Lady Gaga: Love Her or Hate Her?

Lady Gaga was recently in the public eye for her guest judge spot on So You Think You Can Dance and her recent foray into yoga. Okay, who am I kidding. Lady Gaga is ALWAYS in the public eye. And that is the way she likes it.

From what I can see, you fall into one of two camps. You either love Lady Gaga, or you hate Lady Gaga. There just doesn’t seem to be a middle ground where you are ambivalent about her.

I happen to fall into the I love Lady Gaga camp. I like her for more than just her music. Don’t get me wrong. I like her music. I’ve got some of her songs on my ipod, and I listen to them when I’m out running.

I feel that there is much more to Gaga than what many in the public eye want to see. I first realized how much I liked Gaga when she had her interview with Barbara Walters in 2009. I had one of her CDs at this point, and I knew some of the words to some of the songs. Then, Barbara Walters listed Lady Gaga as one of the most fascinating people of the year. And I was floored. I had to sit down and watch this interview. As I watched Baba Wawa (who remembers that old SNL sketch?) interview this pop star, my opinions on Lady Gaga began to solidify. Here was a woman who was articulate and well spoken in an interview. She was polite. She didn’t stumble over her words or say “Um. Uh. I don’t know” constantly. She is comfortable in her own skin and comfortable with who she is. In this day and age, to see someone so confident in her abilities is phenomenal. I’m looking at you Kristen Stewart. KStew, you should watch Lady Gaga’s interviews and take some notes. She called herself a performance artist. She didn’t say pop star or music diva or even claim to be on Beyonce’s level. Lady Gaga called herself a daughter, a sister, an Italian girl from New York and a performance artist.

All those crazy costumes make sense. She is a performance artist. Her costumes are part of her art. They are a means of expression for what she feels on the inside. Quite frankly, she said that growing up she felt like a freak, and that feeling of freakishness is part of what she does today. She wants to show other people that even if you feel like a freak, you are not alone. There are other people out there who feel like freaks too. And it is okay to feel that way. It’s okay not to fit in with the popular crowd. It is okay to wear black or sparkles. Lady Gaga calls her fans her “little monsters” and calls herself the “mama monster.” She’s created a family like space where everyone who has ever felt like an outcast for any reason can feel like a part of something bigger. She is showing the world that you can make it and be successful in this world even if you let your freak flag fly.

While some choose to ignore it, there is a message in some of her songs. Not all of her songs. Many of her songs fall into your garden variety dance club music. But in some of her songs, you can find a nice meaning. For instance, her song “Born This Way” has a powerful message for all of those people who felt like outcasts. One of the first lines of the chorus states “Cause God makes no mistakes.” She is telling every single person who hears that song that he or she is not a mistake and he or she was meant to be this way. Who can argue with a message like that?

I love Lady Gaga. I tried to get tickets to her show in LA, but it was impossible to get tickets. And, just for the record, I don’t actually think she wears those get-ups all the time. I like to think that she’s got a pair of comfy sweatpants that she likes to wear when she’s sitting on the couch at home.