Lady Gaga - Paparazzi Analysis

Post-Modernism textual analysis:


Lady GaGa - Paparazzi / NEW
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The music video 'paparazzi' is directed by Jonas Akerlund and features Lady Gaga. The music video was officially released in July 2009. The music video is peformance and narrative based. The narrative is based around Lady Gaga’s relationship with her boyfriend.
The video consists of many post-modernist features such as Homage/pastiche, intertextuality, references to popular culture and binary divisions. The music video opens with close ups of flowers and then to a mansion in LA. The close up of flowers in the opening scenes represents clarity and innocence and this may be the image that Lady Gaga is trying to portray of herself at the start of the music video. There is also use of an unconventional feature of a Pop and Dance music video, as the video opens with a title sequence. This opening title sequence is a feature of classic Hollywood music videos and this might indicate to audiences that this music video contains a narrative. This is also an example of pastiche.
Then we see a mid shot of a flower with lady Gaga written next to it, this also shows that Lady Gaga may be trying to represent herself as innocent and naive. The next cut is to the main bedroom, where we witness Lady Gaga and her boyfriend making love. No music is being played which is unconventional of Pop and Dance music videos but it is expected in Post Modernist music videos as these videos focus more on style instead of content of the music video. Soon Lady Gaga and her boyfriend move to the balcony where he pushes her off. This shows us that the narrative of the music video is going to revolve around Lady Gaga and her boyfriend’s relationship.
Next there is a cut to the first scene where music is being played in. In this scene lady Gaga arrives in a limo in front of her house and here we finally see a conventional feature of Pop/Dance music video, which is back up dancers. This then leads on to the first piece of binary division in the music video, which is lady Gaga’s robot costume which makes her look half human and half machine.

Next scene is of lady gaga and her female back up dancers, here lady Gaga is displaying her dancing talents. Her costume again is very unusual which may indulge those who are into fashion, as to some she may be seen as a fashion icon. Her costume in the next scene is very interesting as she is wearing minie mouse costume and glasses, here she is making reference to famous culture and maybe stating her aims of becoming an icon like Minie mouse. This reference to popular culture is a stereotypical feature of postmodernist music videos.
Soon after, we see another Post modernist feature of this particular music video, which is blurring of fiction and reality. This takes place in the next scene where the audience are fooled to believe that Lady Gaga is getting arrested for murderering her boyfriend, this is fiction. The reality is shown in the next scene, where the media and press give her attention as she is a celebrity. The music video ends in a stereotypical Hollywood movie style, with the words 'The End'.
In conclusion this music video makes a lot of use of post modernist features which provide audiences pleasure, if understood. The blurring between fiction and reality may also provide some audiences a form of distraction from everyday life, as they are drawn into someone elses life. However, those who are not able to understand the use of homage and intertextuality in this video are left to enjoy the music, dancing and fashion costumes. Therefore this video interacts with a vast variety of audiences and is very popular.