Lady Gaga

After this week’s gospel reading on the foreigner woman who bested Jesus in a debate and proved to be more Christian than he was, I am looking for unexpected sources of truth. And I stumbled across Lady Gaga.

It turns out that Lady Gaga began life as Stefani Germanotta. Maybe I’m the last to discover this but an article by Rodney Clapp describes her as an awkward teenager. She experienced bullying for being ugly, having a big nose and giant eyebrows. They put her down for her laugh, her makeup and her love of theatre. It got bad enough that she wanted to stay home from school.

In her new life as Lady Gaga, Stefani has maintained her outrageous persona. But despite her present day fame, she can’t forget her pain as an unhappy teenager. Thus beneath the flash and glam, Stefani conveys a message that despite others’ putdowns because you’re too fat or too skinny, despite harassment because you’re gay, you have real worth. if you’re a misfit, embrace yourself.

Fans write to her in gratitude for helping to liberate them from the chains of hate. A 15 year old offers this testimony, “At every concert you’ve said that you want to liberate us and that is what you’ve done. Your songs have taught me not to listen to haters and be who I am, because baby, I was born this way.”

Lady Gaga may be an unlikely source of truth but this sounds like good news in unusual packing.

Peter