Didn't I just talk about this like last week?
Unfortunately, it looks like the message still isn't quite clear enough, and I'm going to have to repeat something rather empathically...
Guys. Walang basagan ng trip naman, o!
Y'know, while everyone is having a blast after having braved a bit of rain and horrendous traffic and obscene ticket prices just to catch a glimpse of Lady Gaga tonight, all I can say is if all of that hasn't scared these people away from watching tonight, then they deserve to enjoy the concert. I'm not a fan of Lady Gaga, so I never bothered getting any tickets, but I certainly wouldn't begrudge anyone who happens to be a fan.
Also, I don't feel bad about writing this post and talking about Lady Gaga on some level for two successive Project 52 installments, because unlike this guy, I'm not using taxpayer's money to waste everyone's time.
Looks like a guy who has listened to Lady Gaga enough to have an authoritative opinion...
But really? Screw this guy. I mean, think about it: this man is one of the biggest backers for horseracing in Manila. A legal vice, yes, but a vice, nonetheless, which finds itself in good company with drinking, smoking, and dare I say it? Lady Gaga's supposedly pornographic antics. These are all legal, and very well on similar levels to each other.
Let's not even talk about the debate about Lady Gaga's message, which, at no point, has ever been hateful in nature. Asking people to accept that someone is "Born This Way" is not being hateful. Telling someone who's gay that they're "the deception of the devil," on the other hand, is. I've discussed this issue at length last week already, and feel no need to retread it.
Let's not even talk about the fact that the sheer arrogance of Martin Nievera to give unsolicited advice to Lady Gaga about her artistic integrity reeks of the kind of naivete that gets musical artists screwed over by the big record companies in the first place. Why would Lady Gaga need to change the lyrics of her song, to begin with, so as not to offend people? If someone was going to get offended by Lady Gaga's songs, they were not going to pay 2,000 to 15,000 to hear her songs!
And if you were going to be offended by her lyrics, to begin with, why would you be wasting your time watching her music videos or reading the news about her? She is a celebrity, she promotes tolerance, and she is bats**t insane while she's at it. Big freaking deal. Just like Ms. Universe before it, we have bigger fish to fry than this.
And maybe even bigger cows.
Long story short: people paid money for this, Lady Gaga is doing a show that is clearly not all-ages, and as such, you'd have to be a really lousy parent to let your kids watch this unsupervised, and this is not a show for everyone. So what's the problem?
Is gambling, drinking, and smoking also morally objectionable? If you were going to be hardcore fundamentalist about it, definitely! It's just that it's not hip to hate on those things the way it is to hate on a provocateur like Lady Gaga.
Thus, proving, that fundies and hipsters are mostly the same thing.
So what's the point here? That there are a lot of debatable things that we allow, because hey, that's what free will is all about. People are free to make their choices when it comes to their music, specifically, and who cares if we don't necessarily like their choices? It's not our choice, so it's not our call to make whether or not a concert should be canceled due to religious sentiment.
Let me repeat: Walang. Basagan. Ng. Trip. If you don't like her music, don't watch her. If you don't like what she represents, don't watch her. But if you think your disdain for her gives you the right to stop anyone else who actually likes her music or likes what she represents, then screw you and the high horse you rode in on.
I'm not a Lady Gaga fan. I tolerate her the way I tolerate Justin Bieber's music. It's popular, it isn't downright terrible for the most part (Yes! That goes for Bieber, too.), and it's part and parcel of a lot of people's playlists. I just fail to see where my opinion of Lady Gaga should determine whether everyone else who actually likes her may watch her concert or not. Because I'm kinda sure it doesn't, and that's what freedom is all about: nobody's being forced to watch, after all.
Listen. I'm not watching Gaga's concert tonight. Big shocker, I know. I'm not watching it tomorrow, either. But I chose that. It's my option not to shell out thousands of bucks and brave a horrible traffic jam just to see her. It's my autonomy that allowed me to determine, after hearing her music, that I can say "thanks, but no thanks" to being a fan of hers. So why is it that these fundamentalists are capable of respecting only the choices of people who agree with them?
In a country plagued with poverty, corruption, and all the societal ills and evils that come with it, it boggles my mind why Lady Gaga's opposition think that she will destroy the good ol' values of this country. What values? The values that allow a congressman to give a pointless privilege speech denouncing Lady Gaga while they knowingly sit on the RH Bill and Freedom Of Information Bill? The kind of values that allow this very congressman to then proceed to encourage the vice of gambling in Manila, no matter how legal it happens to be? The kind of values that allow this nation to dehumanize people just because of who they fall in love with?
Those values?
Well, screw those values! Screw 'em with a rusted poker. Get over yourselves, and let the people who can and want to watch just enjoy what they actually paid for.
Ultimately, Gaga lang siya. Hindi siya si Satanas.
And heaven help you if you even try to pull this same crap with NKOTBSB next month. There will be hell to pay. Hell, I tell you!
Although "Get Down" does sound like an invitation to go to hell, when you think about it...
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