Lady Gaga – Alejandro (Music Video Review)
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Even without the sexual assault of a nun, homoerotic Nazi soldiers, and machine gun-barreled bras, most videos for Lady Gaga songs cause pandemonium online. Combine the above mentioned items with the singer’s knack for the unorthodox, the ability to create media buzz, and an 8 minute and 43 second video for her newest hit and you are left with the dynamic, thrilling and bizarre short film for “Alejandro.”
Her videos for “Paparazzi” and “Telephone” proved that Gaga has the ability to tell a story using long-form music video as her medium. Those two videos linked together — apparently — and at the end of “Telephone” the viewer is left with a cliffhanger. You will not get your answer to what happened to Gaga and Honey Bee in “Alejandro,” and the singer’s newest video is more reminiscent of “Bad Romance” — lots of sexual imagery, several choreographed dance numbers, and numerous outfit changes.
The video opens with a few men sitting inside of a pub in full leather uniforms. The scene quickly changes to the shadowed outlines of nearly a dozen shirtless men doing a form of Nazi marching combined with the New Zealand Maori Haka — a posture dance that prepares native tribes and rugby teams for battle.
A funeral procession walks through an open area with snow falling. Lady Gaga leads the processional holding what appears to be a heart with nails hammered in it and barbed wire surrounding it. The procession passes by a man who is only wearing a leather Speedo and a military hat outfitted in Hellraiser spikes. The anonymous man holds a gold-plated handgun in front of his genitals. Take quick note of this man, as he only appears one more time in the video, but seems to be an important character.
The song finally starts, leaving the viewer wondering how this imagery will connect with “Alejandro’s” lyrical message of Lady Gaga saying goodbye to all of her Latin lovers. If someone can connect the two, please let us know.
Gaga sits inside of a tower overlooking a group of shirtless men dancing in leather boots and shorts while snow falls on them. All of the dancers are incredibly ripped, and they all sport a Moe Howard “bowl” haircut from “The Three Stooges.” The “Moes” dance around mechanically while black and white filmstrip of riot police plays in the background.
The scene changes to Lady Gaga wearing a blood red latex Catholic Nun “Habit” — the outfit traditionally worn by nuns — and holding a Rosary. This scene is intercut with scenes of Gaga in natural-colored underwear on top of a man in bed. She holds on to a rope attached to several beds with the shirtless Moes in them and then performs a dance number with them.
She then swallows the Rosary beads, which after research symbolizes … nothing. Maybe Gaga has her own metaphor for what the digestion of sacred necklaces means, but the viewers are left to wonder.
Gaga is seen in another Nun-inspired outfit, a white latex robe with red crosses. There is even an upside down cross that looks oddly like an arrow pointing down to her “muffin.” Who knows what all of this highly blasphemous Christian imagery is alluding to, but it’s obvious that the Vatican will most likely come out against Lady Gaga just like they did for Madonna with her 1989 “Like a Prayer” video.
Speaking of Madonna, the “Alejandro” video then shifts over to a recreation of her 1990 “Vogue” video with Lady Gaga looking very much like her idol did in the landmark video. “Alejandro” is directed by photographer Steve Klein, who has collaborated with Madonna on a number of occasions for magazine shoots, album covers and tour videos. This portion of the “Alejandro” seems to be completely inspired by “Vogue” with its’ clothes, dancing, and cut to black editing style. In fact, Gaga even tops Madonna with her own version of the singer’s iconic “Cone Bra.” Gaga’s adaptation is made out of the barrels of machine guns and the “nipples” stick out nearly two feet.
Another dance scene follows and then cuts to Gaga singing into a microphone with slicked back hair, dark sunglasses, leather panties and a leather jacket — with a cross behind her. Flashbacks of the video are shown with a more graphic sexual assault of Gaga by the Moes. This occurs while a commanding officer stands nearby watching, along with scenes of riots overlaid on top of his face. He then takes off his hat, showing that he is the only one without the black Moe haircut, and walks toward the assault of Sister Lady Gaga.
The video climaxes with Gaga being rubbed by the dozen Moes while she gyrates up and down on them. Feeling overwhelmed, Gaga bares her breasts by ripping off her habit and gives into the sexual advances of the dancer/soldiers.
The final scene shows Gaga laying down in bed while the man with the golden crotch-protecting gun sits on the edge. The camera pans to Gaga’s face, which melts away along with the filmstrip.
Rarely does Lady Gaga do something this grandiose without a meaning behind it. She recently told Larry King on CNN that the video would have a “homoerotic military theme,” and she was absolutely correct about that summary. But what does this have to do with the song, or current events that are dealing with changes to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Obviously any message with ties to the homosexuality community Gaga sends is one of support for gay concerns, but how does “Alejandro” address these issues?
Are viewers supposed to metaphorically link the assault of the “Lady Gaga Nun” to the high percentage of females in the American military who are often sexual assaulted by male soldiers? If this was the case, Lady Gaga probably shouldn’t have used overtly homosexual dancer/soldiers in the video, but this was probably done because the need for good dancers outweighed the metaphorical link in the video.
No matter what allusion Lady Gaga is trying to make with the short film for “Alejandro,” the simple fact remains that Gaga is absolute King and Queen of the Music Video, and it doesn’t look like anyone is going to be taking that crown away from her anytime soon.
(C) 2010 Interscope Records
Posted on 06/15/10
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Back To Blog - Tags: Dance Music, Interscope Records, Lady Gaga, Music Video, Review, Winning
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