Lady Gaga absolutely owned her Super Bowl performance; it was truly incredible. The entire performance was well choreographed and rehearsed, and she undoubtedly sang her heart out. I have long been a fan of hers, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, but her Super Bowl ensemble left me greatly disappointed. Why? Lady Gaga is one of the most influential artists of century with a platform of over 21.2 million followers on Instagram, 61.1 million likes on Facebook, and over 65.2 million followers on Twitter. With such a massive platform, Gaga has the ability to talk about social issues in a really unique way, and she has done so on numerous occasions. Most recently, Gaga was seen holding a “Love Trumps Hate” sign, a slogan of the Hillary Clinton Campaign, outside of Trump Tower just after midnight on November 9. Pictures of her protest went viral, and her supporters went wild over it (especially me). Before the Super Bowl there was wide speculation both amongst her supporters and the media that she would somehow use her half time performance as a protest against President Trump and his policies. While she did sing “This Land is Your Land” (a common song used to protest against the administration due to the song’s lyrics mentioning a “big wall”), she had the opportunity to do so much more given her position. She had over 113 million people watching her, including Vice President Mike Pence who was actually at the big game in Houston, and all she did was sing part of a protest song. I was disappointed.
My avid disappointment begs the question, what would have been a better protest that would be both appropriate in the context of the performance and her audience? She had a moment, a huge moment, where all she had to do was show a strong sign of resistance. It could have been a simple as saying “Love Trumps Hate” or “I stand with refugees and immigrants”. I can literally sit here and list a dozen things that she could have done (and in my personal opinion that she should have done), but I think that it is more important to talk about why she chose not to have a more risqué protest. She conceded to Trump, she let him win. By refusing to protest in a more deliberate manner, she gave in to all of the stigma surrounding going against our new President. This is incredibly disappointing, especially considering what a prime opportunity she missed to make an incredibly important statement. Honestly, I am not only disappointed but am thoroughly shocked that she chose not to be more bold. I never pegged Lady Gaga to be one that gives up, that allows fear to influence her decisions. When someone has a platform to speak out against injustice, they have a moral obligation to do so. Gaga has failed to meet this obligation.
