Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' Video: A Postmodern Reading

There are several ways that the video for Lady Gaga's 2010 song 'Telephone' feat. Beyonce could be interpreted as postmodern...

Pastiche and intertextual references: References to Quentin Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' franchise by using the very same truck, the 'Pussy Wagon'; 'Pulp Fiction' through the use of the nickname 'Honey Bee', like 'Honey Bunny' is used in the film; the red and yellow font used is similar to that of 'Jackie Brown'; Gaga and Beyonce's 'Thelma and Louise' style relationship; Beyonce's Wonder Woman-esque outfit; the American flag outfits in the dance routine; imitation of Michael Jackson's shuffle as Gaga breaks out from jail; the Madonna-style look in the beginning of the video.

Consumerism: There is obvious product placement throughout, though it is not done in a humorous way. These include Virgin Mobile, HeartBeats, Chevrolet, Wonderbread, and Diet Coke.

Self-reference: Gaga shows self-awareness through not only the above product placement, but also by addressing the then-recent hermaphrodite rumours in the media, and by referring to her previous video for Paparazzi through the continuing narrative and similar costume choices, especially Beyonce's glasses in the diner scene.

Appropriation of identity-based struggle/Feminism: One the one hand, this video could be criticised as objectifying women, because of the revealing outfits worn by many of the females throughout, the use of close-ups solely on Beyonce's cleavage, the representation of women as needing to be beautiful and image-conscious due to Gaga's many costume changes and extravagant make-up, etc. However, by placing herself in an entirely female world, it could be argued that Gaga is empowering women and opposing the idea of the 'male gaze': "Lady Gaga is interesting for turning the male gaze back on men, and for portraying women as subjects rather than objects in her videos (albeit still scantily-clad subjects)."

Incredulity towards metanarratives: Although the video does consist of a sequence of events, it is difficult to find an overall message to it, mostly due to the many pop culture references and product placement interspersed with the storyline, which leaves little else.