14 DAY TRIAL // Lady Gaga and Madonna could have easily been two female entertainers co-existing in peace, but for some reason, they were pitted against each other by the industry until they got to be actually feuding. Gaga isn’t about to let this die down anytime soon.
Talk that Gaga was somehow ripping off Madonna started years ago, when fans noticed similarities between the two in the way the younger singer was dressing on stage, her dance moves, and even her music.
The climax was the “Express Yourself” / “Born This Way” controversy, which was fueled by a series of public jabs and Gaga’s denials that she considered Madonna’s music as among her many inspirations.
A feud revisited
That was some years ago, but it seems to have hurt Gaga pretty badly if she’s bringing it up again. In a new interview with Greek People Magazine (the translation is via Google Translate), on the topic of her influences, Gaga lists everybody but Madonna.
She has a good reason for not including her, though: she believes Madonna could do much more for her young fans and for younger artists in general.
“David Bowie, Queen, Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson,” she says of her influences. “I would like to mention the Madonna, but tell you something? If I was an established artist, I would love to help young children.”
“What do you mean, that Madonna has no soul?,” the interviewer asks. “You said it, not me!,” Gaga responds, not denying that this is what she thinks of the Queen of Pop.
As we speak, fans of both singers are feuding as well on various forums, with the Little Monsters taking Gaga’s side (naturally) and Madonna’s fans pointing out that Gaga should just mind her place and not start trouble for nothing.
Gaga has a point, probably
Earlier in the interview, Gaga talked about her many campaigns to raise awareness on bullying and help victims of it. The singer had been working hard on this facet of her image: she’s a champion for gay and LGBT rights and always uses her position and the exposure it brings (and her music too) to discourage bullying and help victims of it.
On the other hand, Madonna doesn’t do all these things, though she too is a gay icon who owns this status with pride. What Madonna does do is travel to remote countries on charity work and she makes donations to a variety of causes, so it’s not like she’s not using her celebrity status at all, as Gaga seems to be implying.
Gaga is partly right probably, but the reason Madonna’s fans are upset with her is that she has no right to be weighing these things and pass judgment. Are celebrities all of a sudden competing for who does the most work, and who does what others consider “less” is less worthy even if they deliver quality work in their respective fields, be they music or film?
More importantly, can’t Gaga do her stuff without dissing others for not doing the exact same thing? Does she need validation from the outside for the good deeds she does? Does she not get enough satisfaction from knowing she helped?
By bringing Madonna up in this interview, Gaga only poured fuel on the fire. Madonna won’t address this, not directly, just like she didn’t before. What she will do instead is give her a big middle finger on an even larger platform, like she did on tour, when she mashed her “Express Yourself” with “Born This Way” to prove that they were similar.
So in the end, it’s Gaga who takes a huge hit, one that she could have easily avoided.
