Lady Gaga's "Fame"

The more and more popular Lady Gaga becomes, the closer she becomes to being a living proof of her message: that fame corrupts and controls. This video was played at one of her concerts:



There’s something heroic about the way my fans operate cameras. So precisely and intricately, and so proudly. Like kings writing the history of their people. It’s their prolific nature that both creates and procures what will later be perceived as the kingdom. So, the real truth about Lady Gaga fans lies in this sentiment: They are kings. They are the queens. They write the history of the kingdom, while I am something of a devoted jester. It is in the theory of perception that we have established our bond. Or, the lie, I should say, for which we kill. We are nothing without our image. Without our projection. Without the spiritual hologram of who we perceive ourselves to be, or rather to become in the future. When you’re lonely, I’ll be lonely too. And this is the fame."

I think it is interesting how she likens fame to the leadership of kings and queens (her fans) to bring her illusory kingdom. She admits being a "jester", someone who plays games and jokes, no one with any real power.

I don't want to get too far into Lady Gaga philosophy, but I've read many pieces where people believe that Lady Gaga is trying to show us that fame is mind control. For those who have seen it, the Paparazzi video shows Lady Gaga as a slave to the media, killing her boyfriend to gain the limelight back after she had previously lost it. In the Telephone video, she goes on to poison an entire diner full of people while reciting "stop calling, stop calling, I don't want to think anymore", alluding to the fact that she has lost all communication with herself. In one article, someone mentioned that in the video that I posted, Lady Gaga is electroshocked, possibly in an effort to shake her out of her dazed stupor.

The video itself is pretty disturbing, but although the message is cold, it is nice to hear someone acknowledge the illusions of our society in an artful and intelligent way. Is fame just as disturbing as these images?

Parasitic

I'm stealing my inspiration from Lauren's recent post.

Check out these book covers that should be familiar to all of you by now.

Now, look at this results list.

Did Lady Gaga have a hand in this? Any other thoughts?

WWLCT?

It's always interesting to see how movies based on books turn out. Sometimes they can be extremely awesome, other times quite the opposite. In light of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (which I haven't seen yet, sadly), I found something that we can all chuckle at.



While this is hilarious (and has nothing to do with Faulkner or modernism, I might add), I have to ask myself: What would poor Lewis Carroll think?