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Lady Gaga took to Twitter recently and declared herself hurt and upset by the criticism she has received around the release of new album ARTPOP.
Everyone in the public eye receives their fair share of irrational hatred, but Gaga seems to be a magnet for it. So is this simply the bleating of a spoilt rich brat who courts controversy and then goes home crying when that boils over into abuse or is there more to it than that?
We've taken a look at both sides of the arguement here. There's the view that really if you put yourself out there as much as she does you're asking for it. Also, let's face it she is pretty successful and super rich so perhaps she deserves no sympathy. On the other side there's the argument that well, it's just mean to abuse anyone without a genuine reason, and maybe we should all be a little kinder to the star. So which side do you stand on?
She's rich, famous and all she does is court publicity. What's the problem?
"What's that sound you hear? Oh, it's just me, playing the world's smallest violin just for poor old incredibly rich, famous and successful popstar Lady Gaga.
Yep, when the bonkers 'Applause' singer took to her Twitter yesterday to be all emo and moan about how some people don't like her, I wasn't gently stroking my laptop screen in empathy. I'm not a Gaga hater - she's just doing her thing, although she IS ridiculous - but please excuse me if I can't find it in my heart to feel sympathy for the second highest-earning musician of 2013 (she earned $80 million) who gets to travel the world and is adored by millions of loyal to the point of insane fans.
"I put so much love into my music, into my shows, I make it all for you. I'll never understand the overflow of hate sent my way," Stefani Germanotta sighed to her 40 million followers last night. Gaga, you were a performing arts school brat, right? YOU more than anyone should know that you've got to paste on an alarmingly fake smile and get the fuck over anyone who doesn't like you.
Ok, so pointless, hateful vitriol along the lines of "PLZ DIE OR I'LL RAPE U" aimed at musicians from anonymous Twitter accounts is not acceptable, but constructive criticism is kind of all part and parcel of being a high profile artist and publishing your music to the masses.
If you put something out there, not everybody is going to like it - it's this little thing called preference, otherwise known as taste, otherwise known as opinion. And you know what? She should be happy for the fans she still does have after all her months of trumpeting about ARTPOP (all capitals)." - Gaby Whitehill
She hasn't actually done anything wrong - Leaver her alone
"Musicians who promote themselves relentlessly do set themselves up for criticism. This is undeniable and inevitable.
However, the nature of the criticism levelled at Lady Gaga surrounding ARTPOP has nothing to do with music or celebrity. The attacks are personal and vicious. However pretentious you believe someone is and however ubiquitous they are, it is never acceptable to level abuse at someone like that. Just picking the last tweet that I saw her send today, it didn't take long to come across this reply "FUCK U U PIECE OF SHIT INDIE MUSIC STAN YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT". Her Twitter feed is littered with messages just like this.
People may argue that she has all the money in the world and fame as a buffer, but how often has that helped celebrities in the past? It's not a popular view but being in the public eye constantly IS hard. It's an odd life that can't be easy to deal with. You only have to look at the celebrities who have been consumed and destroyed by it. Surely people flinging inane and hurtful abuse isn't going to help?
These are still people with the same feelings, passions and insecurities as ourselves. To some extent the character of Lady Gaga was created and still performs the function of absorbing criticism and shielding 27-year-old woman Stefani Germanotta from the worst, but there is only so far that can go.
Talking to Oprah in 2012, Gaga revealed "Despite all the praise you receive, something inside of you is scarred by those experiences, sometimes I feel worthless. It (the abuse) can stay with you for life". Surely that is the point?
We know that she is active on twitter and reads the messages herself. Criticism of the music would be one thing, but how often will you ever read a reasoned and eloquently stated critique of one of her songs? These are attacks on her very person, and that must hurt anyone.
Truthfully and honestly, what has Lady Gaga done to deserve this level of hatred? It's not as if she is James Arthur, who is a homophobic bully, or woman-beater Chris Brown, who deserve everything they get. Apart from her music, all Gaga has done is try to support gay marriage, peace and President Obama. They're hardly terrible things to back are they?
So think twice before you troll celebrities like Stefani Germanotta, behind the celebrity they are people just like you and I." - Hywel Roberts
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