14 DAY TRIAL // Undoubtedly, the release of Lady Gaga’s latest music video, “Telephone,” a collaboration with Beyonce, has gotten people talking of just how much farther she can go in terms of pushing the envelope and challenging what is acceptable. Gaga herself says it’s her mission to “convolute everyone’s idea of what a pop music video should be,” but famed director and screenwriter Michel Gondry simply can’t see it in this light.
Speaking with Movieline, the director, who’s worked so far with some of the biggest names in the music industry, creating “indelible” music videos, as the publication calls it, blasts Gaga for both her latest vid and what she stands for in the industry. Personally, he’s not a fan of her music because he doesn’t see anything more to it than just what lies at the surface, but her videos aren’t that great either. Her most recent, for “Telephone,” is no exception, prompting the director to conclude that she’s only getting this kind of attention because she dresses unlike any other pop star.
“I’m not interested. To me it’s like a form of Marilyn Manson. It’s hard for me to talk about it; I’ve seen a couple of videos of hers, and not for very long. I stop watching them each time because I don’t think there’s melodies. I’m sorry to be negative. Like I’m not a big fan of Madonna. I respect her very much, but unfortunately the videos didn’t help the music in the long run. Well, I guess it helped it to survive to the point where the video was irrelevant. So music has to find its own way, which is good for the music. It becomes smaller and more alive and it’s not as crazy, except for some R&B. To me, it’s just talking about the surface. I compare it to Marilyn Manson. The music to me is very expected. I don’t think there’s anything in the tone or the melody that makes me say, ‘Oh, there’s something going on.’… And I like commercial music,” Gondry explains.
“Michael Jackson will always be my favorite pop musician; he was for years and years until his death, which was horrible to me. So I like pop culture. But to me, even if it’s popular, there is a quality in the music you have to be able to appreciate. And I don’t see it. Her melodies are very conventional. I remember when my friend and I would argue about Killing Joke. I remember him saying, ‘It’s so great!’ But I said, ‘It’s so conventional! How can you find anything original? It’s just surface!’ I don’t know, maybe the comparison is ridiculous. But the melody was very, very flat. That’s probably why they are famous. But maybe it’s considered high art just because of the way she dresses?” the director and Oscar-winning screenwriter further says.
Though Gaga fans will undoubtedly disagree, there are also those who applaud Gondry for standing up and speaking what should have been spoken ever since she broke in the spotlight. Lady Gaga shocks, there is no doubt to that, but it could very well be that there is nothing behind her doing that; in other words, her mission to deconstruct pop music and pop culture may be as devoid of substance as pop itself, they say. See here for more on that.