Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
With the time off from work during the holidays, I had the chance to catch up on my pop culture reading and came across this Vanity Fair piece about Lady Gaga,"In Lady Gaga's Wake." In it, we see Gaga in her parents' Upper West Side home, making pasta sauce for the journalist who is interviewing her. Here, the line between public and private life evaporates:
The apartment is a cozy triplex, with a large beige sofa and many framed family photos on the piano. There is a dining table by the open kitchen, a garden off the living room where Cynthia grows fennel, arugula, Italian parsley, rosemary, and oregano, and where there are small fig, olive, and lemon trees. And, at the kitchen counter by the sink, chopping cherry tomatoes in half for a spaghetti sauce she prepares from scratch, is Lady Gaga. She is wearing a black lace Chanel dress, extra-high Louboutin stiletto heels, glass earrings, full makeup, and a Daphne Guinness-inspired black-and-white wig. Just another Sunday afternoon at the Germanotta home.
Gaga removes the pink ribbon from the box of macarons I have brought from the newly opened Ladurée bakery, on Madison Avenue. She puts the Ladurée box on top of the Dunkin’ Donuts box already on the counter and ties the ribbon around her hairdo. She then proceeds to take me on a tour of the apartment. On the top floor are her parents’ bedroom and the bedroom she shared with her sister, Natali (who, now 19, attends art school in the city), where the red air mattress is on the floor. I note that there are no doors on the bedrooms—her parents could have heard everything she and her sister said growing up. “Yes,” she says, “and I heard them too.” (Later that evening, when we’re at the hotel for a lengthy chat, I ask, Why the air mattress on the floor instead of this suite with the room service, the marble bathrooms, the magnificent views of Central Park? “I’m in hotels all the time,” she says, “and they’re cold. None of this really matters to me. When I can, I’d much rather spend the time with my parents.”)
So the twenty-five-year-old mega-star--otherwise known for flashing her privates in the music video for "Telephone," sporting an all-meat dress at the VMA awards, "natter[ing] on about her [private part]," and frequenting Berlin sex clubs—is actually a down-to-earth family girl?
Maybe it's not such a tough sell. Lady Gaga is the iconic star of this age, and of my generation, because, among other things, she represents being in a state of arrested development. That's why she'd rather be home with Mom and Dad, where she's still the daughter—still the child—than at her hotel. Elsewhere in the interview, when she's questioned about taking the big step of buying a house, Gaga says, “I’m not going to pay millions of dollars for something. I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.” That's a telling admission, especially coming from someone who made $90 million this year and is the richest female singer on the scene. To Gaga, being an adult is the antithesis of being vital and not the accumulation of knowledge, experience, and wisdom, things that might otherwise enrich a life, even the life of Gaga.
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Jun '10
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
I think she's a ruthless business mogul. She only plays a childlike free spirit on stage.
Mar '11
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
I have seen that claim made previously by some interviewers but am coming to suspect it is simply the gushing praise of those thrilled by the nearness of fame. My understanding is that some of her earlier shows brought her to the brink of bankruptcy through her own personal inept management, don't quote me on that though.
The above description strikes a chord. Lady Gaga does seem to embody the attire, the lifestyle and behaviour of what a twelve year old's fantasy wish fuflillment would be.
Edited on January 5, 2012 at 9:17pmMar '11
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Then again perhaps you can:
Apr '11
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Eh...she can afford to be whatever she wants to be...If I had her money I would totally avoid growing up. In fact I don't have her money and I'm doing a pretty good job of avoiding adulthood as it is.
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Stop hatin'!
Any girl who can make spaghetti sauce in stilettos is worth marrying.
May '10
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Emily! I've missed you. I'm glad to see you haven't forgotten about us.
Well said. She's right that responsibility is defining characteristic of adulthood. But she mistakes pleasure for fulfillment. Adulthood is not the death of childish wonder and joy. It is the point at which we are called to produce more to find joy in.
Dec '11
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
An all too forgettable person, just another mass-marketed bit of cultural flotsam.
Nov '10
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
That's fine with me. I am not ready to listen to any of her music. To date, I have yet to knowingly listen to one. Not that I specifically avoid her. I avoid the entire musical world she exists within. She can make her buck off people interested in being her fan. More power to her and them. I am just not participating. Nor raising a fan.
May '10
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Vanity fair is right.
Jun '10
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
What she's doing now is maybe geared more toward high visibility than high profit. If your goal is to be a one-namer (e.g. Cher, Elton, Michael, Celine, Madonna, Bruce, etc.) then the way to do it is to go all out when you're hot. Make sure they never forget you. The profits can come later. In some cases, even when you're sixty years old.
Mar '11
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Tommy De Seno: Stop hatin'!
Any girl who can make spaghetti sauce in stilettos is worth marrying. · Jan 5 at 12:23pm
Not hate. She simply is what she is. Perpetual adolescence is certainly the zeigeist of the modern Western world, she embodies it perfectly.
Dec '10
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Emily, every generation thinks they've discovered this magic new way of handling things. Mine was no different and in fact is responsible for many of the pop forms now in existence.
The magic new way of handling things turns out to be immorality. After a few decades each generation realizes how wrong they were. By then the cost to their souls has piled up.
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Roberto
Tommy De Seno: Stop hatin'!
Any girl who can make spaghetti sauce in stilettos is worth marrying. · Jan 5 at 12:23pm
Not hate. She simply is what she is. Perpetual adolescence is certainly the zeigeist of the modern Western world, she embodies it perfectly. · Jan 5 at 12:58pm
Or she's smarter than all of us. Her target audience is adolescent to late teen.
If you were her agent, would you have her making statements about the joys of home ownership?
Why are we lamenting a view of capitlism in its best form?
She's cooking speghetti. She pretty much gives the finger to PETA with her meat bikini.
That alone makes her OK in my book (even though I spent years trying to kill the Disco sound and she is single handedly bringing it back).
Edited on January 5, 2012 at 10:34pmNov '11
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
As Plato's Socrates suggested a while back, actors, musicians, singers, artists, performers, etc., usually haven't been paragons of adult virtue, have they? We really don't expect them to be, do we? How boring would they be if they were? I don't suppose they could do their jobs if they all were, could they?
As a middling amateur writer married to a virtuous and exceptional artist, I am required by fairness to lump in novelists, playwrights, and poets, and writers of every ilk, too.
A first principle of my aesthetic snobbery makes me resist what's most popular in the mass culture, but one can't conclude that a successful pop star cannot produce fine things. If Lady Gaga's music is pretty good, I suppose I wouldn't mind listening to it. Is it any good?
Lastly, one should never object to an unmarried woman living with her parents. It's a perfectly proper arrangment.
Edited on January 5, 2012 at 10:37pmJun '10
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Let me get this straight: you're saying a woman named "Gaga" is having trouble with the transition to adulthood?
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Ha! That's hysterical!
Mar '11
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Tommy De Seno Or she's smarter than all of us. Her target audience is adolescent to late teen.
If you were her agent, would you have her making statements about the joys of home ownership?
Why are we lamenting a view of capitlism in its best form?
She's cooking speghetti. She pretty much gives the finger to PETA with her meat bikini.
That alone makes her OK in my book (even though I spent years tyring to kill the Disco sound and she is single handedly bringing it back). · Jan 5 at 1:12pm
One can also be entrepreneurial selling people magic bracelets, running an investment firm with a split strike conversion strategy or making hard core pornography. Simply because you can do so does not make the activity itself worthy of respect or emulation.
She is certainly engaging in capitalism but it does not qualify as "best form" in my estimation. To each his own.
Edited on January 5, 2012 at 10:46pmMay '10
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Tommy De Seno
Or she's smarter than all of us. Her target audience is adolescent to late teen.
My dad used to argue that music started going downhill when teenage girls started buying records. That's an exagerration, of course, but he had a point.
I respect her musical talent. But that doesn't mean I respect her... just like I don't respect dictators for their talents in psychology and management. It's what one does with one's abilities that makes a person honorable.
Merely producing something and profiting off it isn't honorable, however much it depends on admirable traits like determination and resourcefulness. Producing something which improves the lives of others is honorable.
Yay for capitalism, yes. But capitalism, like democracy or any other system, is just a tool. It's how we use those tools that really matters. Lady Gaga and her ilk aren't all bad, but they profit from appealing to the baser elements of human nature... such as mindless teenage rebellion.
Mar '11
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
Tommy De Seno
Ha! That's hysterical! · Jan 5 at 1:35pm
I can't disagree with that.
Jul '11
Re: Lady Gaga: "I can’t commit to being an adult—I’m not ready.”
I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling this way. I must confess I have heard one song and was impressed by the quality of musicianship. However, the message of the song (as much as I understood) had nothing redeeming about it, and taking that into consideration with the persona she has tried to create I'm not interested in listening to it again.
-E