Column: A Piece of Meat

What separates a drunkard eating a kebab and Lady Gaga? I ask this question on the basis that both will eventually arrive at a party covered in meat. The former will be promptly pushed into a taxi by a disgruntled host, whereas the latter is lauded as brave, brash and above all, brilliant. So really, what separates them? At the risk of an awful pun, the answer is quite simply the fame.

For those of you living under a rock, I refer to the ridiculous spectacle seen at MTV’s Video Music Awards in which the pop superstar wore a dress made of meat. Many attempts have been made over the last week to interpret her “statement” and the issues she addressed. Where one so called expert claims it to have been a feminist statement, another suggests it was a protest in outrage at the US Army’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and so-on and so-forth (all of course accompanied by stretched metaphors in which the oppressed minority are pieces of meat.) Similarly, one could suggest that the meat represents the bullshit celebrities feed us. We’re so willing to eat it all up without question.

In today’s age of self-important shock tactics and “spontaneous” stunts, surely it would be more shocking to just state your issue. To just tell the world you disagree with the mistreatment of minority X or the hypocrisy of person type Z would command more respect from those of your devoted followers who have a brain in their head. Certainly more people would listen and certainly less offense would be caused. Whether you agree with PETA and animal rights campaigners or don’t, but to wear dead chunks of animal to further your personal cause would be akin to happy slapping the elderly as a statement on youth culture. Needlessly offensive and incredibly short sighted as to the real route to the problem.

The truth is, we all know that the dress most probably means absolutely nothing. Even on the slim chance that there is something meaningful buried behind the butchers display, let us make no mistake as to who or what received exposure from this tasteless stunt. Whatever the perceived issue, whatever the ridiculous statement, Lady Gaga was the news story. Despite how huge she is and despite her undeniable talent at what she does, the limelight still needs that extra tug to stay in her direction.

Tom Geddes, Music Columnist