Comparison & Contrast: Gaga & The Material Girl

She rules pop culture and has taken advantage of the concept of fame in order to increase her own. Constantly the highlight of tabloid and media news, her name has become part of the international, household vocabulary. She is one of the most innovative and outrageous artists, unbound by gender, cultural or social constraints. She is forward thinking in music, fashion, performance, sex and just about any other form of expression she has come in contact with.

This description could easily describe the infamous Lady Gaga as well as her predecessor, the original ‘Pop Princess,’ Madonna.

Gaga is a tribute to the fact that history repeats itself. Both women are a new age‘blonde bombshells’ according to their time period of fame climax. (I would say Gaga has reached hers today, but I feel that would be too presumptuous and imply that Iunderestimate her ability to continue exploring the avant-garde.) Both climbed the musical ladder through night -clubs, dance music and the support of minority and under-dog groups such as the African American community and the gay population. The ability to combine many forms of art into one cohesive image with the help of many designers, photographers and out-of-the-box thinkers has been the character trait that skyrocketed both of these women to fame. They embrace creativity and allow their bodies and music to be vessels for extravagant and futuristic expression. The two pop icons have in fact acknowledged their similarities performing in collaborative efforts and in comical projects such as an SNL catfight.

Although these woman are reincarnations of each other, Madonna, the original pop culture magistrate, first broke social, racial, cultural and sexual norms thus setting the stage for Lady Gaga to be as shocking as she is today. Not as outrageous by today’s standards, Madonna was just as ground breaking in her own right and, perhaps, without her, Gaga would not be as accepted (term used loosely) in the modern popular culture world. I wait in anticipation to see if Gaga can stand the test of time and baggage that accompanies instant stardom. Will she manage to transcend to the level of Madonna as a superstar in pop culture and a timeless icon?

image source: google image