GAG

Hey guys, this is Ami and Caroline, and welcome back to another episode of Gabbing About Gaga, also known as, if you're looking it up on platforms, Gag. So today we're going to be talking about one of our favorite topics as two fellow monsters and drag race lovers, lovers, lovers, about the intersection and the significance of Gaga in drag and drag and Gaga, and just kind of like, you know, Gab About Gaga. Love it, love it. Okay, so I think we're going to start off first with a very insightful, almost scientific comment about drag that Ami came up with that kind of gagged me, I'm not going to lie. Okay guys, you can't say it, but like every time you say Gaga, you take a shot, you know, it's like, buzzwords. Yeah, it's just like, you know, when we try to think about drag, what it is, you know, you think about drag as performance, art, which is, you know, fighting against gender norms in a very over-exaggerated way. In physics, though, when you think about dragging, it's actually, in order for drag to happen, the drag is the force that opposes an object's motion through a fluid, and its magnitude depends on the object's speed, shape, and the properties of the fluid. So I kind of just like thought how interesting it was for that to be like the scientific definition, because that is, I don't know, you know, performative drag was based off of that, but that is technically what it embodies. And also this pushing against the, you know, the norm in a very exaggerated way to get that message or that identity across can be applied to a lot of different facets, and we kind of wanted to see and have identified that in how Gaga not just embraces drag, but in her other properties of herself, how she kind of applies that, you know, oppositional force at a big magnitude. So yeah, yeah. Absolutely, I feel like... We'll condense that. Yeah, obviously, but, I mean, Gaga herself is very much built on opposing binaries, contending with norms, and kind of doing things her own way, and I think... So this is a special deck that we have. In our podcast, Dagging is Gag. I was going to ask if you guys were filming a podcast. We are filming a podcast. Dagging about Gaga, better known as Gag, obviously. Um, okay. He will stab, he will stab. Stab for that. So, I mean, when I first heard this, I was first like, oh my god, Ami, you're a genius. You're a genius. But I also was particularly, like, drawn to it in terms of our readings that we've done, specifically on going Gaga, Gaga feminism. And, I mean, obviously, I had my contentions with that. And as people in the class like to talk about it, yeah. But I also think that this very seamlessly aligns with that kind of Gaga feminism, the idea of going Gaga, of speaking gibberish. You know, your output does not necessarily have to mean something to everyone around you, as long as it means something to yourself and the people that you're really trying to reach with your message. So I think that drag itself in physics, as an art form, is very much an oppositional force. But it's an oppositional force for good. And I think that is really, really carried through in Gaga's work, you know, from the fame monster all the way up to, you know, mayhem. And so I think that's a great way we can kind of set up the way in which we're going to talk about Gaga and specifically in relation to drag in a more, you know, specific way. Yeah. A hundred percent. And I think that, you know, we see, we think about Gaga, and it's like, when you think about Gaga and drag, I think my brain goes, like, her in drag, her in spaces of drag, like of her appearance on the 12th Drag Race or her dressing, her very camp couture, and it's like the very blatant elements of drag in itself. And even that one time when she performed as Joan Calderon, which we'll get into, but it's like her in drag or when drag embodies Gaga, it's using her music, referring to her costuming, whatever, but also just exploring how, like, beyond the blatant, like, crossover, like what both drag and Gaga represent in their movements and their identity, whatever that may be, underlying that, like, more subliminal level. And that, I mean, that carries right into this quote that we found about Gaga. She explicitly said to me, there's always a drag element in what I do, but I don't think that way it can cost you. It's always really mean drag. And I think that is a really good point because you can obviously get so caught up in the campiness and, like, the gagging look, like the meat dress, that's a gag. But, like, what exactly does that mean? What exactly does that, like, what exactly are you trying to portray through your dress? And I think she does a great job continuously of qualifying her work and making sure that all the communities around her feel specifically empowered but also seen. And I think that she does a great job of, like, grounding herself in drag without seeming like it's a performance. Like, I mean, it's always a performance but more like performative, you know, in a way. Performance versus performative. You know, that's next to our gag. You know, 100%. And, you know, that delves into, like, what William said in that reading. But, you know, you really see what, you know, some groups have or what some people struggle with when they're, like, embracing and showing, like, the cultures that they might not necessarily be, you know, a part of. Obviously, I do think I was part of it at this time. But whatever, like, you know, the spokes or archetype character of that group, the way in which she, you know, borrows and embraces it. And honors it. And honors it. It's not in bad taste. No, 100%. And it's very much this known, like, gratitude and honoring to them as the creators, you know. So she's just, like, lucky enough to bring her own flair to it. But, you know, sometimes people get caught up in she's a very competitive person. She does a lot of things that start controversies. In my mind, a lot could be better. But, you know, this 2023 VMA performance, you know, where, you know, you want to delve into that one? Yeah. Yeah, I do. I do. Are we there yet? 2016. 2016. Joe Calderon, I think, was 2016. I think that makes more sense. Okay. Either way. Yeah. I mean, I want to dive into it. I was reading an article that was actually specifically focused on the reactions of the people in the audience to this Joe Calderon look. Can you give us a little background? Are we doing it on mute? No, no. I can't. Okay. So Misha comes out. You and I, obviously. It starts with an intro of her in drag, kind of making a fool of herself, being messy and raunchy and kind of disgusting, and that's supposed to be a commentary, in my opinion, and I think Gaga would say the same, on toxic masculinity, specifically in popular culture, and the way in which... You know what? Nothing's coming to mind. No. I'm just... What I'm trying to bring this up at is... But before we go there, we're going to... Another date change. 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