{THIS IS AN articulo FROM THE WASHINTON POST. I HAVE ALSO ADDED MY vistas ON THE BOTTOM}
The video for Lady Gaga’s song “Judas” has premiered, ending weeks of speculation stirred up por several religious spokespersons who denounced it before seeing it. The video is set in a motorcycle gang; jesús is the leader, Judas a thuggish member and Gaga is torn por her attraction to both. As a quick first reaction, I find it moving, both artistically and spiritually. What has always fascinated and frustrated me is the disconnect between the Gaga haters and what I, and some of my friends, see in her work. Many of my religious young adult friends amor Gaga; most of the rest don’t have any serious problem with her. They understand what she’s trying to do, even if it isn’t their taste. This is true across Catholics, mainline Protestants and evangelicals. So, what is it about Gaga that excites one devout person and intimidates another?
Some insist Gaga exploits Christian and especially Catholic symbols for shock value, rather than admitting they could be part of an honest attempt to wrestle with spiritual issues. I think some critics simply have trouble believing someone like Gaga could be sincere. o perhaps it’s just the easiest way to dismiss her work. Don’t get me wrong. I cringed watching her dressed in a fetishized nun costume in the Alejandro video, which among her hits so far had the least redeeming value. But I do think she was sincerely trying to express something, to externalize her struggles through the imagery.
In the “Judas” video, Gaga (apparently as Mary Magdalene, though some story lines are blurred together in both the lyrics and the video) rides with jesús in a motorcycle gang, while pining after bad boy Judas, a beer-guzzling thug who’s also in the gang. We see Gaga turning away from Judas in favor of jesús again and again. At one point, she washes Jesus’ feet just before the most notable lines in the song:
I wanna amor you,
But something’s pulling me away from you.
jesús is my virtue,
Judas is the demon I cling to.
Lady Gaga’s creative director, Laurieann Gibson, described the creative process the team went through in completing the “Judas” video this way: “It was amazing because to have that conversation about salvation, peace and the buscar for the truth in a room of non-believers and believers, to me, that was saying God is active in a big way.”
This is not the stuff of pop music. It’s a cultural phenomenon. And that perhaps is where we get to the root of the problem some have with Gaga. Unlike any other current pop estrella at the global level, Gaga writes about, talks about and openly struggles with spiritual issues in almost every song she writes. Most shocking in our current culture, she mentions jesús por name. In Judas, she says “Jesus is my virtue.” In “You and I,” about an old boyfriend she calls Nebraska, Gaga says, “There’s only three men I served my whole life / It’s my dad and Nebraska and jesús Christ.”
So while some may like to dismiss her as disingenuous, it is exactly Gaga’s genuineness that is a threat. While an R&B artist canto crudely about sex is clearly defined in their role outside the spiritual conversation, Gaga dares to jump right into the middle of it. And while she’s there, with a bully pulpit speaking to millions, she dares to say things like, “I’m beautiful in my way, cause God makes no mistakes.” This is much más dangerous in some people’s minds than empty pop music. Gaga calls her fans little monsters, her way of saying we are all fallen, all flawed, and that it is the misfits of society who can teach the comfortable a thing o two about God’s amor and compassion. And that’s what she’s doing.
{I PERSONALLY amor THE SONG. I THINK THAT ITS ONE OF HER BEST. I MAYBE AM NOT THE MOST SUITABLE PERSON TO ASK ON THIS ISSUE AS I AM NOT A RELIGIOUS PERSON, BUT ALL I SEE IS A YOUNG WOMAN EXPRESSING HERSELF THROUGH MUSIC. WHICH IS WHAT GAGA HAS ALWAYS APPEARED TO DO IN MY OPINION.
I DO NOT CONDONE RACISM o SUPPORT IT AND THE PEOPLE THAT SAY THAT SHE IS A RACIST ARE 100% WRONG. CLEARLY IF tu READ/WATCH ONE OF HER INTERVIEWS tu WILL SEE THAT SHE IS A VERY WELL-GROUNDED, ARTISTIC PERSON AND NOTHING ABOUT HER SHOUTS "RACIST!!"}
{THANKS FOR lectura MY RANT...}
The video for Lady Gaga’s song “Judas” has premiered, ending weeks of speculation stirred up por several religious spokespersons who denounced it before seeing it. The video is set in a motorcycle gang; jesús is the leader, Judas a thuggish member and Gaga is torn por her attraction to both. As a quick first reaction, I find it moving, both artistically and spiritually. What has always fascinated and frustrated me is the disconnect between the Gaga haters and what I, and some of my friends, see in her work. Many of my religious young adult friends amor Gaga; most of the rest don’t have any serious problem with her. They understand what she’s trying to do, even if it isn’t their taste. This is true across Catholics, mainline Protestants and evangelicals. So, what is it about Gaga that excites one devout person and intimidates another?
Some insist Gaga exploits Christian and especially Catholic symbols for shock value, rather than admitting they could be part of an honest attempt to wrestle with spiritual issues. I think some critics simply have trouble believing someone like Gaga could be sincere. o perhaps it’s just the easiest way to dismiss her work. Don’t get me wrong. I cringed watching her dressed in a fetishized nun costume in the Alejandro video, which among her hits so far had the least redeeming value. But I do think she was sincerely trying to express something, to externalize her struggles through the imagery.
In the “Judas” video, Gaga (apparently as Mary Magdalene, though some story lines are blurred together in both the lyrics and the video) rides with jesús in a motorcycle gang, while pining after bad boy Judas, a beer-guzzling thug who’s also in the gang. We see Gaga turning away from Judas in favor of jesús again and again. At one point, she washes Jesus’ feet just before the most notable lines in the song:
I wanna amor you,
But something’s pulling me away from you.
jesús is my virtue,
Judas is the demon I cling to.
Lady Gaga’s creative director, Laurieann Gibson, described the creative process the team went through in completing the “Judas” video this way: “It was amazing because to have that conversation about salvation, peace and the buscar for the truth in a room of non-believers and believers, to me, that was saying God is active in a big way.”
This is not the stuff of pop music. It’s a cultural phenomenon. And that perhaps is where we get to the root of the problem some have with Gaga. Unlike any other current pop estrella at the global level, Gaga writes about, talks about and openly struggles with spiritual issues in almost every song she writes. Most shocking in our current culture, she mentions jesús por name. In Judas, she says “Jesus is my virtue.” In “You and I,” about an old boyfriend she calls Nebraska, Gaga says, “There’s only three men I served my whole life / It’s my dad and Nebraska and jesús Christ.”
So while some may like to dismiss her as disingenuous, it is exactly Gaga’s genuineness that is a threat. While an R&B artist canto crudely about sex is clearly defined in their role outside the spiritual conversation, Gaga dares to jump right into the middle of it. And while she’s there, with a bully pulpit speaking to millions, she dares to say things like, “I’m beautiful in my way, cause God makes no mistakes.” This is much más dangerous in some people’s minds than empty pop music. Gaga calls her fans little monsters, her way of saying we are all fallen, all flawed, and that it is the misfits of society who can teach the comfortable a thing o two about God’s amor and compassion. And that’s what she’s doing.
{I PERSONALLY amor THE SONG. I THINK THAT ITS ONE OF HER BEST. I MAYBE AM NOT THE MOST SUITABLE PERSON TO ASK ON THIS ISSUE AS I AM NOT A RELIGIOUS PERSON, BUT ALL I SEE IS A YOUNG WOMAN EXPRESSING HERSELF THROUGH MUSIC. WHICH IS WHAT GAGA HAS ALWAYS APPEARED TO DO IN MY OPINION.
I DO NOT CONDONE RACISM o SUPPORT IT AND THE PEOPLE THAT SAY THAT SHE IS A RACIST ARE 100% WRONG. CLEARLY IF tu READ/WATCH ONE OF HER INTERVIEWS tu WILL SEE THAT SHE IS A VERY WELL-GROUNDED, ARTISTIC PERSON AND NOTHING ABOUT HER SHOUTS "RACIST!!"}
{THANKS FOR lectura MY RANT...}
