Ellie became a
fan has soon as she heard Lady Gaga’s first single “Just Dance” – she ran to
her friends house to introduce her to the song “you have to listen to this
song, it so cool!” A first Ellie struggled to remember her name for the first
few months and then Lady Gaga blew up to be the pop sensation of the year; from
then on Ellie followed her career. When I asked Ellie why she was a fan of Lady
Gaga she told me “the fact that she’s not really scared of anything – and she
just does what she wants… is not afraid to be who she wants to be.” This has
inspired Ellie to be herself, not in the sense of the crazy fashion, but in the
sense that she has made peace with who she is, become her own individual.
Ellie hasn’t
experienced any strong reactions from the public, when she has told that she’s
a massive Lady Gaga fan, on the other hand her friends get’s tired of her when
she keeps going on about her and tells her to “shut up”.
Ellie is proud
to be a part of the Little Monster community and also has her own profile on
the littlemonsters.com social platform. Where she mainly showcases her artwork.
She really wants Lady Gaga to see one her artworks.
Her impression of the
platform is that fans are very extreme – “Gaga or nothing.” Ellie also uses the
platform to connect with her fellow monsters, which she has met at the
different concerts. Ellie also once made a jacket in contribution to Lady Gaga.
Ellie illustrated the portrait of Lady Gaga herself. Isn’t she an amazing
artist?! Then she spent a following 12 hours queuing so she could get to the
front at a concert. She saw the sunset and -rise. The aim was to get into the
Monster pit, which she unfortunately didn’t get into “which I was really gutted
about it…”
We ended up discussing other fans crazy costumes, inspired by Lady Gaga’s music
videos. I asked Ellie, if she would ever take it to that level; “maybe, but I
still like to be my own person and not just try and recreate her look…”
She also
recognizes the fact that Little Monsters has become a worldwide phenomenon and
doesn’t mind when I stamp the group as a subculture.
Ellie went to
the Born This Way Ball on her own, she was extremely nervous, but quickly came
to relax when she arrived – as the people she met was friendly and immediately
accepted her and if felt like she’d known her fellow fans forever.
During my time
researching Lady Gaga and her fan base, I’ve come know that the fashion can
some times be extreme, but everyone seemed to have their own individual style
in my eyes, but Ellie enlightened me: “it’s usually a lot like leather, denim
spikes… I don’t know, you can kind of usually tell, but I can’t really explain
it – I can be like OMG they like Lady Gaga! They usually wear a badge with her
face…” According to Ellie the definition of the Lady Gaga fan base is
individuality… and a lot of gays!
Ellie is opened
minded about music and listens to everything from Beethoven to Kanye West to
Lady Gaga. “If you like Gaga, you’re not just stuck in Gaga zone.”
Some fans “go
really psycho if you even say one thing, like ‘I don’t like what she’s wearing,
what is she doing?... then they just go way, way to over the top. You get
extreme fans and then normal fans…. Its so different, they eat, breathe, sleep
Gaga – you can’t say a bad word about her… I guess it gets a bit extreme.”
Ellie classes
herself as a ‘normal’ Gaga fan – “you like, what you like and you don’t like,
what you don’t like.”
Ellie shares
the same political views as Lady Gaga, as she focuses on letting people being
their own person, without having to be judged.
What’s unique
about Lady Gaga is that she is relatable. Ellie was bullied at school, for not
being in the it-crowed and following the fashion trends in high school.
Therefor she was isolated for some time and then her Dad brought her tickets
for a Lady Gaga concert for her 16th birthday. At the time she
wasn’t “crazy” about her, but as soon as she saw her preform - “oh my
goodness”. From then on Ellie started to blossom into the individual and
independent person she is today.
I was hoping to
find out if there was any secret underground meeting spot for the LM, but
besides the concerts the fans don’t tend to meet up. Ellie was joking about the
fact “it must seem like we’re a cult, praying to Lady Gaga!”
The general
reaction to Lady Gaga is “mental”, from the massive protests in Asia, which got
her Asian tour cancelled to when her perfume launched in Harrods, London, and
people went crazy when she turned up two hours late.
Has Lady Gaga
revolutionized the pop industry? “Yeah, everyone knows her, everywhere. Either
her music, her outfits or what she stands up for.”
Ellie all time
favourite song is ‘Bad Romance”, as its different to her previous singles
before she released that song. She like all Gaga’s versions of her own songs
from; theatrical performances on stage to her acoustic versions by the piano.
I get the
feeling that individuality is the key word when it comes to Lady Gaga and her
Little Monsters… extreme and sentimental also comes to mind.
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