Surprise! Gaga Offends Another Group Of People

posted in: Music News • Pop

It really shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody that Lady Gaga has managed to piss people off once again. The “Mother Monster” superstar has made it clear that attempts at being outrageous and controversial are her thing. She was addressed last year by PETA for showing up to the MTV Video Music Awards in a meat dress. More recently, Gaga has been criticized by the Catholic Church for her “Judas” music video. Her loyal fans believe her to be one of a kind, but many don’t see any originality. Regardless, there’s no denying the buzz created everywhere she goes. So what did she do this time?

Well, Lady Gaga was recently in Australia and during a performance in Sydney she came on stage dressed up as a mermaid…in a wheelchair. This is apparently her new alter ego, Yuyi. It doesn’t seem worth it to question the meaning or reason behind the new character; Gaga’s history of crazy costumes should be enough. But a few disability organizations feel differently. After the show, the Roman Reed Foundation for spinal chord injury research tweeted, “Dear @ladygaga how about using your celebrity status 2 try 2 get us out of wheelchairs. Instead of cruising one. Cool?!” Other organizations mirrored these sentiments, hoping Gaga would use her fame to help their cause instead of just for entertainment. Following her concert, Gaga was the target of offended fans that took to throwing eggs at the pop star and her entourage. She has not taken to Twitter at this point with any kind of response to her fans or the disability foundations.

Should Lady Gaga be subjected to this constant criticism? She’s definitely asking for some kind of reaction. Whether or not the response is actually legitimate, it seems obvious that most of her choices are bound to draw criticism from somewhere, and that she’s willing to deal with the consequences. But then there’s the issue of how far is too far. It’s doubtful that Gaga used a wheelchair on stage to purposely offend anyone, but that doesn’t mean that the prop didn’t do just that. It’s possible, though, that Gaga meant to use the wheelchair as a way to empower those who are permanently confined to them. After all, her message has always been to be yourself and to embrace your uniqueness. What do you think?