Within minutes of Lady Gaga’s performance at the Super Bowl LI halftime show, criticisms and praises came from all directions. A common theme among both was the political or apolitical message of Gaga’s performance. Along with the buzz came an article published by Teen Vogue claiming that if you didn’t think that Lady Gaga’s performance was political, you were probably straight or missing the message.
Well here I am, a gay woman, telling you that no, it wasn’t political. At least not the kind of political that we need right now. Subtle political statements – some arguably so subtle that we cannot determine whether or not they even exist – aren’t what we need. Our president isn’t subtle about his bigotry, so what good does subtly do for us?
For those of you who don’t know, the message in question is Gaga’s performance of “Born This Way” on stage in front of the largest annual television audience in America: was it political? I don’t want to downplay the importance of this song in certain facets of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s a great song. I jam out to it in my car all the time, and as the Teen Vogue article points out, it may well have been the first time the word “transgender” was spoken during the Super Bowl. Of course this song and its message have an impact, but did Gaga’s performance spark the kind of impression that our country needs right now? I don’t think so. If we want real change we have to make real statements and stop over analyzing a performance that was, contrary to what Teen Vogue thinks, blatantly apolitical.
While I am not a die hard Lady Gaga fan, I have always admired her ability to be outrageous, unapologetic and passionately political, but compared to her past performances, this was tame. I was waiting for that same outrageous, unapologetic and passionate message this time around. The racism, sexism and bigotry in this country aren’t subtle, they’re running rampant, and nothing short of complete unapologetic and passionate resistance will overcome this bigotry.
Lady Gaga performed a great show; she is undoubtedly talented, and I am not mad or angry at her for choosing to perform how she did. There are a number of reasons that she may have chosen a more reserved route. Just last year, Beyoncé was heavily criticized for her Black Panther tribute in her performance and that could have had a significant role in Lady Gaga’s choice (or lack thereof) to perform how she did. Let’s keep in mind that there isn’t a requirement for the kind of message a performer has to make at the Super Bowl. Let’s also keep in mind that it’s not only dangerous, but bigoted in itself, to assume that if someone did not find the same hope and “subtle politics” in her performance as you did, that they are straight, or really assume that they are anything. I expected more, I hoped for more, and I was underwhelmed, but that doesn’t mean anything about my identity.