Miranda,
Just to start, your blog entry was
interesting to read and provided me with further insight into the
mind of Lady Gaga that I much appreciated. It was a great read!
Now onto my comments on “Judas”...
Although our professor did mention that
we would be watching "Judas" in class (if I'm not
mistaken), after reading your blog I had a sudden urge to make my
comments on the song right away. I grew up in a very Roman Catholic
environment; Strong Italian Catholic values, church every Sunday,
Catholic elementary school, Catholic all-girl high school...the
works. Although I have grown away from my religious institutional
attachments, the values and the symbolic messages still strongly
resonates with me. My past and my current values are probably all
reasons why I am deeply offended by the lyrics of “Judas” and
Lady Gaga's constant need strike a cord with the Catholic community.
I understand that there is probably some deeper meaning to her
lyrics, some internal struggle between good and bad perhaps, but why
must she always use Catholic references in her music? I feel it goes
further then her devout Catholic upbringing and more to do with
global attention. As a Catholic herself, she knows how strongly the
Catholic community feels about their values and they will retaliate
when they are offended. Sometimes, Lady Gaga just takes religious
references too far, and I think its a strategy to make her music
controversial and more interesting for people. And lets face it, it's
working. People all around the world cannot wait until they get their
next taste of Gaga- whether it be a new album, a new music video, an
outfit choice, or even a 10 minute talk-show interview. The world
knows that when Lady Gaga is involved, it is going to be exciting and
controversial.
Personally, I feel that Lady Gaga has
found her niche- offending the Catholic religion. Whether her music
has deeper meaning, the first time people hear a song they do not
automatically seek the deeper meaning of the lyrics, but instead they
listen to the the literal sense of the words. Lady Gaga has learned
to play the game- offend people with the lyrics but inspire people
with their meaning.
PS I am not even a hard core Catholic
and it is interesting to note how offended I got by it. Just imagine
the opinions of the strong Catholic community...
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