Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, more commonly known as Lady Gaga, goes into every nitty-gritty detail of about the women behind the meat dress in her Netflix documentary, “Gaga: Five Foot Two.” Everything about the inspiration behind her music, preparation for her 13-minute Super Bowl halftime show performance, writing her most recent album “Joanne” with Mark Ronson and planning and performing a tour with a broken hip.
“Lady Gaga has inspired me. It is so unique to see someone so eccentric and different become popular in the media,” Emma Tribbett, a sophomore early childhood and special education major, said. “Her ignorance towards her critics inspired me to ignore what others have to say about me and strive to be myself.”
Lady Gaga is shown in her most vulnerable state throughout the film. The first scene is in the film is her cooking breakfast in her kitchen in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Fans are used to seeing her in dramatic, over-the-top clothing but she tones it down for the cameras in this documentary.
“I learned how much she cares about her fans and how strong she really is,” Danielle Basile, a sophomore early childhood and special education major, said. “Also made me realize how much constant pain she is always in but she goes through it for her fans.”
Lady Gaga comes from a large Italian family. She mentions in the film that even though she is multimillion pop sensation, she always makes time for her family gatherings. The inspiration for her most recent album was her father’s deceased sister. Joanne was an artist and she died from Lupus.
Lady Gaga never had a chance to speak her to aunt because she passed away at 19-years-old. Lady Gaga was inspired by Joanne’s creativity and ability to express herself through art. Lady Gaga’s grandmother and father told memorable stories that made Joanne an influential person in her life.
The album is completely different from her previous glitter and glammed up pop songs. The album “Joanne” has more ballads than jump around music. Each song reveals an emotional life experience and Lady Gaga does not try to hide behind her cigarette sunglasses this time.
Gaga lays it all out on the table with her smash hit “Million Reasons.”
“It was really different to see her in her everyday life,” Kayla Ricker, a sophomore psychology major, said.”You got to see every aspect of it. Her downtime, her recording sessions and then her heartbreak and breakdowns.”
Lady Gaga loves little monsters, the term for her fans, to expect the unexpected. She discovered what kind of artist she wanted to be with the help of music producer Mark Ronson, who has worked with worked big names like Bruno Mars and Amy Winehouse.
In 2013, Lady Gaga had to cancel her tour to get surgery for her broken hip. Throughout the film, she is shown in an immense amount of pain. Her strength to pull through the pain is inspiring to many fans.
In 2017, Lady Gage announced she would be performing for the Super Bowl halftime show. Lady Gaga is shown in the film drenched with sweat after an intense choreography rehearsal.
Lady Gaga started off her performance with a rendition of “God Bless America,” on top of the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Then she dived off in a sequence armor suit to kick off the halftime show.
In the film, she says to the NFL workers, “I don’t know about you, but I have been working my whole life for this moment.”
Lady Gaga was not afraid to be vulnerable throughout this film. She wanted her fans to get know her for her.
Some fans feel that the media paints her as a Madonna wannabe and a poser, but those fans think Lady Gaga is just very comfortable in her own skin and wants to stand out from other artists.
After watching this film, little monsters come to not only be a more passionate fan of her music but to also value her as a person.
“I definitely feel as though this documentary made me a bigger fan of Lady Gaga,” Basile said.
