‘Judas’ by Lady Gaga was written and produced by both Red One (music production company and record label) and Lady Gaga herself. The song was also written by Lady Gaga and her companion and choreographer Laurieann Gibson. I will use Andrew Goodwin’s six step analysis as a way of analysing this video.
The song is predominantly from the pop genre but also includes features from the following genres of music- house music, tribal-techno music and dub step. The characteristics of these genres obviously include very fast paced and upbeat music and the majority include various dance routines. The song is based on the biblical story of Lady Magdalene and the rivalry between Judas and Jesus; the three characters are portrayed as modern day travellers to Jerusalem.
The song is based around Lady Gaga, as Lady Magdalene, who is in love with Judas. The video is both performance and narrative based as the video follows the story of Lady Magdalene and her love for Judas, whilst Lady Gaga performs throughout the video. It is predominately narrative based as the whole video focuses closely on the plot and the relationships between the three characters while Lady Gaga performs. The video follows Gaga in her desperate situation as she is in love with a man who has portrayed her, Gaga sings within the song, ‘even after three times he portrays me’. The costumes used within the video portray the characters well, the use of distinctive and stereotypical clothes and accessories make it clear to the audience who each character is. Examples include- Jesus wearing a crown of thorns and Gaga and several other dancers and characters wearing large crucifixes to symbolise the connection with religion and the Christian faith.
The song is predominantly from the pop genre but also includes features from the following genres of music- house music, tribal-techno music and dub step. The characteristics of these genres obviously include very fast paced and upbeat music and the majority include various dance routines. The song is based on the biblical story of Lady Magdalene and the rivalry between Judas and Jesus; the three characters are portrayed as modern day travellers to Jerusalem.
The song is based around Lady Gaga, as Lady Magdalene, who is in love with Judas. The video is both performance and narrative based as the video follows the story of Lady Magdalene and her love for Judas, whilst Lady Gaga performs throughout the video. It is predominately narrative based as the whole video focuses closely on the plot and the relationships between the three characters while Lady Gaga performs. The video follows Gaga in her desperate situation as she is in love with a man who has portrayed her, Gaga sings within the song, ‘even after three times he portrays me’. The costumes used within the video portray the characters well, the use of distinctive and stereotypical clothes and accessories make it clear to the audience who each character is. Examples include- Jesus wearing a crown of thorns and Gaga and several other dancers and characters wearing large crucifixes to symbolise the connection with religion and the Christian faith.
The lyrics throughout the whole song are illustrated constantly by Gaga’s actions and the plot of the video, this relates to Goodwin's second theory on the relationship between the visuals of the video and the lyrics. A very good example of this is when Gaga sings, ‘Jesus is my virtue but Judas is the demon I cling to’. Continuously throughout the video it is very clear to the audience that Lady Magdalene is in love with Judas but in denial about it and feels guilty and almost hates herself because of the feelings she cannot help but confess. Another example of lyrics relating well to the visuals of the video is, ‘In the most biblical sense I am beyond repentance’, Gaga’s sense of no longer feeling guilty about her love for Judas is shown within the video when Lady Magdalene is stoned to death at the end of the video, this proving that she was willing to die for Judas and the love she felt for him.
The edits within the video are very fast and snappy to match the speed of the song; the edits match various beats of the song. Often, the edits simply cut to a different setting and in some cases even to a different angle of Gaga herself- ranging from long distance shots to extreme close ups of the artist. The instrumental sections of the song features Gaga and many others dancing- dramatically and passionately to match the lyrics and narrative of the song. The video includes several close up shots and extreme close up shots of the artist, the camera emphasises Lady Gaga’s expression of desperation within the situation of the plot. This particular video is very individual and different from many of Lady Gaga’s songs and other artists’ musical themes, however, ‘Judas’ is alike some of Lady Gaga’s hits including ‘Poker face’, ‘Alejandro’, ‘Love Game’ and ‘Bad Romance’. These videos and songs are similar in their genre, lyrics and theme of videos. A example of the similarities between these videos in shown within Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance', this includes extravagant costumes, dance routines surrounded by Gaga and the lyrics are similar in the way in which they both speak about being in love with someone you should not be and who is branded a 'monster'.
Lady Gaga as an artist is known worldwide as a sex symbol as well as a very successful artist. This particular image is given to Gaga from her fans because of her provocative and sexual outfits in several of her videos. This feature within 'Judas' refers to Goodwin's fourth theory on the way in which women are presented and how they are constantly symbolised as 'sex objects'. Within ‘Judas’ Lady Gaga is again dressed very provocatively and barely wear any clothes, in one scene she is simply in underwear. As well as the costumes used, the dancing within the video shows Gaga with hardly any clothes on, showing off her extremely slim physique. This, not only refers to Goodwin's theory but also to Laura Mulvey's theory on the 'male gaze'. The fact that Gaga is continuosly wearing hardly any clothes presents her as both a sex symbol as well as simply an object to men.
The video features many intertextual references to other sources of media. The video was inspired by the films, ‘The Wild One’, a film based on a motorcycle gang; this obviously inspired the first section of the video when Gaga is joined by a gang of men on motorcycles. Too add to this, there are also references to the film, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, seen with the acts of violence, the darkness of the video and the passion between Judas and Lady Magdalene. To add to this, there are also resemblances to both 'Easy rider' and 'Sons of anarchy'.
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