Lady Gaga performed this past Thursday at the South by Southwest music festival, where she once again created a show so true to her weirdness that it not only left fans speechless, but also inspired tremendous negative backlash from another lesser famous pop star, Demi Lovato. At this point, we’re all used to seeing Gaga either half naked or covered in red meat, but this performance was one that won’t easily be forgotten.
It opened with her hog-tied to a spit as her dancers gently dusted her with barbeque brushes. Considering the venue was called Stubb’s BBQ, one can only hope this first stunt was just a tribute to Texas’s love for soul food. The most controversial part of the show, however, came later on during one of her newer tracks titled “Swine” from her latest album Artpop. As she belted the first few lyrics in a powerful, slow voice, her friend, Millie Brown, appeared on stage and chugged a bottle of bright green liquid. She slowly set the bottle down on stage, walked over to Gaga, and proceeded to vomit this mysterious drink all over the singer, who naturally welcomed the entire debacle. The pair then climbed on top of a mechanical bull, and Millie chugged yet another liter sized bottle of strange juice, once again forcing herself to puke on Gaga as they jerked back and forth on the giant plastic bull.
Demi Lovato sent out a stream of tweets berating Lady Gaga for such a controversial performance. She accused her of “glamorizing eating disorders.”
“Bottom line, it’s not ‘cool’ or ‘artsy’ at all. Would you let someone bring a needle and shoot up on you? Addiction is addiction. It’s not ‘shade’ and it’s not ‘hate.’ But someone has to come forward and take the heat for it.”
When I first watched the video of her Texas performance, I basically closed one eye and squinted out of the other because the puking scene was so horrifying. Even the mechanical bull was disgustingly weird. But after I let the message sink in, I felt differently about Gaga’s message than Demi Lovato’s accusations. I did a little research on eating disorders in the US, and was surprised to find that up to twenty four million people, both men and women, are dealing with one right now. The worst part is, only one in ten receive treatment for this type of illness.
Eating disorders are blamed on social media and on ridiculously edited magazine photos. Even Target had a major slip up with their editing technique that left my roommate and I rolling on the floor laughing at the lack of effort they put in to making their models even look somewhat normal. So we’re aware of the cause of the problem, it’s pretty much shared on Facebook every other day. But the important part about this issue is helping those who are struggling with it right this very moment.
I’ve personally witnessed Lady Gaga bite the head off of a Barbie doll in an attempt to squander society’s twisted idea of beauty. This most recent spectacle was even more daring and provocative than anything she’s done before, and if anything I think her actions should be supported. She opened my eyes to the pain and personal struggle of those with an eating disorder in a way that was much more effective than a public statement. This type of self-loathing isn’t something that will go away easily, it’s a real illness that deserves attention and hopefully, one day, those nine out of ten suffering people will finally get the help they need.
Featured photo courtesy of: HelpBulimia
