oh the power of interpretation...

I just want to state my interpretation of the lyrics to Lady Gaga's Bad Romance and how it contrasts with the interpretation of the professor. Yes, I am well aware that the song is about her relationship with the music industry and how she is willing to accept every negative aspect of the industry in order to achieve her prime goal of fame, but, as an outsider not knowing much about Lady Gaga's history, I have interpreted the lyrics in a way that I have understood them to mean.

As those of you who were in lecture are aware, Professor Harris explained her interpretation of the Bad Romance lyrics and how she interpreted them as a story about unconditional love. A love story about a woman who is so in love with a man that although she sees that he is a mess, she still loves and accepts him. She accepts all of him for who he is, and she will always love him. No matter the state that he is in, all she wants from him is his love.

I, on the other hand, have a whole other interpretation of what the lyrics mean and about the relationship described in the song. In contrast to the professor, I understood the lyrics as describing an obsessive relationship, one where the woman is so in love with the man that she is willing to put up with his negative behaviour. A relationship where the woman understands the damage that he is doing to her, and yet she is so addicted to his "love" that she cannot escape him. Even within lyrics, with the hard words that she uses to describe the relationship- ugly, disease, criminal, drama, revenge - makes the relationship seem dark and heavy. The way she constantly repeats "I want your love" exudes a sense of addiction and a need that seems very unnatural. I also noticed an interesting coorelation between the video and the way in which I interpreted the lyrics; whereas in the lyrics the woman does not seem to want to overcome her obsession of him, but in the video, she seems to overcome her powerlessness within the "relationship" by setting the bed, and her lover, ablaze.

It was definitely interesting that her interpretation was one of positivity, where the woman accepts the man for who he has become and how she is willing to stand by him at times of difficulty. In contrast to my interpretation as a negative relationship, where the woman seems so distraught and emotionally damaged by the relationship, but how she is so addicted to him that she continues to stay in the relationship.