To demonstrate that it is not just the United States that is celebrity-crazy, consider that a quick telephone interview with Bill Donohue by a reporter for Hollywood Life resulted in his comments being posted all over the world. The subject? Lady Gaga.
Lady Gaga, a pop-star with a strange following, released her “Judas” video in April where she plays Mary Magdalene. “This is a stunt,” said Donohue, “people have real talent, and then there is Lady Gaga.”
Donohue had other things to say: “Lady Gaga tries to continue to shock Catholics and Christians in general. She dresses as a nun, she gets raped, she swallows the rosary. She has now morphed into a caricature of herself.”
As the Catholic League chief pointed out, “Gaga is increasingly irrelevant.” Like Madonna, whom Gaga mimics, she is an ex-Catholic. He wondered, “Is this the only way to jet up her performance?” When asked if he was upset with her latest act, Donohue said, “Maybe if she had more talent we’d be more offended. She has gone to the well too many times.”
It is a sign of the times that people like Lady Gaga garner so much attention. Their goal of pushing the envelope is so juvenile, so thoroughly immature, that it fails to excite anymore.
While we would rather address serious issues, such as those found in this edition, we will not ignore the pop culture when asked to respond. After all, it is not as though the pop culture is without influence.
