Lady Gaga's music video for the song "bad romance" appears to be subliminally addressing the issues of corruption and objectification within the music industry.
Before the song even begins, the video contains two blatant product placements. The high end products Nemiroff vodka, which is featured throughout and is clearly a main sponsor of the video. This prioritisation of product placement reflects how the music has become less important than profit to the music industry, a shocking truth highlighted by an artist affected by the corruption.
Towards the start of the video, Gaga and her dancers are shown to be emerging from white pods, in skin tight, white suits that obscures parts of their faces. This could be symbolic of naive and innocent female artists (connoted by the white suits) entering the music industry, blind to the corruption of the world around them.
Close up shots of computer screens showing bids made on Lady Gaga, emphasises the importance and central nature of money to the music industry. It also informs the audience as to how female artists are often objectified by industries and audiences who buy and sell the artist's image as well as their music.
Throughout the majority of the video, the male characters are dressed in black and the female characters are dressed in white. This binary opposition of colours and genders emphasises the power dynamic of the music industry. The men are clearly in charge of this patriarchal system and the female characters are left to struggle and compete for power within the industry. At certain points in the video, Gaga is pictured wearing black or red instead of the usual white. The red costumes near the end of the video emphasise how female artists usually have to sell their image and body, like prostitutes, rather than just their music. Shots depicting Lady Gaga wearing black and stood in front of a mirror could be symbolic of how she is learning from and gaining power over the male characters in the music industry who control her. One particularly effective shot depicts Lady Gaga crawling on the floor, framed by the legs of one of the men dressed in black who was bidding on her earlier in the video. This clearly portrays the power dynamic within her relationship with the music industry. The men running the record labels clearly have the power over her as the artist, controlling her actions almost like a puppet designed to make them money.
An interesting aspect of this video is the role female characters. Gaga's backing dancers are all depicted wearing and doing the same things, suggesting that female artists can't break the mould created by the music industry and must comply to sexist standards in order to achieve fame. However, not all of the female characters in the video appear to be victimised. Some female characters in the industry appear to be complicit to the sexualisation and corruption going on behind scenes. It is two female characters that are shown to physically strip Lady Gaga and force feed her a drink. Stripping her could illustrate the brutality of reviews and critiques on an artist, as well as the need for female artists to sell their body as well as their music in order to succeed. The drink that she is force fed could symbolise how industries often force words into a client's mouth in order to maximise profit and essentially change who the artist is seen to be in order to make them easier to sell. This could be Gaga's way of calling out the lack of individuality permitted by industries who stick to what they know will guarantee a profit for the company. Some close up shots of Gaga portray her with unnaturally big eyes, again illustrating the naivety of most artists entering the ruthless music industry.
Throughout the video the symbolism of slightly demonic sphinx (hairless) cats is used. Much of the dancing in the video is almost feline in nature which could be linked to how femininity is often associated with cats. This feline symbolism could also relate to how the female artists like Lady Gaga are reluctant to be controlled by the industry, like cats have been unwilling to be domesticated like dogs. Occasional long shots and close up shots show Lady Gaga's unnatural silhouette, implying that she has turned into a feline monster by the industry that controls her. This was potentially foreshadowed by the fact her pod from the start of the video was labelled with "MONSTER" in red lettering. The demonisation of Gaga could be symbolic of how famous figures who rebel against conventions are chastised by the media. The fact that her album was entitled "Fame Monster" otherwise suggests that artists such as herself are willing to change and run themselves in order to succeed in becoming famous.
At the very end of the music video, Lady Gaga is shown wearing a pyrotechnic bra. This image is reminiscent of multiple other female artists including Madonna and Katy Perry. This could be implying that the corruption of the music industry is a long standing issue affecting multiple artists which has been ignored by the public. The low angled shot of Lady Gaga wearing a polar bear cape implies the extent of the power she has gained within the music industry, despite the disadvantage of her gender. The polar bear cape also connotes riches, decadence, power and the lack of a moral compass. All of these have clearly been key in gaining power in such a tough industry. The way that she burns the bed at the end of the video symbolises how she is using her new found power to manipulate and challenge the conventional workings of the music industry.
Overall, Lady Gaga's music video for the song "Bad Romance" contains many possible connotations and interpretations. However, the general message she appears to be conveying is that the music industry demands female artists to transform themselves into unnatural commodities in order to maximise profitability. Undoubtedly the music video was intended to create controversy in highlighting the corrupt methods of harsh industries, but it is hard to decide whether the product placement and scandalous clothing adds to, or lessens the impact of her message.
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