Discuss: Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” Video

Okay, we get it! Lady Gaga‘s music video for “Born This Way” came out today. We were going to hold off until tomorrow to write about this, but clearly the world can’t wait for a post on “the manifesto of Mother Monster”. Not even kidding. There were at least ten or twelve messages about this in our inbox. Two of them were official press releases from different companies. Essentially, this is kind of a big deal for some people…

We’ll let you do the talking for this post. It’s not like we don’t have our own opinions about Gaga’s latest effort. We’ve just learned it’s best to keep them to ourselves, since both the fans and haters are especially vocal groups. So what do you think? Did this video exceed or fall short of your expectations? And how did you feel about the conscious nods to Madonna at the end of the video?

– Dewitt

To watch the music video for “Born This Way”, follow the JUMP:

465 thoughts on “Discuss: Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” Video

  1. I tried watching the whole thing, but honestly got bored. First, let me say I neither LOVE nor hate Lady Gaga. I like most of her music, but my biggest annoyance with her is that it’s not about the music- her actual vocal talent gets lost in all the videos, and hatching out of eggs on awards shows, and lobster masks, etc. The music seems secondary, which is a shame, because she can really sing when she’s not busy visually being Gaga.

  2. I like the song better than I originally did after watching the video. It is a pretty kool video, but the opening seemed a bit unnecessary and long (Though Gaga did look fierce as the mother of all creation or whatever the hell she was). It seems like an anthem for young kids about thirteen fourteen discovering they’re gay, bi or what have you than something made for a slightly older audience or those who have already come to terms with their sexuality.

  3. I support anything she does.. since she has not wavered in her support of us! It is nice that someone does..

  4. you’re saying that since she loves the gays we have to be supportive and receptive of everything she does? Sometimes people put out a lackluster single or video and it’s more than okay to question it.

  5. I’m not sure that she hasn’t completely lost her shit but it’s all very cinematic and stuff.

    It could have been worse though… it could have gone for longer.

  6. My comments on this video would be so negative, I think that a “no comment” would be stronger then anything I have to say

  7. I think that she is off in some aspects but she does make a very good point in her songs and how the reflect on most of our daily lives. I personally know that this songs means true to alot of people that are so remorsefully hurt and treated with so much hate from others and that everyone is created equal no matter who or what you are we are all born from the same seed and we are all born in our own way and no one should ever be treated with disrepect or hurtfull harms from anyone one or group of people

  8. She’s such a talented singer and musician that it’s sad that she has to use gimmicks to be noticed. Let’s hope she grows out of it and finds humility and grace with age… I mean Madonna did… and this song totally sounds like Express Yourself… Ehhhh… here’s to hoping… ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♬¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

  9. Well not really surprised I expected her to do something crazy. I could care less though it all just seems like an act…

  10. overall, better than expected. The overly long intro was kinda weird and a little disturbing, but thats not necessarily a bad thing. The zombie makeup was INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!! The thing that confuses me is the “Express Yourself” thing. Okay, the song is a bit similar, but madonna herself said “no big deal guys, chill” so why the hell doesnt everyone just chill? And really, i read a few comments comparing this VIDEO to Express yourself… which is absurd, and obviously made by people who probably weren’t even alive when Express was released. Now… allejandro… THAT video was an express yourself rip-off… err… i mean… “Hommage”… or homoge….

  11. 1.) Stupid.
    2.) Gross.
    3.) Bizarre, and not in an artistic way. I thought it was pretty contradictory to the song thematically. Visceral and imbued with violence. She’s trying to force a story into a song that isn’t meant to have a story. If she wanted the song to have a narrative, maybe she should have focused on writing a good song rather than a gay rights anthem. Make sure the art comes first and the rest will fall into line.
    4.) Song still blows.
    5.) wtf

  12. The video is what it is. I am not sure if it is best interpreted as another manifestly obvious (if yet more over the top) attention grab or as legitimate artistry. Irrespective of the video, though, the music offers us nothing new. The R&B rhythms and cadence and the musical arrangement itself looks patently backwards at material that has been well covered already. Gaga desperately (it seems) wants us to think of her as a daring, progressive, in your face, even avante garde artist (much as Madonna challenged us to) … yet this music which — while true to her schtick of hooky yet thin compositions — is really anything but forward looking.

  13. ok, lets start.

    watching the intro, i was thinking “i’m glad i’m a britney fan”, cos all that mother monster shit is depressing and creepy.

    lots of stuff was coming out of her vagina in the into and that was rather gross, and not cos i’m gay – just in general.

    the song starts. she walks in wearing underwear. me thinking “does every female singer needs to slut herself this way?”. not to mention, it’s very unoriginal. i guess she wanted to show off her body, which is in a good shape, but damn what did she do to her face? it looks even uglier that it naturally is.

    that we see the typical gaga dancing. me thinking “britney can do better on her worst day”. vma 2007 (underwear!) performance was even better than this.

    dark and gloom throughout with some random skeleton faces and other creepy shit.

    overall i got the feeling that the video didn’t really fit the song at all. the song is rather bright with an optimistic message, not to mention the its beat. whereas the video is totally dark, depressing, very alejandro-like.

    if the song is = 5/5 (despite being a total madonna rip-off),
    the video is = 3/5.
    the video + song combined = 2/5 (cos they don’t fit each other at all)

    she is taking a very wrong direction with her new album. mental is the word.

  14. awesome vid..i saw a bit of kylie minogue’s video love at first sight towards the end of this video. There’s a bit of madonna’s future lovers in the beginning. this totally reminds me of express yourself, but i’m not saying it’s a bad thing. Gaga is AMAZING !

  15. Well. I was digging the David Bowie/Rosemary’s Baby Dream Rape kinda vibe at the beginning, but then it just descended into WTFery. There is no point to the “Manifesto”, and the whole birthing thing was just strange and felt a bit forced. Then the video started and I was okay with it. Not good, not great. Just ok.

  16. and she said the rest of the album is much darker that born this way.
    i can only imagine what kind of creepy videos we are gonna see next.

  17. I can see the stylistic comparison, but Gaga certainly does not have the depth of artistry to be compared to David Bowie.

  18. i think the video was creepy and fucked up!!! but i LOVE IT! hehehe 😛 specially unicorns on space hahaha i think the video gives the message pretty good and the songs fits perfectly! i dont understand why people said it doesnt, anyway the video was good, even tho im getting tired of the HUGE ASS INTROS to the songs…Paparazi, alejandro, telehphone…born this way…. we get it nice message make smaller videos lol :p wel i love it and i LAUGH OUT LOUD when i saw the Madonna face… 😛 is like MADONNA had a baby with MICHAEL JACKSON and left her in the dumpter! 😛 LOVE IT!

  19. I could say a lot about how overrated and awful she has become. I could also cite how this song is nothing but another stereotypical “gay anthem” that she wrote in 10 minutes with offensive language that sounds like too many other songs to even bother naming. I could also complain about how she is abusing her place in the gay community and is now, essentially, demanding that gays worship her. Instead of doing all of that, let me PLEASE direct you to a very interesting and worthy blog: http://gaysagainstgaga.tumblr.com/. Do yourself a favor and take a look.

  20. I dunno, not really excited about the new album, why does everything this bitch does now have to have this deep deep meaning. She’s not the the fucking spokesperson for the gay community. First Britney and her lacklusted single and now this. I need to go listen to some Adele.

  21. I like the song, I enjoyed watching the video, but really…How many more Illuminati references will she have in her next video?

  22. Freaky, weird, nothing to do with the song, but that is Gaga for you. At least she’s getting creative with her clips even if they are strange. I still love the song no matter how good or bad the video is.

  23. This is just terrible. The most hideous thing is the stupid cheekbone and shoulder implants. She had some things stuck to her face during an interview on GMA a couple weeks ago that tried to make her cheeks look this way and it just looked stupid. She looks way too skinny dancing around in a bikini, and flipflops?? Really?? Then the end with it’s references to Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean video, and then right away she has some fake teeth in to make her look like Madonna – it is all juist a pastiche of dumb ideas.

  24. It’s interesting how she uses the opening credits score for the Hitchcock movie Vertigo the beginning of this video. That movie also had a character with dueling personalities.

  25. I really find everything she does exhausting to watch. Just show up in a fucking pair of jeans already!

    Having said that, I dig the song’s message. And if she can use her fame an popularity to spread the message of tolerance to the residents of East Cupcake, Wisconsin, then I support it.

  26. I love how she just steals everything and calls it an “homage” or a “tribute”. Bitch no, if I did that on an essay it’d be downright plagiarism and I’d fail.

  27. Sadly, my expectations were too high. I’m simply not as big a fan of “Born This Way.” I prefer the more lyrically ambiguous songs like “Bad Romance,” or “Paparazzi.”

    When a song is simply spelled out there really isn’t a lot of room for personal interpretation.

    So… yay… I gotta be myself or whatever… Show us it, don’t tell us it.

  28. How many times does she think she has to touch her fucking vag. that’s disgusting. definitely a new low in pop music right there

  29. its good love it, looks like they had fun making the clip wished I was there to watch the clip being made

  30. I think that the video relates well to the song and th emessage she’s trying to spread. It’s freaky & weird but if it wasnt’t then it would be Shitney fighting a double of herself and prancing around in a wedding dress hoping for the good old days when somebody wanted to be married to her.

  31. generally negative reviews all over the web.
    just like the song received generally negative reviews for being a madonna rip-off.
    if negative publicity was what gaga hoped for, then she achieved her goal. any publicity is good publicity and she gets tons of money out of it.
    i’m truly disappointed in her as an artist.

  32. Hey, everyone’s calling her a Madonna rip-off…why not give them what they want? I clapped my hands at the end when I saw the Madonna impersonation. I’m sure Madonna’s proud. I bow to you Gaga. Granted, the only version of this song that I REALLY like is the live Grammy version, because she vocally kicked ass. I’m still excited about her new album. At this point I’m a Gaga supporter. I’m sure there will be more stuff that she does that I won’t totally understand or even like, but I support her. This is because, underneath it all, there’s a message that she’s saying. We are all different…acceptance is key.

  33. Well said PHOENIX!

    Love the video and the song. She is surely doing something right! The haters are always the ones that blog and write the most, but at the end of the day are usually the minority.

  34. @Nex:

    I find your postings to be always harsh and negative. It is obvious you don’t like Gaga so no matter what she does will be bashed by you. Ok buddy, we get it. But your use of comparison to Briney undermines any credibility that you could have.

    1. Why do people have to either like Gaga or Britney? I like them both. Just like i liked both Madonna and Cyndi, and Christina and Britney. You can like more than one Nex.

    2. Since I am as big of Britney fan as I am Gaga, I can say just how off you are. Britney’s video SUCKED!!!!! The song is okay, but by far not her best. Lets compare the two:

    Britney – Hold it Against Me:
    -ok song, i do get into at the gym and in the club
    -written by other people who 1st offered it to Katy Perry who turned it down
    -video had nothing at all to do with the song
    -directed by a great director
    -everytime she danced it would cut away
    -she has lost all of her moves – she cannot dance
    -product placement that had 0 to do with the song
    -in fact nothing in the video was related to the song and proved to me that she has lost alot of her moves.

    Gaga – Born This Way
    -great song – dancey with a great message for all minorities
    -written by Gaga for Gaga
    -video has everything to do with the song – 1/2 the dancers are transgendered, the rest are a mix of everyone – and it shows that light will always conquer darkness if you allow it.
    -Gaga co-directed the video
    -she can dance – the camera never cut away once. It may not be Janet quality dancing, but she can move and dance and get into it.
    -she can sing live and dance at the same time (Grammy’s).
    -0 product placement

    So when you compare the 2, honestly Gaga wins hands down. It may be freaky, but who cares? She is freaky and making music that people want to listen to.

    Born This Way is only the 2nd song in History to sell more in it’s 2nd week than in it’s 1st week (Other song was Beyonce’s Single Ladies). Britney’s song went from 1-6-10-11. Gaga must be doing something right!!

  35. “Poker Face” is such a good song; I dont think she will ever do anything on the scale of her first album. Im completly over the whole Gaga theatrics.

  36. WOW!or more precisely…WTF?
    Everyone has an opinion.She may have an idea for a video,but someone has to direct it.Like her or not,it seems she likes us.We are starting to take for granted that we’re all OK.We’re not.Most gays are complacent yet judgemental.Oh we like her,til she gets too familiar….then,on to the next.She is a great performer,a clothes horse,she is picking her targets and shooting them down to the best of her abilities.She is artistic,and in interviews comes across intelligently.She steals and reinterprets ideas(who doesnt?) So what?
    And what other video is everyone talking about this week?
    Vocally,I like Adele,yes,but that video (Rolling in the Deep)was inert.Vocally great,boring to watch.
    Yes,GaGa,I agree:Lets Have Some Fun!

  37. Over the dramatics!! and the whole little monster and mama monster crap!! humans and gays were here before GAGA!

  38. Great song, odd video, but still luv the GaGa…and at the 5:45 mark in the vid the black guy to her left is HOTT…yummy fucker…eat lick suck n fuck him for days…

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