Lady Gaga... a religion for some, scantily clad for most

So, dearest readers, I have recently returned to our Magis home after witnessing one of the most religious of religious experiences for today's profane, lost youth: I saw Lady Gaga in concert at the Verizon Center. It was everything her "Monster Ball" promised to be. She made the requisite "You are all beautiful" speech. She appreciated her fans. Her fans obsessed and swooned over her. She played her pyrotechnic piano with a stiletto heel. You know, the usual.

What surprised me about this concert the second time around (yes, I've seen this concert 2 times... please no judgments) was the amount of religious imagery she presents to, what I assume is, her largely secular crowd. Well folks, maybe it was there the first time around and I missed it because of the sensory overload (or the drunk women dancing precariously close to my personal space) but I definitely saw a closer tie to religion in her DC concert compared with her one in NY. Granted, Lady Gaga's religions overtones include more Madonna than Ignatius, but they are present within nonetheless.

Let me break it down for those not crazy enough to see the spectacle for themselves.

1. Lady Gaga reveals herself in a "Flying Nun-like" habit... and in a bikini.

2. Lady Gaga performs in front of a crowd preaching tolerance towards others at the fringes of society (her charity of choice is for LGBTQ homeless & children)

3. Lady Gaga bathes in a replica of Bethesda fountain, complete with Angel statue spewing red water... and the statue is on fire

4. Lady Gaga bestows effusive compliments on "Jesus"'s love for both men and women... this takes a more suggestive tone when we consider that her almost naked bass player (with very long hair and washboard abs) is also named Jesus.

5. Lady Gaga stops her performance mid-song and dance in order to stop two audience members from fighting.

1. OK now for the nun outfit. I really don't have a comment about that except that she looked like Sally Fields in the "Flying Nun" series. Perhaps this was meant as a... nah I got nothin'.

2. Lady Gaga is nothing if not loyal to her fans. She peppers in inspirational thoughts and praises into the narrative of her concert. In DC she made open critiques about the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy in the American military. She frequently expresses her affection for those deemed weird or outside mainstream American society. The major theme of her brand (her music, her image etc) is ultimately about acceptance, and while sex sells her music, she seems to be making a directed effort in welcoming every type of person into her fold of devotees.

3. The Bethesda fountain angel was built (now in Central Park, NYC) to commemorate the Croton Aqueduct's giving NY reliably clean and potable water. The angel is said to be giving the water healing powers, referencing the Gospel of John Ch. 5 (I confess - I got this exact reference off of Wikipedia). Now in the concert, Gaga bathes in a replica of the Bethesda fountain... in red water. Red obviously evokes blood (not potable) but I think the imagery of Gaga baptizing herself in the "blessed water" is the real takeaway picture.

4. The Jesus reference was an obvious play off of a religious message... with a, er, highly erotic slant. Profane? Probably. But I think this was Gaga being tongue and cheek with not only her message of acceptance and forgiveness, but also the highly sexualized nature of her persona.

5. This was interesting. Gaga, in the middle of her dance / singing routine stopped the music in order to break up a fistfight which had broken out in the standing area in front of the stage. Letting aside her hawk-like perception, she took this moment (and she seemed genuinely concerned as far as I could tell from the jumbotron closeup) to preach about nonviolence and love. She did so while covered in fake blood, but hey - not all messages can be properly timed.

Well kids, this was my two cents. No Lady Gaga next time, I promise. I'll pick something a little more academic... maybe.

Sunday Afternoon with Some Jesuits

I have a good friend and mentor who's a Jesuit in the Georgetown community. Unfortunately, he's been battling a bad diagnosis this summer that has put him under the knife, in the hospital, and kept him out of the classroom for this fall semester (never a good thing for Jesuits). Now that I'm back at school, I've been visiting him, this afternoon included.

There are many things I enjoy about the Jesuits: they are generally speaking incredibly smart, or at least extraordinarily well-educated; they are the "Jedis" of the Church, seemingly using their powers of mind to challenge all evil in the world and school people in the proper way (not such a bad analogy, actually); and they are the old guys that "get it," about everything. I've had a few Jesuit priests in my family, and as my mother likes to remind me, there's nothing you can tell a Jesuit that he hasn't heard before. They'll dine with you, drink with you, and then they'll get you in line for heaven; what more could you want from a friend?

Here's what I enjoy most, though: the dialogue. When my boyfriend and I got to the "Jes Res," we sat down with my mentor and some of the other men in the community for a few hours. As my boyfriend said about his conversation with one Jesuit, "He sure packs a lot into a five minute talk." And indeed, the Jesuit had told him about a class he had taught, a theater and Catholic imagination course. The personal monologues his students came to tell the class were profound and inspiring -- one young man told of how he had learned to forgive again after his father had been killed on 9/11. Another Jesuit spoke to me about how many young people he had married over the years, and how he had kept in touch with them all through the ups and downs of their lives. My mentor and I discussed an article he had emailed me about theism and new discoveries in astrophysics. I told him about my disagreements with a professor over the historical context of political liberalism and the "principles" of justice outlined by John Rawls; that reminded him of another article he has in mind for me to read about the status of education in American universities.

I had gone to Mass before heading over to see the Jesuits, but I have to say that it was dialogue with the Jesuits that provided the greatest opportunity for self-reflection today. Who else could weave astrophysics and political philosophy into theology, while keeping the conversation as seemingly light as that about the weather? I can't help but be grateful to know these guys, for their humanity, their insight, and their community. So far as a Catholic education is different from any other kind, it's due to guides like them.

I don't know much about how this whole blogging thing works yet, but I guess that's my thought for the day.