The two statements in this headline are not related, though maybe they should be. In the next, 90-minute episode of Glee, New Directions will discover its inner Gaga (again) and take on the popular artist’s newest song, “Born This Way,” which you can listen to below.
I’m no music critic, but I do have some issues with the song, and they have nothing to do with similarities to Madonna’s “Express Yourself.” The Lady Gaga song is rather simplistic and redundant, musically, and the lyrics are so generic and unoriginal that it’s hard for me to get excited. More than 400 years ago William Shakespeare wrote “To thine own self be true” and in the last century Popeye said “I am what I am.” Lady Gaga’s lyrics boil down to little more than a regurgitation of those same ideas and themes. So I’m not impressed with someone who writes a simple pop song with an inspirational message when the message has been around for centuries.
But perhaps I’m just in a bad mood because today, Lady Gaga released a statement to Perez Hilton apologizing for comments she made to NME Magazine where she called comparisons between herself and Madonna “retarded.” In today’s overly P.C. world, Gaga was chastised by numerous groups for her insensitive remarks.
My problem is that Gaga had nothing to apologize for. When I was in high school I took a modern poetry class and one student used the phrase “I feel gypped.” The teacher then spent 10 minutes explaining to us how that phrase is insensitive to gypsies. I’m not kidding.
From that moment, I’ve been vehemently opposed to being political correct just for the sake of making sure you don’t offend anyone. Lady Gaga has a track record of fighting for the rights of the truly oppressed, so you’d think she could get a pass on this one.
In this instance, I’m reminded of how much I have in common with The Office‘s Michael Scott. He may not always be the smartest guy, but in the season 3 premiere, he accidentally stumbled onto greatness with this quote: “You don’t call retarded people retards. It’s bad taste. You call your friends retards when they’re acting retarded.”
That’s what Lady Gaga was doing, and to criticize her for it implies that people are too stupid to recognize the difference. The most useless apologies always include a variation of the line, “I’m sorry to anyone who was offended by my comments.” In this case, it’s not Lady Gaga who should apologize, but the people who were offended, They’re the ones who are in the wrong.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
