I agree with Jessica’s arguments about the Bad Romance video, most of which are closely related to the discussion we had in class about the religious imagery in her video versus her intentional message. Lady Gaga presents herself in the media as a Christian, one who needs love and believes it is available to all. This is a very simple view of Christianity but one that I think would appeal to her fans. She seems to genuinely love Jesus but she also loves fashion and creativity. This is presented in her videos through extravagant sets and costumes, nevertheless those visual components are normally attached to her personal views on religion, free love and for example inclusivity for Gays and Lesbians.
But as Jessica wrote, some religious people may find her dangerous to society since her fans may see these religious morals beign presented in her songs and videos but they get tangled up with the sex, death, and personal views. This may give people a bad idea about Christianity and thus infect their views and beliefs as Lynch discusses in his article Why Should Theologians and Scholars of Religion Study Popular Culture. Specifically the first approach to study religion in popular culture about how religion is present in popular culture.
A great example of this is through her video Judas released in 2011 off her album Born This Way. This video is about Gaga’s struggle between her love for Jesus and Judas, but the imagery is highly controversial as you can see for yourself here:
Therefore Lady Gaga’s role in Christianity and popular culture is a skewed one because through her resistance of norms and expression of self we see a spectacular performer, but this often gets confused with her Christian values and may confuse her fans into thinking Christianity has a connection with these beliefs.
In contrast to the video above Lady Gaga has another song off the album Born This Way which Jessica also talks about in her blog post. It is a song about knowing your inner self over knowing what people think of you,
’’We don’t care what people say, we know the truth.’’
We see Lady Gaga preaching to her fans, specifically those who are forgotten, about everyone being special in their own ways. No matter if you act out or if your parents are divorced, you are still loved, you are still special.
’’Don’t be insecure, if your heart is pure you’re still good to me if you’re a bad kid, baby.’’
Therefore Lady Gaga is a complex person who seems to love God but also loves performing and being herself which is something she tries to preach to her fans.
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