'Poker Face': The Intelligent Design of Lady Gaga

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http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/150002-poker-face-the-rise-and-rise-of-lady-gaga-by-maureen-callahan/

Whether we like it or not (and—full disclosure—I personally do), Lady Gaga’s pop presence is inescapable. She’s risen to fame at a breakneck pace these last few years, solidly establishing herself as a fashion icon, intrepid gay rights advocate, and “mother monster” to all her fans. She presents herself as an empowered young woman and an eccentric yet confident artist. Her influence these days is all-reaching and refreshingly positive. (Oh yeah, and her songs are catchy, too!)



But is Lady Gaga for real? Maureen Callahan explores that question in her biography, Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of Lady Gaga. Is Gaga—born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta of New York’s Upper West Side—really a bizarre outsider artist, or actually a privileged, calculating performer and business woman? Callahan’s tell-all book (which has inspired a forthcoming Lifetime biopic) suggests that Gaga is, in reality, mostly a persona, an image. You know: a poker face.



That focus on image—on the construction of persona and fame—might seem limiting for a biography. It’s probably a wise choice in this case, though. Lady Gaga is still very young, and she seems to have a long career ahead of her; a straightforward history of her life would feel dated in the blink of a false eyelash.



As it is, Gaga’s already performed alongside Justin Timberlake on Saturday Night Live since the publication of Poker Face, pulling comedic acting out of her seemingly bottomless bag of tricks. She’s also performed at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in full drag as her male alter-ego, Jo Calderone, and she’s suffered fan backlash over the serious similarities between the song “Born This Way” and Madonna’s “Express Yourself”. No biography of the young performer could keep up with her rapid news-making pace.