"Alejandro" analysis: redux
A few months ago, i dreamed up an ~alternate plot-line~ analysis for Gaga's "Alejandro" video (which is, and i mean this, the most fascinating music video i have yet seen). I cleaned it up (i.e. removed all of the skating references and excited babbling) to submit to a magazine; if anyone is interested, here is the new version!
+
S
HARRRRR
Okay, now it actually begins.
Okay, so the video begins with a policeman lounging around in a standard policeman RP costume. This plays on the suppression of homosexuality by the police/government - although the law discriminates against gays, some civil servants are gay themselves. This policeman is asleep, the time during which we "let down our shields" and are our pure selves - no hiding. The other policemen, fully awake, are clothed in uniform.
The lighting here, oh my goodness. Anyways, so now there's a military troop marching. They are wearing tight lingerie, which unfortunately hints at Don't Ask Don't Tell because men in tight lingerie ~obviously~ = GHEY GHEY GHEY.
Iconic religious images are interspersed in this line-up. The hoop held by man third from the right: it has thorns. The instrument to its right incorporates the Star of David!
Introducing Evil!Gaga, a terrifyingly mechanical figure watching over all of society. This is a huge high-school-English-class symbol stretch, but the lace goggles could imply that the "authority" is narrowminded and blind to the truth.
Amazing use of triad: the ruler, the enforcer, the subject.
A funeral procession arrives, with the Sacred Heart on display in the front. While the Sacred Heart itself represents Jesus Christ’s suffering at the hand of others’ evil, the heart could also belong to the male protagonist (soon to be introduced) inside the coffin.
A military-style funeral.
The male protagonist is introduced. Marionette strings, signs of an external force, constrict his movements (and thus, desires). He is holding a gun over his penis; this implies that in his case, sexuality is extremely dangerous and he must never lose control.
SHOW ME YOUR TEETH
Men training, possibly for either the military or the police. In the background, footage of a civil rights riot plays. It’s ambiguous whether the film is meant to inspire the men or introduce the men to their enemy (I.e. are the men training to fight the protestors or join them?).
The training turns pretty homoerotic. Yet another reference to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Two guesses about the meaning behind Gaga’s outfit:
a) Spiritual purity (I.e. sex is natural and shouldn’t be considered a taboo subject)
b) This entire bed scene is the male protagonist’s fantasy, and she doesn’t really exist. Therefore, she looks incorporeal.
The rosary moves into her mouth like a magnetic attraction is pulling it inwards. By swallowing it, she is internalizing religion - that is, faith is a personal issue and should not be swayed by outside dogma.
A very devout-looking Gaga, standing in front of protest footage, is captured by a gang of underwear-clad men! GAYS ARE POISONING OUR SOCIETY, OH NOEZ. But then the robe falls away and apparently, she is not as innocent as she seems. Way to be subtle, Gaga.
This is perhaps the largest stretch I make throughout this entire analysis: the dancing here slightly resembles belly-dancing, which hails from the Middle East (a notoriously hostile region to the LGBT). Gaga’s androgynous outfit coupled with her seductive dancing celebrates sexuality (male in particular). Somewhere inside those stern military men, a facet like her exists.
OH WOULDJA LOOK AT THE SHAPE OF THAT ROSARY, I WONDER WHAT IT RESEMBLES
The civil rights protest, perhaps foreshadowed in the training scene, has begun. This police officer shows signs of internal turmoil.
The colors of the background recede into lonely, unhappy black.
He renounces his role as suppressor! Yay! As was mentioned in the opening scene, a uniform connotes being closeted - his removal of it may symbolize him coming out.
The gays are overpowering religion!
…But Religious!Gaga seems to have a change of heart. Translation: faith is about freedom and love, not fear and hatred.
And so we return to the male protagonist in the same position as earlier, except without his helmet - his uniform. If we are to connect the gun to the funeral, the awful conclusion is that his coming out does not end happily. Gaga, with the rosary outside of her body, appears to be dead. Sexuality is an inherent part of spirituality, and to oppress sexuality oppresses spirituality as well. The marionette strings remain.
...And now some screencaps i made solely because of their beauty!
(Tbh i didn't include this picture in the magazine submission, but i am posting it here just to reiterate that Gaga has the hottest. Body. Ever. UNF^2395749572343729)
+
S
HARRRRR
Okay, now it actually begins.
Okay, so the video begins with a policeman lounging around in a standard policeman RP costume. This plays on the suppression of homosexuality by the police/government - although the law discriminates against gays, some civil servants are gay themselves. This policeman is asleep, the time during which we "let down our shields" and are our pure selves - no hiding. The other policemen, fully awake, are clothed in uniform.
The lighting here, oh my goodness. Anyways, so now there's a military troop marching. They are wearing tight lingerie, which unfortunately hints at Don't Ask Don't Tell because men in tight lingerie ~obviously~ = GHEY GHEY GHEY.
Iconic religious images are interspersed in this line-up. The hoop held by man third from the right: it has thorns. The instrument to its right incorporates the Star of David!
Introducing Evil!Gaga, a terrifyingly mechanical figure watching over all of society. This is a huge high-school-English-class symbol stretch, but the lace goggles could imply that the "authority" is narrowminded and blind to the truth.
Amazing use of triad: the ruler, the enforcer, the subject.
A funeral procession arrives, with the Sacred Heart on display in the front. While the Sacred Heart itself represents Jesus Christ’s suffering at the hand of others’ evil, the heart could also belong to the male protagonist (soon to be introduced) inside the coffin.
A military-style funeral.
The male protagonist is introduced. Marionette strings, signs of an external force, constrict his movements (and thus, desires). He is holding a gun over his penis; this implies that in his case, sexuality is extremely dangerous and he must never lose control.
SHOW ME YOUR TEETH
Men training, possibly for either the military or the police. In the background, footage of a civil rights riot plays. It’s ambiguous whether the film is meant to inspire the men or introduce the men to their enemy (I.e. are the men training to fight the protestors or join them?).
The training turns pretty homoerotic. Yet another reference to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Two guesses about the meaning behind Gaga’s outfit:
a) Spiritual purity (I.e. sex is natural and shouldn’t be considered a taboo subject)
b) This entire bed scene is the male protagonist’s fantasy, and she doesn’t really exist. Therefore, she looks incorporeal.
The rosary moves into her mouth like a magnetic attraction is pulling it inwards. By swallowing it, she is internalizing religion - that is, faith is a personal issue and should not be swayed by outside dogma.
A very devout-looking Gaga, standing in front of protest footage, is captured by a gang of underwear-clad men! GAYS ARE POISONING OUR SOCIETY, OH NOEZ. But then the robe falls away and apparently, she is not as innocent as she seems. Way to be subtle, Gaga.
This is perhaps the largest stretch I make throughout this entire analysis: the dancing here slightly resembles belly-dancing, which hails from the Middle East (a notoriously hostile region to the LGBT). Gaga’s androgynous outfit coupled with her seductive dancing celebrates sexuality (male in particular). Somewhere inside those stern military men, a facet like her exists.
OH WOULDJA LOOK AT THE SHAPE OF THAT ROSARY, I WONDER WHAT IT RESEMBLES
The civil rights protest, perhaps foreshadowed in the training scene, has begun. This police officer shows signs of internal turmoil.
The colors of the background recede into lonely, unhappy black.
He renounces his role as suppressor! Yay! As was mentioned in the opening scene, a uniform connotes being closeted - his removal of it may symbolize him coming out.
The gays are overpowering religion!
…But Religious!Gaga seems to have a change of heart. Translation: faith is about freedom and love, not fear and hatred.
And so we return to the male protagonist in the same position as earlier, except without his helmet - his uniform. If we are to connect the gun to the funeral, the awful conclusion is that his coming out does not end happily. Gaga, with the rosary outside of her body, appears to be dead. Sexuality is an inherent part of spirituality, and to oppress sexuality oppresses spirituality as well. The marionette strings remain.
...And now some screencaps i made solely because of their beauty!
(Tbh i didn't include this picture in the magazine submission, but i am posting it here just to reiterate that Gaga has the hottest. Body. Ever. UNF^2395749572343729)