T. SHEA

Midwest Manners.
Still from the new Lady Gaga video, “Marry the Night.”  Love her or hate her, Lady Gaga has pushed the limits of post-2000 music videos more than anyone. “Just Dance” was a Sartre-esque delve into the party people. “Bad Romance” was a twisted revelation. The prison half of “Telephone” was criminally well done (I still can’t forgive the director for keeping Beyonce SITTING IN A CAR when her verse starts). From the costumes and make-up to the otherworldly set pieces, it’s clear the music video is a key component in constructing the Gaga mystique/myth/story. “Marry the Night” is maybe the most complete reinforcement of this story we’ve seen yet. Of course, we’re not just listening to the beat and the melody when we hear Lady Gaga. We’re absorbing her message of self-worth, tolerance, Lower-East-Side-Bar-Fly-turned-Superstar, always-knew-it stardom and the driving eccentricities of the artiste. “Marry the Night” articulates that Myth of Gaga at its finest.  We see her at multiple points along the Fame Index: “Fame”-esque spunky upstart, artistic breakdown (and consequently, artistic rebirth), manic expression of the id, drug-addled bathroom mess, moving out of her parent’s tame suburban house and ultimately, traffic-stopping, big hat-wearing celebrity. Things I like about this video:  Trans Am, fire, explosions, etc.  Editing in the last 40 seconds - multiple setups fill in the bumps along her journey. Grime. This video is filled with it. Think Beyonce/Rhianna/etc would ever allow themselves to be filmed like that? M-M-M-Marry cha-cha move Surpassingly capable direction from Gaga herself Jump cuts during the studio dance scene That look from the ballet dancer when she sees and recognizes Gaga from the audition. A look that says, “What the hell happened to her?” Basically every shot in that bathroom.  This is not to say Lady Gaga is misleading or posing by propagating and strengthening this myth - but rather asking the audience to consider the very post-modern tactics of defining “self” and ultimately, that most unreliable narrator, ourselves.

Still from the new Lady Gaga video, “Marry the Night.” 

Love her or hate her, Lady Gaga has pushed the limits of post-2000 music videos more than anyone. “Just Dance” was a Sartre-esque delve into the party people. “Bad Romance” was a twisted revelation. The prison half of “Telephone” was criminally well done (I still can’t forgive the director for keeping Beyonce SITTING IN A CAR when her verse starts). From the costumes and make-up to the otherworldly set pieces, it’s clear the music video is a key component in constructing the Gaga mystique/myth/story. “Marry the Night” is maybe the most complete reinforcement of this story we’ve seen yet.

Of course, we’re not just listening to the beat and the melody when we hear Lady Gaga. We’re absorbing her message of self-worth, tolerance, Lower-East-Side-Bar-Fly-turned-Superstar, always-knew-it stardom and the driving eccentricities of the artiste. “Marry the Night” articulates that Myth of Gaga at its finest. 

We see her at multiple points along the Fame Index: “Fame”-esque spunky upstart, artistic breakdown (and consequently, artistic rebirth), manic expression of the id, drug-addled bathroom mess, moving out of her parent’s tame suburban house and ultimately, traffic-stopping, big hat-wearing celebrity.

Things I like about this video: 

  • Trans Am, fire, explosions, etc. 
  • Editing in the last 40 seconds - multiple setups fill in the bumps along her journey.
  • Grime. This video is filled with it. Think Beyonce/Rhianna/etc would ever allow themselves to be filmed like that?
  • M-M-M-Marry cha-cha move
  • Surpassingly capable direction from Gaga herself
  • Jump cuts during the studio dance scene
  • That look from the ballet dancer when she sees and recognizes Gaga from the audition. A look that says, “What the hell happened to her?”
  • Basically every shot in that bathroom. 

This is not to say Lady Gaga is misleading or posing by propagating and strengthening this myth - but rather asking the audience to consider the very post-modern tactics of defining “self” and ultimately, that most unreliable narrator, ourselves.

  1. tomshea posted this