“Baby Gaga”
Published by anonymous June 9th, 2010 in The CultureNot long ago I wrote about “Little Girls Going Hard on Single Ladies”; five, seven-year-old girls doing their provocative rendition of Beyoncè’s “Single Ladies” video. I still think that their performance was over-the-top; but, if you can believe it, the exploitation of this three-year-old in her YouTube music performance entitled “Baby Gaga” is even worse!
The mother of this little girl stated in an interview that the spoof on Lady Gaga’s video Telephone, “suited my daughter’s personality; she’s energetic, playful, and outgoing. She wasn’t under stress but comfortable with the director since she has known him since she was 6-months-old. It was for fun; just for our family and friends. I had no idea it would go viral and be such a hit.”
Okay, I take exception with most of this.
1. No matter how animated your three-year-old child might be, I don’t think one day she decides today is the day she is going to have fun getting in and out of risqué costumes, applying tons of makeup, donning handcuffs and wigs, playing like she’s sucking a bottle and sharing it with a grown up, dancing on a bar, have scantily-clad grown dancers gyrate in the background, and everything else that appears in this video. This all goes a great deal beyond a little girl “playing dress-up” as the director stated was what Keira liked to do for fun.
2. Secondly, how many people spend three hours making an elaborate video just for family and friends? I’m sure, though it wasn’t mentioned, there were some costs associated with the costumes, extra dancers (unless they were dubbed in), etc. I can’t imagine that this was posted without the idea that it would get hit after hit and go viral. Asked why they didn’t take it down, “It’s too late,” said the mother. “It’s on all kinds of videos. It’s beyond YouTube.” Exactly my point!
Again, how can you do this and not fear for the physical safety of your child? How can you do this and not worry about emotional flashbacks for your child – not today but at sometime in the future. Is it just another parent looking at life as if it is a “reality show” and they are immune from any type of consequences?
People have to start realizing that “fun” can turn into tragedy and children should be allowed to just be children.