{"id":19276,"date":"2010-06-15T08:19:52","date_gmt":"2010-06-15T12:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?p=19276"},"modified":"2017-03-10T16:18:07","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T16:18:07","slug":"derivative-lady-gaga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/","title":{"rendered":"Derivative Lady Gaga &#8211; UPDATED"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i4.photobucket.com\/albums\/y125\/TheAnchoress\/gagaunderwearsnooze-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Lady Gaga, reclining on a slant board in her underwear and a shawl, casts off a wire-mesh face mask that has begun to bore her.  As the closing strains of the <em>Alejandro<\/em> playback fade out, she addresses her nameless flunkies and bodyguards<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Darlings!  Why aren\u2019t you looking at me?  I am in my underwear again.  Doesn\u2019t that stimulate you and shock you?  Are you not provoked?  Be provoked, damn you!  I am a f*****g genius, am I not?  Give me that Groucho nose and glasses, I can\u2019t stand my face.  Listen to that song, <em>Alejandro<\/em>!  What lyrics! (Singing)<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nAlejandro, Alejandro<br>\nAle-ale-jandro, Ale-ale-jandro<br>\nAlejandro, Alejandro<br>\nAle-ale-jandro, Ale-ale-jandro<\/p>\n<p>Dont bother me,<br>\nDont bother me, Alejandro<br>\nDont call my name,<br>\nDont call my name, Bye Fernando<br>\nI\u2019m not you\u2019re babe,<br>\nI\u2019m not you\u2019re babe, Alejandro<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Did you see how I did that?  How I played with two Hispanic names to demonstrate the racism of white Americans who cannot tell one Mexican from another?  Am I not daring?  No, It does <em>not<\/em> sound stupid and repetitious!  That\u2019s intentional!  I am drilling this into the guilty subconscious mind of all the world!<\/p>\n<p>How dare you suggest it sounds like the B side of an Ace-of-Base reject?  I\u2019m a f*****g genius and I\u2019m telling you it\u2019s <em>supposed<\/em> to be derivative!  I\u2019m making a point about vacuous Euro-trash techno-blurb and how it delivers compelling social commentary with all the heft of soap bubbles!  (Throws off Groucho nose.)  The aviator cap, quickly!  The one with the thick goggles!  Shove it on my head!  Cover me! (Casts aside shawl).<\/p>\n<p>For the video, I\u2019m thinking military steps with occasional pelvic thrusts!  What do you think, darlings?  Genius?  Janet Jackson?  What is a Rhythm Nation?  Oh, but those dancers wore hats with visors!  My dancers will be all male, really buff, and wearing leather shorts, and I will wear a bra that looks dangerous, in order to demonstrate my sexual power!  (Flings off aviator cap; lays two steel wool soap pads on her eyes.)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i4.photobucket.com\/albums\/y125\/TheAnchoress\/gagamadonnaesquebra.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Bleached blonde hair and black leather!  How too-too!  Madonna?  Conical bras?  Are you saying my ideas are derivative of Madonna\u2019s?  I\u2019ll give you derivative!  All that poseur ever did was wear some rosary beads around her neck and pretend to kiss St. Martin de Porres in front of a burning cross!  She was wearing a black slip!  You couldn\u2019t see anything!  I\u2019m going to channel Evita!  I\u2019m going to wriggle my back for the camera!<\/p>\n<p>Derivative my ass!  I\u2019ll be dancing in underwear that is derived from last week\u2019s laundry, with a red cross at my crotch! (shoves steel wool pads into her bra and grabs a lampshade.)  This my new hat!  I am a f*****g genius!  Then I\u2019m going to simulate sex in my underwear!  Because I don\u2019t want Alejandro to bother me, don\u2019t you understand?  I\u2019m with Roberto, then.  Or Fernando, I can\u2019t remember.  Can you hear the drums Fernando?<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t possibly say that\u2019s derivative!  What if I put bongo drums on my breasts, and Alejandro plays them while singing <em>Babalu<\/em>?  Derivative like Ricky Ricardo?  What about if I am wearing, you know, those flouncy sleeves, while he plays me?<\/p>\n<p>What do you mean, <em>Cuban<\/em>?  Cuban, Mexican, what\u2019s the difference?  This is <em>art<\/em>, you dumbass, and I am a f*****g genius!  You\u2019re fired.  DuctTape your iPad to my forehead and get out!<\/p>\n<p>(Ponders furiously)  Okay, I need to figure this out before I head to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.metro.co.uk\/showbiz\/830487-lady-gaga-wears-studded-bra-and-knickers-to-baseball-game\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Mets game in my underwear and leather jacket<\/a>.  Maybe I\u2019ll wear a bicycle tire around my neck, too, or will that seem desperate?<\/p>\n<p>I know!  What this video needs to be profound and completely <em>un-derivative<\/em> is for me to dress up in a red leather nun\u2019s habit and I\u2019ll swallow a rosary, too, how do you like them apples, eh?  That\u2019s daring for ya!  <em>That\u2019s<\/em> edgy like Madonna never thought of bein\u2019 edgy!  That\u2019s real art!  And I\u2019ll put on sunglasses, like Bono!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i4.photobucket.com\/albums\/y125\/TheAnchoress\/gagarosaryidiocy.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Get that red licorice over there\u2013not the shoelace kind, the twizzler kind\u2013shove them up my nostrils and staple half a lemon to my neck, like an adam\u2019s apple!  That\u2019s beautiful!  Where was I, oh, yeah, <em>art<\/em>!  If people can\u2019t handle art that\u2019s edgy and creative and totally new, then they\u2019re losers who don\u2019t understand my heightened intellect!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i4.photobucket.com\/albums\/y125\/TheAnchoress\/gagaidiocy.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Besides, when a song has nothing to say and rips off Ace of Base, the only way to redeem my artistic integrity is to sell it is with sex, ta-tas and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/entertainment\/2010\/06\/11\/hollywoods-war-religion-lady-gaga-latest-celeb-sexualize-abuse-catholic-symbols\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">enough religion<\/a> to make the Christianists feel uncomfortable, even though they\u2019re too stupid to know that it doesn\u2019t <em>mean<\/em> anything.  Deep down I am a quiet, reserved, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/lady-gaga-dismissed-as-madonna-wannabe-for-catholic-bashing-music-video\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">highly religious woman who feels just a little confused<\/a>.  Sophisticated Catholics will find me amusing!  Cramped Catholics will find my heretical!  I\u2019m fine with all of that, as long as they do not find me boring!<\/p>\n<p>What?  You found\u2026the video\u2026bor-bor-boring?  But how can that be?  I threw every offensive idea I could find into that.  You\u2019re supposed to find it erotic and thrilling and fascinating!  You didn\u2019t?  B-boring?  Bring me a bucket!<\/p>\n<p>No, I\u2019m not going to be sick, I want to wear it!<\/p>\n<p>Pity me.  Have sympathy of me.  Buy my music and my merchandise.  Do not pay any attention to Bookworm <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bookwormroom.com\/2010\/06\/14\/the-banality-of-perversion\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">when she writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The joy of a normal life, a truly normal life, is that you don\u2019t allow yourself to get blas\u00e9.  If you live in the center of the path, which I always envision as a sort of Leave it to Beaver morality, you can still get excited by a jet flying overhead, a flower blooming at the roadside, a baby\u2019s smile, or your lover wearing little to nothing in the privacy of your own bedroom.  This is so much better than trying to live a life in which you constantly push your own sensory envelope.  Rather than enriching your sensory life, it seems to me that, eventually, your perceptions become so calloused that there nothing left to bring you surprise or joy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>I know all about life!  It\u2019s about what 14 year olds want!<\/strong>  I\u2019m Lady Gaga, and I\u2019m a f*****g genius!  Next year, I will be derivative of Mummenshanz!<\/p>\n<p><strong>UPDATE:<\/strong>  Got <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/OneFineJay\/status\/16227837531\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">a Tweet<\/a> asking me if I wasn\u2019t a little less generous to Lady Gaga in this piece than I was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=123229360\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">writing a few months ago for NPR<\/a>.  Well, yes and no.  Note my closing paragraph for NPR:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nLady Gaga is a good musician, therefore she understands the need for resolution. That may help her to move beyond the initial monster call-out. If she cannot, she will fall as quickly as she has risen, having unleashed onto a generation an idea that, like Madonna\u2019s mindless sex fest, is ultimately empty, bleak and unhelpful. Even monsters need purpose and redemptive love, as Mary Shelley knew, or there is no place for them but exile.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lady Gaga, reclining on a slant board in her underwear and a shawl, casts off a wire-mesh face mask that has begun to bore her. As the closing strains of the Alejandro playback fade out, she addresses her nameless flunkies and bodyguards Darlings! Why aren\u2019t you looking at me? I am in my underwear again. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,208,261],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-remaking-ourselves","category-pop-culture","category-tvpop-culturemusic"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Derivative Lady Gaga - UPDATED<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lady Gaga, reclining on a slant board in her underwear and a shawl, casts off a wire-mesh face mask that has begun to bore her. As the closing strains of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Derivative Lady Gaga - UPDATED\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lady Gaga, reclining on a slant board in her underwear and a shawl, casts off a wire-mesh face mask that has begun to bore her. As the closing strains of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Anchoress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-15T12:19:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-10T16:18:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/i4.photobucket.com\/albums\/y125\/TheAnchoress\/gagaunderwearsnooze-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Scalia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Scalia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/\",\"name\":\"Derivative Lady Gaga - UPDATED\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-06-15T12:19:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-10T16:18:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b\"},\"description\":\"Lady Gaga, reclining on a slant board in her underwear and a shawl, casts off a wire-mesh face mask that has begun to bore her. As the closing strains of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Derivative Lady Gaga &#8211; UPDATED\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/\",\"name\":\"The Anchoress\",\"description\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/author\/elizabethscalia\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Derivative Lady Gaga - UPDATED","description":"Lady Gaga, reclining on a slant board in her underwear and a shawl, casts off a wire-mesh face mask that has begun to bore her. As the closing strains of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Derivative Lady Gaga - UPDATED","og_description":"Lady Gaga, reclining on a slant board in her underwear and a shawl, casts off a wire-mesh face mask that has begun to bore her. As the closing strains of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/","og_site_name":"The Anchoress","article_published_time":"2010-06-15T12:19:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-10T16:18:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/i4.photobucket.com\/albums\/y125\/TheAnchoress\/gagaunderwearsnooze-1.jpg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Scalia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Scalia","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/","name":"Derivative Lady Gaga - UPDATED","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-06-15T12:19:52+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-10T16:18:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b"},"description":"Lady Gaga, reclining on a slant board in her underwear and a shawl, casts off a wire-mesh face mask that has begun to bore her. As the closing strains of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2010\/06\/15\/derivative-lady-gaga\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Derivative Lady Gaga &#8211; UPDATED"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/","name":"The Anchoress","description":"Elizabeth Scalia","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b","name":"Elizabeth Scalia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Scalia"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/author\/elizabethscalia\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}