Is Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” Video Too Over The Top?

Robbie Daw | June 8, 2010 10:07 am

Lady Gaga’s video for “Alejandro”—the third single released from her platinum-selling The Fame Monster—is here. And amidst all the sexually charged, homo-erotic, highly religious and arguably sacriligious imagery, one thing remains apparent: Gaga is hellbent on outdoing herself with each new visual epic. The Steven Klein-directed “Alejandro” clocks in at eight minutes and 44 seconds. Let’s head below and see what “Gaga Klein” came up with!

The first thing that becomes apparent—after, of course, the boys wearing leather hats and fishnet stockings—is that we’re at some sort of military-style funeral procession.

The clip then advances from Gaga as a widow to Gaga as a super sexed-up nun who swallows Rosary beads (well, that should give Fox News more food for venomous thought) and engages in simulated naughtiness with a bunch of gay dudes with bowl cuts. Alejandro, are you in there somewhere?

(Note: Gaga herself has said this video is a tribute to gay men and how she can never experience that type of love.)

By the time the guns are jutting out of Gaga’s bra (all we can think of here is Madonna’s classic “Vogue” cones), all the symbolism kind of gets muddled by the whole OTT-at-any-cost nature of the video.

What happened to the fun Gaga of “Telephone”? Where’s the coy, stylish Gaga from “Bad Romance” and “Paparazzi”? And, we know she’s a bit preoccupied with death (see her Larry King Live interview), but, geez—this video is just really depressing for such an upbeat summer jam.

We get it—artists need to evolve. And Lady Gaga has come a long way since the “Just Dance” house party days. But she should be careful not to fly too far over her little monsters’ heads in a bid to stay ahead of the pop pack.

So what do you think of the video? Blackbook recently noted that frequent Madonna collaborator Steven Klein had already done a shoot for W that featured models resembling the dancers in “Alejandro.”

Do you think Klein borrowed from himself here? And did “Alejandro” live up to your expectations after all the teases?