“Stop callin’, stop callin’, I don’t wanna think anymore. I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor.”
These popular lyrics of Lady Gaga’s hit song “Telephone,” featuring Beyonce, can be found on almost every pop radio station . The infectious beat pumps out of car stereos and iPod speakers alike. The world waited expectantly for months for the music video, anticipated to display Gaga’s infamous fashion style and Beyonce’s Sasha Fierce influence.
Finally, it was released on March 11. Within 24 hours, the video went viral all over YouTube. For a 3-minute song, the 9:38 video seemed a bit lenghty, but viewers watched the credits roll and Gaga walk on in her first outrageous outfit: a pointed-shouldered striped dress with bug-eye sunglasses and heels you could stab someone with.
That’s the end of the decent part of the video.
The rest consists of nudity, inappropriate dancing and conduct, and murder, none of which are mentioned in the context of Telephone’s lyrics.
While Lady Gaga is known for being outlandish and extreme, this new video crosses the line. With a song so popular in all age groups, it is important that the accompanying video can be viewed by everyone.
YouTube makes the videos available to anyone, from 5-year-old girls obsessed with Hannah Montana to 60-year-old women reliving their youth. In what universe would it be a good idea to show first grade girls how to dance like Lady Gaga, complete with provocative hip thrusts and straddling.
Lady Gaga has claimed her fame as a talented artist, rocking the charts with her singles and albums. She shouldn’t want to be famous for corrupting our youth and giving them false ideas of what is decent and respectable. By prominently featuring sex, drugs and alcohol in her videos, she disregards the negative side effects of their abuse and, coincidentally, promotes them.
No one wants to see first graders walking around in chest-baring dresses and strange hats, dancing around poles and casually poisoning people in diners. It’s time Lady Gaga’s empire realizes the effect she has on the minds of the youth and cleans up her videos before she changes society for the worse, giving the next generation the wrong idea of what is socially acceptable.