In Conclusion

In working on this project, I originally aimed to evaluate Lady Gaga's use of rhetoric during the 2016 election. Then, I became curious about how responsible celebrity surrogates were for not only actually campaigning for their candidate, but in adding to the false sense of security surrounding this election. I have found that while the best case scenario would have been to use her celebrity to try and convince more people to vote for Clinton, hindsight is always 20/20. I believe that Lady Gaga felt she did her part, and in some ways, she did. She was probably also a victim of the false sense of security created by the media, and unwittingly contributed to it. If she had known there was such a possibility that Hillary would not win, I believe that she may have put more planning into her social media posts throughout the season-such as spacing out fan testimonials. She did in fact even release a song in October that subtly endorsed Hillary's ethos and pathos-perhaps it was too subtle. Perhaps she would have released the song as a lead single. Perhaps she may have just posted more appeals to Hillary's ethos and pathos on social media in an attempt to reach out to skeptical fans. Ultimately, I have come to the conclusion that while Lady Gaga has power as a celebrity, she was just as susceptible as the rest of us to the failed false sense of security-evidenced in the way that she grieved just the same as so many Americans.

The Aftermath

Almost immediately following Hillary's loss, Lady Gaga was reportedly in a car home when she passed Trump Tower. Jumping out and holding up a sign reading "Love Trumps Hate." By continue to use a popular pro-Hillary tagline after her loss, she reminded her social media audience that while the election was over, the thoughts and values behind Hillary's campaign would never be over. She also staged not only a one-woman protest, but the very first of many Trump Tower protests that would follow. Protesting alone, out in the open, in the early hours of the morning is unprecedented for any celebrity, let alone one as famous as Lady Gaga. In that moment she transcended her status in society and grieved along with millions of Americans and people around the world. In that sense, she was (probably unintentionally) appealing to logos.

 *Sidenote: I have decided during the creation of this project that I will only refer to the election results as Hillary's loss, not defeat. Because she was not defeated by a victor, a worthy opponent. She lost something that was rightfully hers.

Election Night

In the dark, late hours of November 8th, Lady Gaga was one of the final celebrities to continue posting from Hillary's rally, and with a semblance of hope. Until the end, she focused on her love and support for Clinton. And she never really stopped that night...

Election Day Continued

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMjYdi3hwvu/?taken-by=ladygaga&hl=en

The link above leads to an Instagram video that Lady Gaga posted on Election Day morning shortly after speaking in North Carolina. Beginning with a clip of her speaking at the rally, Come to Mama begins to play as a montage of videos from Lady Gaga and fans begins to play. In the clips, Lady Gaga and fans hold up Hillary Clinton signs that they made, stating why they are proud to vote for Hillary. Reaching out to logos, and broad ranges of people, they say that they want a president who won't mock the disabled, and who protects women, the LGBT community, and latinx people. Watching this video for the first time on November 8th, having just arrived at school after casting my first ever in-person vote for Hillary, my eyes welled with tears of pride and excitement. We all felt that we'd finally made it. Given the effectiveness of the video, I believe that it would have been beneficial for Lady Gaga to collect and share the fan videos periodically throughout the entire election season.

Come to Mama

For reference, here is Lady Gaga's song "Come to Mama", from her album released in late October 2016. The song is a clear call for unity. It is deliberative in that it appeals to the future of America. It calls for listeners to unite by coming to Mama, implying that Hillary Clinton is the caring woman that America and its children need.

Gaga at the Clinton Rally

On Election Day morning, Lady Gaga spoke at Hillary Clinton's North Carolina rally. It was a celebratory event in which attendees and speakers were moreso just waiting to go home that night and hear the announcement that Clinton had won. Lady Gaga begins this speech much like the way she began her 2010 speech "The Prime Rib of America" at a rally to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell-by shouting an enthusiastic greeting to her audience. "WHAT'S UP RALEIGH?!!!" she cheers. She refers to the rally as one of her most favorite days. As one of the most successful musicians in the world currently with countless achievements, this is a powerful statement that both acknowledges her accomplishments and casts them aside in favor of Clinton. She then appeals to the women watching, stating that she did not believe that in her life she would see a woman win the presidency. This appeals to logos. However, she also speaks as if Hillary has so clearly already won. Her visual rhetoric is mostly pointing strongly for emphasis, but she does not make too many large gestures. This shows a subtly to her seriousness about Clinton. She directly reaches out in a call to action, asking "you" to join her, Clinton, and her supporters in fighting for America. She asserts that true Americans will learn to view Trump supporters as allies rather than adversaries. She then repeats Hillary's tagline, "Stronger together" and says it is what "we" say, making things personal with the audience. She then describes herself as a "woman from an Italian-American immigrant family" making another personal, human connection with viewers. She says "I'm. With. Her." slowly, with strength and power. At the end of a serious speech, she places her sunglasses on and jokes, "put your voting shades on, practice your walk to the poles" adding humor to the speech. Finally, she ends with the statement, "I think it's time to come to Mama." This is a reference to her new song Come to Mama, from her album that was released just two weeks before election day. More on the actual song later. This phrase is not only a reference to her song to add enthusiasm from her fans. It appeals to Michelle Obama's earlier rhetoric when speaking of Clinton. Michelle appealed to her listeners as a mother, rather than the First Lady-as everyone can relate to being or having a mother. She also appealed to Hillary as a mother and grandmother who cares about ALL of America's children. Lady Gaga's "Come to Mama" phrase and song built upon this rhetoric.

Election Week Explosion

These grids are screenshots of Lady Gaga's Instagram feed from November 4th through Election Night. For days, she posted nothing but election-related content, often multiple times a day. These posts range from simple reminders to vote, to the visual rhetoric of patriotic reds, whites, and blues, to pathos-based fan videos. She collected videos submitted by fans in which they expressed their support for Clinton and their reasons for voting for her. Often these reasons were a desire to live in a world of love, tolerance, diversity, and safety. These posts were powerful and strongly appealed to the logos of fans on social media who identified with the people in the videos-many young, women, LGBT, and people of color...and all Lady Gaga fans.

A Period of Silence?

The above post is from October of 2016. After her initial announcement in June, Lady Gaga's Instagram remained virtually free of Hillary Clinton until this. Given the mixed reaction of her fans, it is understandable why she may have wanted to avoid the topic. However, the casual nature of this post is also telling. The funny-faced filter and caption "have fun with it" both appeal to millenials. What they also do is contribute to a sense of false security that the media constructed throughout the election season. It was around this time that popular news sources such as the New York Times were lauding Hillary as the clear likely winner, with a 91% chance. This post from Lady Gaga is not a call to action. This leads me to wonder if a more responsible choice would have been a more serious approach. Or, an appeal to Hillary's ethos, taking the opportunity to show her Instagram audience what she likes about Hillary and thinks they would like as well. While it is not any celebrity's "responsibility" to get their choice of candidate elected, this election was unique in that the irresponsibility constructed on both social media and news outlets lulled many Americans into a false sense of security. Given how outspoken of a surrogate Lady Gaga became for Clinton in the final week leading up to the election, one wonders if some of that enthusiasm could have been used earlier on.

Initial Reactions to the Endorsement

"Hillary Clinton kills people" "Can't vote for a criminal just bc she's a woman" "Hillary's husband has been accused of rape a few times too" "If she's in, so is he...I'm sure some of her decisions will be advised by him" These are some of the nearly 10,000 actual comments made on Lady Gaga's endorsement photo, many by fans. While I mentioned that I was disappointed, I hardly felt that Lady Gaga was endorsing a criminal. However, many of her fans did. Some even operated under misinformation such as that Bill Clinton would be advising Hillary's decisions.

The Endorsement

Where it all began...On June 7, 2016 Lady Gaga took to Instagram to upload a photo of herself in a patriotic swimsuit and announce her support for Hillary Clinton. "Nothing can keep a strong woman down" appeals to Hillary's ethos and the image of her as a fighter. The red, white, and blue swimsuit seems to aim to appeal to all Americans who love their country, not only "blue" democrats. The rock n roll and country vibe also appeals to a more "southern" aesthetic...one usually associated with Republicans. Finally, the call to action "shake it up America" interestingly appeals to something that Trump also appealed to: Americans desire for change.

First, a confession...

When Lady Gaga first announced her endorsement of Hillary Clinton in June of 2016, I was disappointed. Many other fans also openly expressed their disappointment in the comments section of her Instagram account. As a Bernie Sanders supporter myself, I was hoping not only to see my favorite musician support him, but to see a huge influence on pop culture endorse him. However, by the time November rolled around, both Lady Gaga and myself passionately campaigned for Clinton, and we both mourned her loss. In studying Lady Gaga's election season rhetoric, I'm interested in not only her rhetorical choices, but the contributions they made to the season as a whole.