Lady Gaga Channels Madonna and German Film Director Fritz Lang in ‘Born This Way’
When Lady Gaga‘s new single “Born This Way” hit radio a few weeks ago, the most common response to the tune was that it sounded a bit like Madonna‘s 1989 smash “Express Yourself.” Gaga isn’t shying away from that comparison in her video for the song, which like the David Fincher-directed clip for “Express Yourself” draws on imagery derived from Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis. Of course, this isn’t the first time Gaga has channeled Lang – she has appeared in photo shoots calling back to the director’s highly stylized works, and her video for “Alejandro” also referenced Metropolis.
Photos: Lady Gaga’s Best Looks
Of course, this being a Lady Gaga video, there’s also much more going on. Some visual motifs will be familiar to Gaga fans, such as the pointed shoulder prosthetics from her recent appearance at the Grammy Awards. There’s also Rick Genest, the tattooed guy who starred in the video for the remix of “Scheiße” that was used in a recent runway show for Thierry Mugler – not to mention a unicorn, a huge amount of symbolic vaginal imagery and of course, Gaga and a bunch of hot dudes dancing around while wearing next to nothing.
Born This Way – Lady Gaga [Vevo]
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