The documentary, Gaga: Five Foot Two, opens up in a lavish home in California. Lady Gaga (Stephani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) in her sweatpants feeding her two dogs, just like any other average human. But there is a lot more to it than that. After almost ten years of stardom, Lady Gaga has begun working on her latest album, “Joanne”, which was released in 2016.

     Throughout this movie, cameras follow Gaga through the twists and turns of fame, her break up with her fiancé, struggles with her healing hip and fibromyalgia.

     Within the first couple minutes, Gaga admits to having been fighting with Kinney which she claimed “sucks.” At the age of thirty, Gaga says her “threshold for…men” is nonexistent now as she is feeling more confident with her body image, individuality and who she has grown into as a woman.
Viewers see a stripped down version of her as she opens up about former insecurities and how she spent a majority of her life up until now feeling as though she wasn’t good enough. With all this behind her, she promotes her “girl power” mantra and speaks out about how male producers have tried taking advantage of her in the industry.

      It took so long to be able to break free from that and set her own rules. Gaga references how creative directors have asked her to be “pop” and “glamourous.”

     Her way around that? Giving a performance at the VMAs to the hit song “Paparazzi” in a very glamorous manner, but ending it with blood pouring from her white costume. This symbolic act meant so much to her because not only did this depict how the fame killed famous artists, but it also it allowed her to add her own creativity to a piece and take control of the performance.

     The cameras are rolling as she creates new music, attends a family christening, films American Horror Story and most importantly as she visits her grandmother to let her listen to her song “Joanne”. Joanne is her aunt who passed away from lupus at age 19.
The song (and the entire album) was written as a gift for her father and paternal grandmother as a tribute to the hardships that they endured while they lost their sister and daughter at such a young age. The emotional scene brought everyone to tears and her grandmother gives her the seal of approval on the song.

     Throughout the whole documentary, viewers catch a glimpse of the real woman behind the meat dress. There are days where she just cannot move because her disease and once-broken hip sends her entire body into spasms. In a scene right before Tony Bennett’s birthday, she lays on a couch unable to move, sobbing because of the embarrassment she feels.

     These raw emotions have shown viewers and fans that although fame can be appealing on the outside, there is always so much going on after the curtain closes. In what could be called the most powerful scene of the movie, Gaga is forced to put makeup on and smile after a long, hard day just to walk outside into a pile of screaming fans.

     The director shows flashbacks of past appearances where she is caked in makeup, costumes and glitter, scrambling past fans while still trying her hardest to acknowledge them all. You can feel her relief when she finally gets into her car and is appreciative of the “silence” that fills the air.
Initially, I was not intrigued by this documentary. I wasn’t a Lady Gaga fan or “hater”, I was simply apathetic to her. After the credits began to roll, I had an entirely different perspective on the star. She is a genuine human who just wants to be recognized for her talents, be treated with respect and live a full life.

     It was so powerful to see her conquer the physical and emotional pain she endures and still put on amazing shows and performances. I would recommend this movie, whether you consider yourself to be a Lady Gaga fan or not, because you definitely will be after viewing this.
Lady Gaga has released five studio albums. They are, in order: “The Fame,” “Born This Way,” “Artpop,” “Cheek to Cheek” (with Tony Bennet) and the most recent, “Joanne.” She has sold nearly 26,000,000 albums worldwide and over nine million in just the United States alone.