» Tue Jun 08, 2010 11:18 pm Everybody knows who Lady Ga Ga is. However, although I've heard of her and heard snippets of her voice and seen other snippets of her songs too many times to mention, I hadn't actually seen any of her videos until I saw "Bad Romance" very, very recently.
And... I seemed - seemed to understand it all. At once.
Now here is where I'll have to be delicate. My understanding of the song, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the description of my understanding of the mindset behind the song, is inevitably forced to touch on the subject of bdsn (Bondage, Domination, Sado-maschism) and its associated pormography. I shall, however, try to be as discreet as possible, and I strongly believe that an intelligent and NON PRURERIENT debate can be constructed from this.
We'll see.
Here is my anolysis.
From the very beginning the lyrics "I want your love and I want your revenge, I want a bad romance" instantly message, to those who have have experience of reading the genre of what is commonly referred to as "Literary pormography" the sixual premise behind sado-maschism. The message is sixual attraction based upon a hate-object, and as "Literary porm" is written by Authors who are familiar with Freudian Psychology, it is an attraction based upon the act of sixual union as revenge upon people who personify hate-figures in the past experience of the person's life.
It has been said that suppressed anger coming out as sixual revenge takes the form of [censored] or various forms of partner abuse in the male, and sixual promiscuity and maschism (which frequently turns, at intervals, into sadism) in females. Certainly the opening lyrics do more than hint at this...
The visual themes in the music video, too, echo much of the classic anolysis of sado-maschism in the female sufferer's mind. We have the situation of powerlessness (she is stripped and forced to drink alcohol) - a theme, by the way, that is echoed ad nauseum in the hundreds of bdsn movies and novels I have seen/read - slyly segueing into a situation of power (her provocative dancing and lap dance causing the watching male slave bidders to raise their prices to buy her).
Many, of course, both male and female, have had at least one fantasy like this in their mental lives. I most certainly have. This is why Lady Gaga's songs in general, and this song in particular, is so popular: in addition to her voice and the powerful rhythm and hooks in the song, it pushes many, if not all, of our deepest psychosixual buttons, and disturbs and fascinates us at the same time.
Having watched much (as I have mentioned) bdsn pormographic movies and still shots, I could see at once which "classic" pormographic movies and even (in)famous pormo actresses many of the shots in the music video were modelled upon. In my mind it's clear that either Lady Gaga or, more probably, the director of that movie has seen a lot of this genre of pormography.
(And if anybody is thinking of asking, no, I will NOT post the names of those movies and novels here. You may PM me, and IF I think that you're over 18 AND, more importantly, are mature enough to handle this, I MAY give you information. Don't hold your breath, though. My experience is that the only people who can handle detailed information on this subject are those who are mature and experienced enough not to ask in the first place.)
So now we should ask ourselves the question: should this type of video be rated as art, or pormographic exploitation???
A very difficult question.
I have an opinion - of course - but it's rather long, and I feel that any forumers interested in this subject should also have their chance to put in their two cents first.
So post away - but..
... this thread is intended to be a SERIOUS thread touching upon the borderline between aberrant and 'normal' human behaviour, and whether art has the right in the name of truth to depict disturbing imagery through sound, words, and image.
And about behavioural norms in society as a whole.
In other words, any poster whose only contribution is to say "Man that Lady Ga Ga is HAWT" or to say "What a Ho, she should be in prison" is kindly invited not to post here.
But if anyone has any opinion - and the more psychoanolytic and philosophical the better - about the relationship between sixuality, art, morality, and society, then I actively solicit your opinion.
Now let's start the ball rolling.
