Comments on: 11 Things I Learned From Watching “Telephone”

By: lycia

lycia — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 12:15:57 +0000

@Lydia http://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/word-of-the-day-kyriarchy/

By: A Portrait of an Artist as M.I.A. « 10 Listens

A Portrait of an Artist as M.I.A. « 10 Listens — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:12:15 +0000

[...] vague signifiers. And this point is where Gaga and M.I.A. begin to diverge radically. Gaga provokes feminist- and queer-minded folk to discuss the relative merit of her actions, which are perceived broadly as expanding awareness for women and [...]

By: R

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 05:16:04 +0000

@Leah B

You probably already know this, but Lady Gaga wrote that song for Britney Spears, since she didn’t want it, Lady Gaga just stuck it on her own album. I don’t think the metaphor here is work, it is a pretty straight-forward song. It does seem to play into the whole flirting-with-the-illuminati thing she’s been doing.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:23:28 +0000

While I see the problematic parts, I have to admit I liked the video for a lot of reasons mentioned in this other review of the video: http://www.fatshionista.com/cms/index.php?option=com_mojo&Itemid=69&p=357

By: lydia

lydia — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 07:30:01 +0000

I saw this video because of the hype. I’m not one to spend much time on pop culture. But my first thought was “Russ Myer-Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill1″. And really, I’m not that old.

And what’s kyriarchy?

By: latinist

latinist — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:32:18 +0000

A couple things.

1. “Telephone” celebrates female power/independence without really being feminist, or particularly thoughtful about gender; also, it’s a song by Beyonce. This fits into a pattern I hope people have noticed by now. I mean, I love Beyonce, there are many things to celebrate about her, but Jesus Christ, if she spent the rest of her life working tirelessly for NOW, it would probably not be enough to undo the damage done to feminism by the song “Upgrade” alone.

2. I am always noticing that nobody, in discussing Tarantino, is ever talking about Jackie Brown. Which is a shame, because I love that movie (better than the Elmore Leonard book, I think, and I’m a Leonard fan too). And this certainly has to do with the heroine being black, and middle-aged, and not sexy-killer-psycho-ninja. But it’s important, I think to put the blame for this where it belongs — basically, on audiences. Because Tarantino did make the movie, after all, and presumably didn’t WANT it to be less popular than his other ones.

By: Leah B

Leah B — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 06:36:44 +0000

Argh, no edit feature. Gotta think before I post next time. The Betty Freidan bit went too far. I’m just trying to say there’s nothing wrong with having fun with the things you like, even if you know they’re wrong.

And the “there’s nothing feminist about” comment was supposed to be in regards to ignoring your BF’s phone calls so you can dance. That’s not feminism.

If anyone’s curious, the songs a metaphor for Gaga’s inability to escape work and just enjoy herself. Even when she’s out trying to have fun, thoughts of work keep ringing through her head. She misses the old days when her personhood wasn’t always on display (which fits into the theme of the entire album — the dark side of fame).

The video, on the other hand? I have no idea what that’s about.

By: Leah B

Leah B — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 06:31:20 +0000

The poisoning of the entire diner was an accident, according to the making of video. That confused me too.

So guys, she’s a pop artist. She does pop. She comments on pop, and maybe sets trends, but her life isn’t politically centered. She has a jail scene in there because she finds it hot — the fantasy, not the reality.

Look, I want someone who will tie me up and be forceful with me, right? Why? Is it because I don’t take rape or torture seriously? No, it’s a fantasy.

This prison stuff? Fantasy. Gaga knows prison sucks. Everyone knows prison sucks. THe mere mention of prison need not come with a rant about the state of the prison-industrial complex. Sure, that’d be a good cause, but she’s not Bono, and people hate Bono because he’s so cause oriented.

If you don’t like it, I can understand. It’s a fucking WEIRD video. But quit expecting her to be Betty Freidan.

Oh, and Minou: There’s nothing inherently feminist about a revenge fantasy simply because a woman does it.

By: Librarianlord

Librarianlord — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:35:26 +0000

I’m an English major… I jump into symbolic interpretation pretty naturally. I tend to think that the whole stripping scene was meant to be commentary on the idea that people have a right to knowledge of her body. And I could go on to interpret the use of masculine women in that scene as symbolic of the ways women can participate in perpetuating sexism and the overall kyriarchy. I doubt the latter was well-thought out & certainly could be an accident of her overall desire to create an entirely female space while still playing with male & female roles. That doesn’t change the fact that it can also be read as transphobic. I just tend to think that there was something she was generally going for that wasn’t fully realized.

By: Irised

Irised — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:54:08 +0000

I enjoy Lady Gaga’s music but her level of fame and the way she gets held up as something special pretty much baffles me. I mean, I’m not surprised to hear this about the video because I can’t tell her songs from any other songs on the radio … she just seems very ordinary to me, and I’m not surprised when messed up stupid shit appears in your run of the mill music video. Not that I don’t love me some mainstream music, I’m all about lightweight fun tunes and just turning on the radio and enjoying some pop, but people talk about Gaga like she’s something special and different? Where the hell does that come from, I don’t know. I’m just ignorant about pop culture, I guess.