Textual Analysis of Music Videos

Name of track: 
Bad Romance

Artist: 
Lady Gaga



Genre Characteristics:
Pop, electronic, bright lights, vibrant, lively, dance routines, girls, etc.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals:
"I'm a free bitch, baby" is expressed in visuals as Gaga burns the man who is trying to "purchase" her.

Relationship between music and visuals:
A dance is choreographed to coincide with the beat of the song.

Are there any close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
Some close-ups:

As the first hook of the song begins, a group of female dancers crawl out of white, coffin-like pods. The centre pod has "Monster" written on it, referring to the "Fame Monster" track, Gaga's "Mother Monster" status and the name given to her fanbase, "Little Monsters." As Gaga emerges, a sign reading "Bath Haus of Gaga" appears, illustrating her creative production team "Haus of Gaga", modelled on Andy Warhol's Factory, and the setting of the video, the bathhouse.

Is there reference to the notion of looking?
Gaga is scantily-clad throughout the video as she has to effectively "sell herself" to the men, and therefore has to dress as an object of their desire.

Are there intertextual references?
Gaga's choreography from "Bad Romance" drew comparisons to the choreography to Michael Jackson's Thriller. The white latex suits in the video were inspired by the wolf costume from the film "Where The Wild Things Are", and Gaga also wore designer Alexander McQueen's famous "Alien" shoes.

Is the video performance, narrative or concept based?
Gaga lip-syncs throughout the video, therefore there are elements of performance, but the video is mainly concept-based. The main idea behind the video is that of Gaga getting kidnapped by a group of supermodels who drug her and then sell her off to the Russian mafia. When the chorus of the song begins, two women pull Gaga out of the bathtub, rip her clothes off and force her to drink a glass of vodka. As the second verse begins, Gaga seductively dances for a group of men bidding for her. After performing a lap dance for one of the men, he raises his bid and becomes the highest bidder for her. When the chorus is played for the third time, Gaga walks towards the man who is sitting on a bed and unbuttoning his shirt. Suddenly, the bed spontaneously combusts with the man still sitting on it and Gaga sinisterly sings in front of the flames. The video ends with her lying beside a smouldering skeleton, on top of the destroyed bed, covered in ashes.