Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta & the Lady Gaga persona

Lady Gaga's Changing Image

Gaga's image became quite extreme very quickly. Many articles state how she used Lady Gaga as a coping mechanism for her depression. However, there have been contradicting articles that state she used this persona to increase sales. I personally believe that she used this image as a coping mechanism in the beginning of her career but then realised the hype the persona gave her and how it was affecting the sales of music.
Gaga started to wear outrageous outfits to attract attention. An example is the dress made out of meat that she wore at the 2010 MTV Music Awards:

Richard Dyer's theory states that celebrities are made up different materials for marketing and financial purposes. He believes that celebrities create a different image of their true self so that they come across as normal people so a larger audience can relate to them.

Pop stars such as Lady Gaga are able to show their star persona's on social media. Social media allows the person to create a following and promote a specific ideology that they want to be seen as.Lady Gaga first became popular in 2008 when her single 'Just Dance' was released. The video for this did not suggest that such an extreme star persona was going to be created from this singer but her next popular singles 'Paparazzi' and 'Poker Face' began to show the image she was creating. From the videos following 'Just Dance' it was clear that Lady Gaga was trying to create a 'gaga' image of herself to make her more aesthetically appealing and make her stand out from the crowd.
  

As Lady Gaga has changed her appearance and persona, her audience have changed too. From the beginning, her audience was the generic pop audience demographic but this has slightly shifted over time. Even though the genre of her music has remained the same, her persona has meant that more of a individual audience are now interested in her music too. Her unique style attracts more of a unique audience. As her persona continues to change so will her audience. She is also able to be a leader to her fans, called the 'Little Monsters'.

Every actor has a first notable on-screen appearance, and for Stefani Germanotta, that was the meaty role of “Girl at Swimming Pool #2,” featured in “The Sopranos” and “The Telltale Moozadell”. The 15-year-old future Mother Monster doesn’t even get a full line of dialogue in the scene, and it’s hardly an indicator of what was to come for one of the world’s biggest pop stars. IMDb credits her with nearly 40 appearances as an actor, but the majority of these are tied to her music career and Gaga persona, including cameos in “Muppets Most Wanted” and “The Simpsons.” Which is understandable when you’re a performer releasing studio albums and touring constantly, but also a bit odd, given that she’s on the verge of becoming an Oscar-nominated actress for “A Star is Born.”