14 DAY TRIAL // Lady Gaga has made a name for herself with her outrageous performances, videos and costumes so it should come as no surprise that her latest cinematic effort is a weird mixture of styles, musical genres and historical references that can only be labeled as “eccentric.”
At 11 minutes long, the video aims to be some sort of short film, in which Gaga plays several roles in a series of oddly-colored themes and settings. She starts off as a bird-woman or an angel (we really can't be sure on this one), that gets shot down from the sky with an arrow.
From here, the video rapidly proceeds to a castle, then a palace garden vaguely reminiscent of the one portrayed in “Alice in Wonderland,” only to quickly move on to a Roman pool setting.
The color scheme changes from bleak to optimistically colorful, as Gaga sheds her wings to don a white wig and a white tight-fitting bathing suit. Elaborate costumes are presented in a quick succession before our eyes and then the setting changes again, this time to an azure-colored bathhouse that could be of either Greek or Turkish inspiration.
For a brief moment, Gaga presents a shot of the cast of the reality series Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, who perform in pink business suits, playing along on musical instruments and mouthing to the lyrics of the song.
From here, Gaga moves to a very futuristic scene that could very well be the bridge of the USS Enterprise and the dominating colors are again changed to teal, white and purple. Don't get used to it, because it's not featured in the video for very long.
It's immediately changed with a sort of dystopian Big Brother world, where Gaga dresses up in black and acts like a terrorist. Meanwhile, she sings about wanting to become a guy and turning her boyfriend into a girl.
As the song fades out and the credits start rolling in, you realize that this video had some serious production as the names of the people involved are featured in a long list that takes as long as the video itself.
The main shooting location was Hearst Castle in California, a national landmark that has been maintained as a state park. In exchange for shooting there, Lady Gaga has generously donated a quarter of a million dollars to the preservation foundation of the castle.
The video is very elaborate to the point that it's difficult to watch. It will certainly take fans more than one viewing to make out the entire list of motifs the singer has employed and to break down all the symbolism.