Disability, Gender, and Lady Gaga's Paparazzi

Images from Lady Gaga's video
for her song "Paparazzi"

“Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga is more of a short film than a music video.  I won’t give you a play by play, but I will note that the (obvious) disability scenes are very short (about 50 seconds of the 7 minute film).  Here is a breakdown of most of this film:

The camera focuses in on an intimate scene between Gaga and her boyfriend kissing (the boyfriend is played by True Blood Star, Alexander Skarsgård) at a very opulent and glitzy mansion.  There are some lines spoken to each other (can’t determine language but there are captions), and they move out together to a balcony.  They are photographed by paparazzi, and for whatever reason, the boyfriend then throws Gaga off the balcony.

There is about 10-15 seconds of Gaga falling with a swirling mesmerizing graphic in the background, almost dreamlike, and then you see cameras taking pictures of her on the ground, broken, damaged, and almost dead.  You discover that she is not dead only because the newspaper headlines scream that Lady Gaga is done and over (BUT NOT DEAD).

Because she is disabled she is no longer popular.  But this is definitely a temporary disability.  She overcomes her disability, and I can’t tell if she does this to become famous again, to win back her boyfriend, or to get revenge on her boyfriend or all of the above, but I see this as she has to become able-bodied again to be successful (not just gaining fame, but exacting revenge).  There are several scenes of dead women (at least they appear to be dead), and I can only speculate whether they were killed by the boyfriend or if was “fame” that killed them (death is the ultimate disability, isn’t it?).

An odd fact that I can’t explain is that the boyfriend, at the end, has a disability as well.  He is wearing a metal eye patch, and I can’t think of any particular REASON why he would have an eye patch (some have said that she smacks the boyfriend as he's throwing her off the balcony, but I'm not 100% sure of this).  An accessory?  More glamorizing disability, except this time it’s masculine disability? Is this supposed to make him more sympathetic?  Gender of course plays into this, as there is such a difference between some disabilities for men versus women.  An eye patch on a man is more suave and debonair and the affect of the disability can be almost nulled (how many spy or action movies have there been that glean over these kinds of minor disabilities?).  If you see an eye patch on a woman, it is fetishized, more disabling and more “freaky.” 

To examine how disability is portrayed in this video, one just has to look at whether or not she tries  make disability chic, temporary or not.  Is she normalizing disability, temporary or not?  Her wheelchair while it is difficult to get a glimpse it, is I believe jewel encrusted (she did have a design for it that was ultimately scrapped).  She has a very glamorous neck brace and her costume as she uses her crutches is reminiscent of a famous robot (shades of “Metropolis”), but while she staggers, the crutches seem to be mere props, a temporary condition. 

From Lady Gaga’s bio on her website, she writes (excuse the all caps):

“ON FIRST LISTEN, “PAPARAZZI” MIGHT COME OFF AS A LOVE SONG TO CAMERAS, AND IN ALL HONESTLY, GAGA JOKES “ON ONE LEVEL IT IS ABOUT WOOING THE PAPARAZZI AND WANTING FAME. BUT, IT’S NOT TO BE TAKEN COMPLETELY SERIOUSLY. IT’S ABOUT EVERYONE’S OBSESSION WITH THAT IDEA. BUT, IT’S ALSO ABOUT WANTING A GUY TO LOVE YOU AND THE STRUGGLE OF WHETHER YOU CAN HAVE SUCCESS OR LOVE OR BOTH.”” (copied from http://www.ladygaga.com/default.aspx).

Other sources have Princess Diana as the inspiration for the video itself.

The parts of this video that deal with disabilities makes me think of some of what Rosemarie Garland-Thomson talks about—there is more than one way to be a woman (2004, p. 88), but also that although (p. 77) "the informing premise of feminist disability theory is that disability, like femaleness, is not a natural state of corporeal inferiority, inadequacy, excess or a stroke of misfortune. Rather, disability is a culturally fabricated narrative of the body, similar to what we understand as the fictions of race and gender.”

I think Gaga actually does the opposite.  She does acquire her disability as a misfortune.  She does NOT normalize her (temporarily) disabled body, in fact in mere seconds she is able bodied again.  It is also contrary to Wendell’s idea of pace of life (Wendell, 1996). It is rather in fact the pace and demands of fame that disables people, some literally, some figuratively.

Intrusiveness of paparazzi.  Self-esteem.  Freakishness.  Gaga in and of herself is a modern-day, western oriented parody of wealth and success, but in her artistic expression, doesn’t she create another modern-day freak show?  Her creativity was born from being rejected by three important men in her life (her father, her ex boyfriend, and the rapper who didn’t give her a chance).  At first, her music was “alternative”; but once she established herself, then she says she was able to be “creative.” (this is based on an interview in Rolling Stone).  She has faced disability in her personal life, her aunt who had lupus died from the condition, and she herself has tested for the possibility of acquiring the disability, but she doesn’t factor that into the video or song that I could see, as lupus is in itself a fatal disease (it can literally kill you, not like other conditions which are more gradual).

But is she prostituting herself?  Is she trying to say that being female and famous can disable you in other less obvious ways? And there’s one lyric that’s interesting:  “We’re plastic but we’ll still have fun.”   She seems to be a white, upper class “freak” (apparently she uses this word a lot).  It might take more time to analyze Lady Gaga’s purpose in using disability in this way.  There are sources out there that analyze this video and its portrayal of disability, but I wonder if she is normalizing disability or fetishizing it or maybe just plain questioning what normalcy is supposed to be.  Certainly we all know that violence can create disability, especially gender specific violence (abuse), but then again we could spend a lot more time on analyzing all the different aspects of this video.

Watch.  Think.  Discuss.  

Resources and Links:

1. Garland-Thomson, R. (2004).  Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory.  In B. G. Smith & B. Hutchison (Eds.), Gendering disability (pp. 73-103).  Piscataway, NJ:  Rutgers University Press.
2. Wendell, S. (1996). The social construction of disability.  In S. Wendell, The rejected body:  Feminist philosophical reflections on disability (pp. 35-56). New York: Routledge.
3. Lady Gaga:  Princess Diana was Inspiration for Paparazzi video.  (2009, September 2).  Showbizspy.com  Retrieved February 9, 2011 from http://www.showbizspy.com/article/191297/lady-gaga-princess-diana-inspired-paparazzi-video.html. (inspiration for the video was Lady Diana).
4. Lady Gaga, The Illuminati Puppet.  (2009, August 4).  The Vigilant Citizen.  Retrieved February 9, 2011 from http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=1676. (Interesting analysis of symbolism and Gaga)
5. The Transcontinental Disability Choir: Disability Chic? (Temporary) Disability in Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi.”  (2009, November 20).  Retrieved January 20, 2011 from http://bitchmagazine.org/post/the-transcontinental-disability-choir-disabililty-chic-temporary-disability-in-lady-gagas-papar.
6. Bauer, N. (2010, June 20).  Lady Power [Opinionator Blogs].  New York Times.  Retrieved February 8, 2011 from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/lady-power/?hp.
7. Lady Gaga – Paparazzi [Video].  Retrieved February 8, 2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2smz_1L2_0.
8. Lyrics to Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi”--http://www.metrolyrics.com/paparazzi-lyrics-lady-gaga.html
9. Lady Gaga’s disability project.  (2010, January 22).  Sociological Images [website].   Retrieved January 20, 2011 from http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/01/22/lady-gagas-disability-project/.
10. Questions About The High Fashion & Domestic Violence In Lady GaGa’s Video--http://jezebel.com/#!5285868/questions-about-the-high-fashion--domestic-violence-in-lady-gagas-video

Disability, Gender, and Janelle Monae’s "Tightrope"

Image of Janelle Monae's Album Coer for "Metropolis"
Not sure why the android she is depicted as is missing limbs...

Disability, Gender, and Janelle Monae’s "Tightrope"

The video for the song “Tightrope” takes place in a real-life (and famous) asylum, The Palace of Dogs.  While Monae and all of the people in this video wear black, glamorous clothes, the setting is an old style, typical institutional setting.  There are scenes including a matronly, African American nurse, very antiquated in her manner, dress, and is reminiscent of Nurse Ratchet from the movie version of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” a dated and stereotypical image of nurses in institutions and mental hospitals.

“whether you’re high or low
t-t-t-tip on the tightrope”

I had to look at the lyrics as well to gain any meaning of the setting.  Do the lyrics speak of having to conform to normalcy or perhaps it’s okay to “rock the boat” and be yourself?  How many people, indeed women, have been criticized, ostracized, and indeed institutionalized for being female, or perhaps less than ideal as not being feminine, not conformist, or being called “disabled” because they are simply female?  As Rosemarie Garland-Thomson discusses in her works that femininity in and of itself has the potential to be disabling.  Perhaps Monae has been institutionalized because she is so extreme in her gender bending appearance?  Or is it that her fame has disabled her?  There should definitely be a discussion of race within all of this as well, and is being African American itself disabling?  I see more intersections and multiple identities at play.  (As Rosemarie has said, too, there is no way to be just a woman).

What does it mean to have this set in an institution?  She mentions in the video about the inspiration for the video that the song was for “the people” (her people?)—and talks about whether or not the people at the asylum (she uses a very antiquated phrase—sanitarium) are mentally ill.  Well, sometimes people who are incarcerated in institutions aren’t ill at all.  She talks about the significance of filming the video in this practical institution (see http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00031659.html & http://www.chacha.com/question/is-there-a-real-%22palace-of-the-dogs,%22-or-is-it-just-fiction).

I see a large streak of non-conformity, especially from a gender perspective.  In almost every image I've seen of Monae, she almost always wears an exaggerated pompadour hairstyle, a tuxedo of one kind or another, short black pants and oxford shoes.  She is her own stylist, and it would be interesting to find out more about her inspiration for her “mannish” attire.  Seems part James Brown, Little Richard, and maybe even Buddy Holly, very reminiscent of the 40s and 50s.  Even at the end of this video she sits in what appears to be her room and there is an older model manual typewriter, an old radio and a Victrola record player.

It is interesting to note that all of the people in the video that I noticed are African American, but if you really think about it, why wouldn’t they be?  How many videos and other media that feature white people have all white people?  Isn’t this normal for her, to have a community and be surrounded by African Americans?  Or is this ultimately racist?  In all reality a huge part of a society segregates people by race, whether by choice or not.  Is being a different race disabling in our world?  Interesting thought.

It’s helpful to find this video where Monae talks about her inspiration for the song:

"'Tightrope' was made for the people," says Janelle Monae of the lead single from her forthcoming new album, The Arch Android. Featuring Big Boi from Outkast, the 'Tightrope' video depicts dance as rebellious freedom.

"Every time you step outside you're dealing with life and you're trying to stay sane, for a lack of better words. Balance, to me, is the key; not getting too high, not getting too low - that's what 'Tightrope' represents. It's like life's tutorial on how to actually make it through life without becoming insane and driving yourself to a life full of hatred and just not wanting to be here."

She also mentions something about she couldn’t really say whether or not the people at the Palace of the Dogs are mentally ill or not, but something about due to her contract to film there, she couldn’t talk about it.

Again, I would have to say my interest in Janelle Monae began because I saw her in the end of the year issue of People magazine and saw she was a science fiction fan like myself; thus, I identify with her, as I've long ago "christened" myself as a nerd/geek, because I too am a big sci-fi fan, but this is in no way (at least in my eyes) related to any disability identity.  I did write a very brief paper on Janelle that I'll be sharing with some others, but don't know if I'll necessarily do anything with it other than posting it to my blog.  Since I'm not as familiar with a lot of theories, it will only be my beginning thoughts on the subject, as I'm only at the beginning of any academics, let alone Disability Studies!  If anyone has thoughts about nerds/geeks and disability, I'd love to read about it!

Sources used and other resources related to Janelle Monae and Disability:

• Janelle Monae: The Meaning Of 'Tightrope'   
• Janelle Monae:  Tightrope with Big Boi (alas the video is not captioned)
• Lyrics:  Tightrope with Big Boi
• Why Janelle Monáe’s ‘Tightrope’ Is Awesome
• Disability Representation in Music (Video), You’re Doing It Right: Janelle Monae’s “Tightrope" 
• there are no “schizos” in metropolis (talking about ableist lyrics in some of her music)
• Sci fi sounds (very ableist prose about the artist--see photo at left). 
• Geeky. Black. Female. Android. 
• Moya Bailey of Emory University presented a paper at the Critical Ethnic Studies conference in March 2010, and her paper, "Vampires and Cyborgs: Transhuman Identity and Ableist Arcs in the Work of Octavia Butler and Janelle Monáe" sounds very interesting!  No links that I can find except to the conference program, but I can only hope that she publishes the paper. 
• And here is one more page, mostly on gender and dance, that I wanted to share on Janelle Monae as well:http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/04/24/degendering-dance-and-some-history/

TwiHards, Gleeks, and Avatards: From my brain to the blog-i-verse (and more)

Twihards, Gleeks and Avatards. This is the name I came up with for a “pet project” that I have been thinking about for a long time. It mostly has to do with disability in pop culture (the supposed topic of this blog which I have neglected for a bit).

These names are each “labels” given respectively to fans of Twilight (TwiHards), Glee (Gleeks), and Avatar (Avatards). Each is play on both the movie/TV show and their fans and each has something to do with disability in some way. I shared a series of these ideas on Facebook today and realized that (1) I think I may have overwhelmed the person I shared it with (sorry!), and (2) maybe it’s time to share with the “outside world” and see what could happen (or if I could get any encouragement) if I did.  I am a nerd, after all.   Here it goes. Some subjects to be covered under this “project”:

1. Credit goes to Lawrence Carter-Long for this one (on disability and comedy on TV): Mr. Magoo to Josh Blue, Who’s Laughing Now? Disability on Screen

2. Prostheses, implants, and props, OH MY: Lady Gaga and others on the perception of disability “add-ons” (I guess this could be a thread on disability imagery too, but I'm mostly thinking of Lady Gaga).

An image of Lady Gaga in the video for her song "Paparazzi"

3.  See this blog for an entry on zombies and disability.  Of course I'd have zombies!!!!!

 

4. Share a Smile Becky, Avatar’s Jake Sully, and Rescue Hero Aiden Assist: Are Wheelchair Action Figures and Dolls For Real?

rescue hero "Aiden Assist": 

Aiden Assist, Paramedic.  (Perri Harris gets all the credit for this one).  "Being in a wheelchair has never once stopped Aiden Assist from assisting in a rescue and patching up a victim. Aiden can get to anyone trapped in a car wreck and have them out and be administering first aid before most paramedics could even make it to the scene." Perri teaches Disability and Pop Culture at SU and she actually has this door.  See this website for more character profiles (nice to see that he makes it above all the animal heroes and guest characters!).

Share a Smile Becky


Sorry can't get an image of Jake Sully to work here, but here's a link to it.

5. What the f*** is rehab anyways? Amy Winehouse and other public figures portraying mental illness and substance abuse, or does celebrity create disability?  I don't have the time to look for all the photos (or all the celebrities either) that I've collected on this but here are two:

6. “Oscar Pistorius has an unfair advantage”: Prostheses, wheelchair sports & other disabled athletes in the Popular Media
7. All kinds of stuff on disability & comics, especially super heroes.
8. Mutants, cyborgs, and other-ly bodies.  Thinking of Donna Haraway and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson's work as well.

9. Advertising and disability. 

10. "Art" art, including such artists and art projects as alison lapper, frida kahlo, scar art and more.  There is also Frank Frazetta, who after a series of strokes had to switch hands to paint and I don't think you could tell.  Fascinating artist, famous for his fantasy paintings, a lot of which were painted using his mind (in other words, I don't believe he used models, he merely visualized what he thought a particular painting should look like).

11. Music. Recent media coverage makes me think I need to add this category as well, and of course a major part of this title is Glee, after all!  

12.  The news media.  (ok, Beth Haller already covers this, but I love her work!)

13.  Lucky 13.  Okay, what else?  Film in general, I guess.  TV, radio, what other pop culture topics have I not included?  "Avatar" avatars, not blue native like cat people.  

Email me or post to Facebook to tell me your ideas.

Zombie and Disability Redux: James Jones and the Living Dead

This is a follow up on my previous brief post on Zombies and Disability (please know that I continue to search and have material for a few more entries).

Anyways, as reported in 2009, James Jones and the Living Dead is a "an Australian horror film written and shot entirely by people with a disability."  The film was conceived as part of a workshop series both as therapy and to teach new skills.  Horror film making as therapy.  Hmmm.... Very interesting!

I haven't been able to find much more information, but thanks to Maria 'Ria' Strong, she forwarded to me a link to the movie poster (see below) and the YouTube video.  Check it out!  Anyone else out there have any information on this, please let me know. 

Poster for new zombie flick
James Jones and the Living Dead

From the Blogosphere: Zombies and Disability

This is an image of the Marvel Zombie Universe Morbius
(he's a "living" vampire)... I am a huge fan of zombies,
especially Marvel Zombies. 

While spending some time surfing and chatting on Facebook, I remembered to check out the AMC website for information on the then-new, upcoming series "The Walking Dead."  


For some particular reason, I wondered if anybody had ever written on zombies & disability, and a I found great blog entry on "On Chronic Illness, Disability, and Zombie Apocalypses" which included a checklist for those with disabilities or chronic illnesses. Certainly disabled people are always fighting for equality & respect, so definitely they could (and should) become a valuable member of a zombie extermination squad.  Interesting stuff, but alas now the page has disappeared.  Most memorable statement in this blog post was that the Zombie Apocalypse is not ADA compliant/accessible... The only other mention of a wheelchair user fighting off the undead was an entry in Max Brooks' World War Z.


Curious to see what else there is, here is a list of a few more, some literal, some figurative zombies:

1. A short story written by Matt Padmore, "Can Zombies Run?"
2. Another: Textual Analysis, Digital Games, Zombies (references disability and Resident Evil 4)
3. "Call for greater representations of ethnic and disability groups in zombie movies"  (Thanks to Maria 'Ria' Strong from Down Under for sending me this news story)
4. Here's a blog entry from David Hingsburger whose done great work in the disability field for many, many years: "Zombies Zombies Zombies," about zombies in the real world, especially in response to people with disabilities. 
5. And lastly a blog entry from The Transcontinental Disability Choir (alas a blog that is no more...) commenting on the new book "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and what the blogger views as ableist plot lines that are were added but unnecessary.  A must read.

Have any good zombie and disability sources?  Drop me a note or leave a comment.  In the meantime I'll keep looking!

wheelchair zombie from the
horror comedy "Shaun of the Dead"

Only One Percent Of Scripted Actors Have Disabilities: Report

Check out this story as published in the Beverly Hills courier:

http://www.bhcourier.com/article/Local_News/Local_News/Only_One_Percent_Of_Scripted_Actors_Have_Disabilities_Report/71669

Robert David Hall, star of "CSI"

There are speculations about some other characters that may have disabilities, but i do have to agree that it is more likely that characters are portrayed by nondisabled actors.

Why they don't mention Sue Sylvester's sister, Becky, is questionable, but I'm guessing it's because she's not a main character, only recurring.

File this under "HUH"???

I found this interesting listing of comics, but frustratingly the titles of the comics are unreadable or hidden.  What's worse is the weird descriptions that make no sense, but they do point out many of the disability related comics out there, old and new:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/BetterThanItSounds/ComicBooks?from=Main.BetterThanItSoundsComicBooks

Can you guess who they're talking about here:

The adventures of the mutant bastard child of a sailor and a mermaid. 

Answer?  Click this link to get it.  Weird.

Another hint:

Disability Superpower: His grappling-hook hand and, later, his magical water hand. 

OK, OK, I gotta give you a hint. Even though you STILL might not recognize him: