Lady Gaga's Monster Ball

Lady Gaga is an artist who clearly embodies the disco culture of the 21st Century. Her biography is clearly a modern-day Cinderella story: She was originally known for singing in low-key New York nightclubs and is now a multi-platinum selling artist with five number one pop hits. Her world tour, "Monster Ball," plays on a popular fairy tale motif that is central to the plot of Cinderella; the ball.

In fairy tales, the ball is an exclusive social event to which one must wear a fabulous gown. Cinderella must also work very diligently - cleaning up after her entire household and living in squalor for years, in addition the the work she must do the night of the ball - in order to receive an invitation to and, more importantly, the means to attend the ball. At the ball, Cinderella meets a prince who allows her to rise from her life in servitude and live as a wealthy, beautiful princess.

Gaga's tour theme represents many of the things that the ball in Cinderella is supposed to embody, and it does so with a bit of 21st century American flash and style. The concert is a huge production organized by the hard work of Gaga and her team, "Haus of Gaga." Similarly to the fairy tale, a lot goes into the production of the ball, including elaborate sets and fabulous costumes by world-famous designers. Obviously producing music is hard work as well. Gaga's reward for putting on her ball is the cheers (and cash) of her adoring fans who span the globe. The fans are like Lady Gaga's "prince," in that their following of her music has allowed her to rise from relatively unknown clubs in NYC to global stardom, just as Cinderella's prince carried her from life as a servant to life as a princess.

Lady Gaga's fairy tale is truly an "American" version of Cinderella because her own creativity and entrepreneurship, along with her natural talent for writing and singing music, has brought her to a position of "pop royalty." Additionally, the theme of her ball is quite unique. In an interview with Ellen Degeneres, Gaga explained that the monster represents a person's innermost personal traits - the ones that she may be uncomfortable displaying in front of her friends because they are counter-cultural or abnormal - and that the ball is a place where each of Gaga's fans can feel comfortable being her true self. Gaga also invites fans to be themselves by leading by example and always dressing and acting in the way that suits her best, despite whether or not popular culture supports her fashion and personal choices. The concept of being yourself and acting uniquely is also inherently American, and, again, the "Monster Ball" is certainly an American-style fairy tale.