After weeks of teasing her crazed little monsters, Lady Gaga rush-released the video to her fourth single, “You and I” on Tuesday. After watching with increased frenzy about seven times in a half-hour, my conclusion is that there is no stranger experience than being a Gaga fan.
After the disastrous mess that was “The Edge of Glory” video, we fans were frustrated and worried that Gaga had faltered. I mean, “Judas” was the only video that lived up to my standards (as a fan since “Just Dance”), and that got banned from most TV channels.
So to say I was highly anticipating her newest video is an understatement. It blew my mind (figuratively). Gaga’s known for her out-of-this-world videos and this one basically threw a middle finger to all other videos this year. What other video has mermaid sex (still waiting to hear back on how that’s possible), creepy ice cream truck men, Gaga on Gaga action, psychotic running through cornfields, and not one, but two alter egos thrusting about?
Jo Calderone, Gaga’s male alter ego, pretty much stole the show. Her as a young, suave Italian man made even the straightest girls’ hearts flutter. With today’s biggest stars coming out of left field with various alter egos, I can safely say he is the most daring of them all. Sure, there might be uproar over Gaga kissing herself, but when you know what it really represents, it doesn’t matter.
The whole video is about her roller-coaster relationship with a man who tried to change her and the imagery is stark and ethereal. This latest video shares the same theme as many of her other songs: Love is hard, but never sacrifice who you are for someone else. The man in the video, played by “The Vampire Diaries'” Taylor Kinney, is trying to change Gaga’s other alter ego, the mermaid Yuyi, from mystical creature to human; a metamorphosis that she tries to resist.
Not since the “Telephone” video have I been truly moved by a Gaga video. “Judas” was great but it wasn’t an original concept. “Born This Way” was too messy and “The Edge of Glory,” well, it was Katy Perry-bad.
Gaga is notorious for putting out videos that rarely have anything to do with the song, but at least this time she’s in Nebraska, gyrating in a barn, rather than creating a new race in outer space. I’m sure the good, conservative people of the very red states won’t be too thrilled with the Gaga sexuality or the half-naked mermaid, but I say God bless America and I’m glad Gaga’s back to her old stunts.
