.” Unbridled sex does, after all, have consequences. And so, according to historian Elaine Tyler May, birth control was “an important tool to gain control over their lives.” (more…)

In prepping a children’s program where I’d be recording all the Duggars from TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, I read a lot about this family on the Internet.

Boy was that unhelpful.

I wanted to make sure I got their characters right while scripting the dialogue for an episode of Life at the Pond. And even though well over a million people watch this show weekly, the Internet was fraught with misinformation. I’ll spare you the gory details, a quick Google of “Duggars” will provide a couple hundred thousand results and you can get a bowl of popcorn and make a day of it.

But there was one common theme, sometimes from quasi reputable sites, that permeated the Internet: The Duggar children are captives in their own home.

Before traveling to Arkansas to record, I’d only spoken on the phone with Jim Bob Duggar, the father of all 19. I watched the TLC program, and that was my only exposure to the children. They seemed pretty well behaved, which explains why I wanted to use them in this episode in the first place.

Jim Bob was kind enough to invite my entire family into his home. We ended up spending parts of three days there, and I can tell you first hand, this is no ordinary family.

You won’t find a television in their giant living room. The Internet is greatly restricted. The girls’ room (9 of 10 sleep in one room – the only exception is temporary, newborn Josie) didn’t have Hanna Montana or boy band or vampire posters or anything like it.

Lady Gaga did not make the cut. (more…)

Not much more can be said about the culturally ruinous effects of Lady Gaga.  Never before has a “controversial” public persona been so contrived, derivative, and over-calculated.  Every single move the woman makes is designed for one thing and one thing only:  attention.  Gaga (born Stefani Germanotta) is, quite literally, an Internet troll.  She employs the same sort of shock-mongering that stars of yesteryear (Madonna, Michael Jackson) peddled to print and television, but her schtick is all about dominating new media:  blogs, social networking, and celeb gossip websites.  With multimillion dollar marketing firms behind her, she’s been extraordinarily successful, but there’s still hope.  We can weather this cultural storm, but it will take courage and diligence.  Anyone who’s spent any time on the Internet knows there’s only one way to stop a troll:  starve it.

Given that this is Big Hollywood, I doubt I need to encourage anyone to stop patronizing Lady Gaga.  But there is a rising pop star that could eclipse Germanotta’s celebrity with your support.  If you have daughters, buy them a copy of The Archandroid as soon as you can.  The album’s artist, Janelle Monae, is a genuine musical talent and an exemplary role model for young women.

The Archandroid is absolutely verdant, bursting with ideas and energy, hopping from genre to genre effortlessly.  It tells the story of a robot named Cindi Mayweather who breaks the law by loving a human man and discovers her destiny as the savior of her fellow droids.  It’s at once classic and contemporary, familiar and uncharted musical territory.  Like most ambitious records, it drags in places and missteps one or two times too many, but it establishes Ms. Monae as a confident and passionate artist with the potential to someday be counted amongst the ranks of soul music legends like Nina Simone or James Brown.  (more…)

When Stefani Germanotta, a.k.a. Lady Gaga, made news on July 16 by equating Jesus with a bisexual dancer in a performance in Cleveland, Ohio, she only reinforced the belief that there’s nothing she won’t do to sell a disc or a concert ticket. Moreover, she also proved that she is an example of that sick and degenerate type of human who is willing to trample the sacred in order to gain but a smidgen more fame from the secular.

What she doesn’t understand is that stunts like this not only make her look dumb and childish (or rich and spoiled), but also less talented.

Gaga’s emphasis on bisexuality isn’t all that surprising for anyone who has watched her videos. But the listening public had long ago accepted this about her and simply chalked her up as one who was cut from a different cloth. Yet it now appears that her sexual fetishes were but gateway drugs to bigger things: like sheer rudeness and sacrilege. (more…)

I want to preface this by saying that I do enjoy listening to a Lady Gaga song now and again. But her attempts to push the limits on what is acceptable are dragging her down to the level of a prettier version of Beavis and Butthead. 

Call me old school but I like music videos that at least loosely match their song. If you’ve got a song about love and your music video is about war, there’s something wrong – unless that song is Jordin Sparks’ “Battlefield.” For this reason, I’ve got a problem with Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro.” 

Lady Gaga is a fad for people who thrive on thinking they don’t thrive on fads. Actually they all do. To prove this I submit the fact that the music video for “Bad Romance” is the most viewed YouTube video ever (haven’t seen it because “rah-rah-ah-ah-ah / Roma, Roma-ma / GaGa, ooh la la” is artless). Lady Gaga’s latest, “Alejandro,” seems to follow a girl trying to break free from a controlling Mexican boyfriend or series of boyfriends. 

There’s really not much to the song. In the first verse there’s a good girl that is controlling (“halo around her finger around you”), and in the second verse there’s a guy that is controlling (“her boyfriend’s like a dad”). I think he’s supposed to be good too, because he’s “gonna fool the bad.” Whatever. As long as we know he’s got a Spanish/Mexican name and Lady Gaga is sick of him, we’re on the same page.  (more…)

Lady Gaga’s Alejandro is mesmerizing in its decadence, shamelessly in debt to Christopher Isherwood’s Cabaret, Rudolf Valentino, any number of tales about Latin Lovers, Alexander the Great and, finally, that unbeatably hypnotic premonition: the triumphal return of Nazism.

Gaga’s eternal return to the garb of a Nun … The Nun … is a backhanded tribute to her Catholic role model, Madonna.

The key, however, to her triumph over the World’s Music Empires, and The World Media That Makes Them, lies in the unshakably blasé expression on her face.

Obviously nothing about success could faze a Disciple of Madonna who has clearly fantasized how boring it might be to spend the night in bed with Genghis Kahn.  (more…)