Gaga Needs A French BF
When you are out of the country for a few days yet still tune in from time to time to American television (CNN, HLN), you become acutely aware of just how strange American cultural fixations can be. While media in the rest of the world lead their newscasts with Egypt, American TV obsesses over it like World War III. And while non-American media include healthy doses of sexy guys and gals on almost every program, American media obsess over the human anatomy like the Puritans we unfortunately still seem to be.
For example: all the American finger-wagging about the dress Lindsay Lohan wore to court. My God, it wasn’t as if she was in a bikini! And all the revolting judgmentalism aimed at the New York congressman who sent a shirtless photo of himself to an online correspondent. Ninety-eight percent of vital human beings have done something similar in their lives, and ninety-seven percent, like the Congressman, have cheated a few facts off of their online profiles. Apart from the Congressman’s wife, who really needs to care? He didn’t even hook up with the online woman. This isn’t a case of a Republican politician who was in the closet while voting against gay people. He was a garden-variety, apparently serial cheater. If this is grounds for having to resign from Congress, then the halls of the Rotunda will be empty!
After all the Puritianism, it is a joy to see that Lady Gaga has a new single, “Born This Way.” Sure, it’s a rip-off of Madonna’s “Express Yourself,” but even the greatest composer in Western history, Bach, “borrowed” liberally from Vivaldi. Gaga gave an interview to Anderson Cooper, to air this Sunday on “60 Minutes,” in which she says that many people, even her fans, “want to see me fail.” But that’s part of longevity, Gaga. You can’t last more than 5 minutes in the media spotlight without an occasional spectacular flame-out. Accept it, don’t bemoan it.
Final observation of the day: French has replaced Brazilian as the preferred nationality of choice for boyfriends among the beautiful people. Madonna’s current boy toy, Brahim, is French; Anderson’s BF is French, and the boyfriend, soon-to-be husband of Natalie Portman is French. Gaga, are you listening?
