Lady Gaga Says 'Judas' Video 'Celebrates Faith'

' 'Judas' is a metaphor and an analogy about forgiveness and betrayal,' Gaga says of song and video.
By Jocelyn Vena


Lady Gaga
Photo: Michael Loccisano/ Getty Images

Next week, fans will finally get to see Lady Gaga's "Judas" video, when it premieres during "American Idol." But while we wait, Gaga opened up about the video in a recent interview, giving fans a better sense of what they might see in the clip.

"Well, the video, in essence, suggests that forgiveness and betrayal are hand in hand," she told MSN Entertainment in Canada. "The video puts destiny above all things and postures that the mistakes in your life are in fact not mistakes at all, they are just part of your overarching potential and your destiny."

Though she didn't want to give away the full concept, Gaga did describe the clip's biblical and cultural references. "Well, I want to allow the video to speak for itself, but I will say that the theme of the video and the way that I wanted to aesthetically portray the story was as a motorcycle Fellini movie, where the apostles are revolutionaries in a modern-day Jerusalem. And I play Mary Magdalene, leading them into the town where we meet Jesus, and I will leave the rest for you to see," she teased further about the video, which she co-directed with Laurieann Gibson. "But it's meant more to celebrate faith than it is to challenge it."

While there has been some debate about the song's use of religious icons, Gaga said she doesn't mean for it to be a direct interpretation of Bible stories. "Well, I wouldn't necessarily say that my schooling [in Catholic school] informed the songwriting on that record in particular. 'Judas' is a metaphor and an analogy about forgiveness and betrayal and things that haunt you in your life, and how I believe that it's the darkness in your life that ultimately shines and illuminates the greater light that you have upon you," she said.

"Someone once said to me, 'If you have no shadows then you're not standing in the light.' So the song is about washing the feet of both good and evil, and understanding and forgiving the demons from your past in order to move into the greatness of your future," she continued. "I just like really aggressive metaphors — harder, thicker, darker — and my fans do as well. So it is a very challenging and aggressive metaphor, but it is a metaphor."

Gaga said that Born This Way will be more about the religion of pop culture than anything taught in Sunday school.

"Well, I'm fascinated with iconography, and I'm fascinated with the way that iconography is taught in terms of education to the world, whether it be through institutionalized religion or through symbolism or through movies or through music," she said.

"In a lot of ways it's about faith and hope, but not in the religious sense," she added. "It's about faith and hope in culture, especially in a time all over the world where many are in need of hope, in need of understanding, in need of love, in need of lack of prejudice, in need of no judgment, in need of acceptance. How can we look to culture for faith?"

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Dominic Cooper Talks Playing Saddam's Son In 'Devil's Double'

Actor opens up to MTV News about dual roles as murderous Uday Hussein and his hapless body double, in our Summer Movie Preview.
By Josh Wigler


Dominic Cooper in "Devil's Double"
Photo: Lions Gate

The reign of Saddam Hussein is mostly in the collective rearview mirror, but for Dominic Cooper it's still very much in the present.

Cooper stars in this summer's "The Devil's Double," the Lee Tamahori-directed historical gangster flick that tells the story of Saddam's murderous son Uday and his reluctant body double, Latif Yahia. Appropriately enough, Cooper's pulls double-duty as both Uday and Latif, delivering a two-pronged performance that swings between psychotic mania and indescribable tragedy. And as moviegoers will no doubt observe in the just-released trailer, getting into those two divergent headspaces could not have been an easy task.

With "The Devil's Double" arriving in theaters on July 29, now's the perfect time to get the inside track on what's sure to be one of the can't-miss movie affairs of the summer. To that end, MTV News spoke with Cooper about playing Uday and Latif as part of our continuing Summer Movie Preview.

MTV: What drew you to "The Devil's Double"? Was it the opportunity to tap into these two different roles? The chance to explore this fairly recent period of history?

Dominic Cooper: Yeah, you know, it is such an interesting period of time. It seems so apparent to us, so much to do with our recent history, really, that area with regards to the war and that regime. But I didn't know enough. To sort of get inside of it and to see what this was all about and the world in which [the Husseins] existed, for me, was really intriguing. I wanted to know more.

And the opportunity to work with [director Lee Tamahori] — once I met him, I was blown away by his energy and his vision of what the piece should be. It wasn't meant to be an accurate historical reference to those people and that period of time; it was very clouded, what the actual truth is. But he saw this incredible dynamic between an evil man and a poor guy who was thrown into a situation he couldn't get out of. That dynamic and that conflict, he found so riveting, as did I.

MTV: Just judging by the trailer, this doesn't seem like an easy project to take on.

Cooper: It wasn't. It was chaos filming it; there wasn't much time to do it, and with the technology of having to double me up and the speed with which that had to be done and the change of character I had to do in a matter of moments ... it wasn't easy.

But I remember thinking, 'This is very special for me. No matter what people think of it and no matter who sees it and no matter how it turns out, these parts come along rarely.' I just absorbed every moment of it really and enjoyed playing out being a kid — because Uday was basically a child gone wrong, but one who had access to everything with no one stopping him. I was running around with golden guns and Ferraris ... it was an odd experience! Playing out this gangster role, knowing that this man did ruin and destroy people's lives and families without any remorse or forward thinking. He was just all-out evil, Uday was. It was very complicated, playing a character that you have no empathy for.

MTV: So were you ever able to get yourself to that point, a place where you could empathize with a man like Uday?

Cooper: No, not really. [Laughs.] The wonderful thing was having Latif to play as a sympathetic character. After being this monster for days in and days out, it was nice to play something genuine and heartfelt and sort of emotionally raw rather than this savage person. I suppose in terms of strength and understanding, on some level, I had to comprehend what it must have been like for [Uday] as a child, growing up in that regime and having Saddam as a father, not being acknowledged by his father. I don't think he trusted him to take his position, to run a country, with military decisions. All of those things, if you think about them, it's why he killed his father's best friends. He was desperate for attention. He was never given enough. That was a way in for me, to try and comprehend the monstrosities that he took part in.

MTV: From a technical standpoint, how did you do this? What was the process of playing these two characters?

Cooper: Technically, some of the scenes where both of us were in the shot, we'd have a motion-controlled camera. I'd film a scene dressed as and behaving as Uday, and it would replicate the move exactly so you could double the screen up and put it over the top. I would have to guess or work out where I was standing for the other character, which was sometimes very difficult, because Uday takes up a lot of space; he's very manic, he moves around a lot, and we'd have to try and pinpoint where the eye-lines would be. It's quite complicated, really. I was basically acting to nothing, remembering the performance I was doing as that person. It wasn't easy, but again, it was so creative and in the moment because on-the-spot decisions were being made. I think a lot of the time, instead of too much thinking, you kind of go with your instincts and our wonderful cameraman's instincts, and I think it turned out better for it.

MTV: "Devil's Double" hits theaters in July, right in the midst of a very crowded summer-movie season filled with superheroes, robots and what have you. For you, what makes "Devil's Double" stand out in a sea of blockbusters?

Cooper: Well, I think it's the fact that this is not a blockbuster, in a way. [Laughs.] They're visually stunning, those films, but ultimately it depends on whether you want complete escapism — to believe that there are green monsters coming down from Mars and superheroes are flying around the sky, which is wonderful and exciting — or whether you want some sort of reality-based reference to a man who actually existed.

I think Latif's story is exhilarating. How could anyone have ever lived through that? It's so far from where we are, seeing how Baghdad functioned, this lavish and overwhelming lifestyle that these people led. There's a true horror of what went on within it. But at the same time, Lee's made it action-packed and fast moving and sexy in a way. It has all of those elements. It's a gangster film rather than a historical documentation. You're just amazed that anybody ever went through this.

Check out everything we've got on "The Devil's Double."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Kristen Stewart And Taylor Lautner Dish On Filming ?Breaking Dawn?

Well, we know filming for the final installment of the ‘Twilight’ saga, ‘Breaking Dawn,’ wrapped recently. Now we just have to wait for the first one (which is due out next November) and then the second half (which, for some … Continue reading

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Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas, More Featured In O Music Awards Roundtable Debate

Music-video director Wayne Isham will join Most Innovative Video debate, which streams live Monday on OMusicAwards.com and MTV.com.
By MTV News Staff


Ke$ha
Photo: Noel Vasquez/ Getty Images

Ever since they were first announced, the O Music Awards have proudly proclaimed themselves the untraditional alternative to the staid world of red carpets, acceptance speeches and celebrity glad-handing.

And for further proof of that point, consider the following: Though the inaugural O Music Awards won't premiere until April 28, the first award will be handed out on Monday at 4 p.m. ET ... and it's a big one.

For weeks, fans have been voting for the Most Innovative Music Video through the O Music Awards official site, and on Monday — in a roundtable debate moderated by MTV News' James Montgomery — a winner will be crowned.

The O Music Awards Debate for the Most Innovative Music Video, presented by FUZE®, will stream live on OMusicAwards.com and MTV.com. Joining Montgomery around the table will be acclaimed video director Wayne Isham, Mashable's Brenna Ehrlich and some super-secret celebrity guests.


The Black Eyed Peas, Ke$ha, My Chemical Romance and more will also take part in the discussion about just what makes a video truly innovative, and the folks who are nominated for the award — a list that includes Arcade Fire, Robyn, OK Go and Andy Grammer — will also Skype in to make the case for why their video deserves to be named Most Innovative.

On Monday morning, the original list of 10 nominees will be whittled down to the top five vote-getters, and then, during the debate, our roundtable and the Internet audience will cut that list down to the final three. At the very end, we'll announce the winner of the very first O Music Award for Most Innovative Video.

The inaugural O Music Awards will stream live from Las Vegas at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT on OMusicAwards.com. Tune in to see who will reign supreme in categories like Most Viral Dance, Funniest Music Short and NSFW Music Video!

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Lady Gaga Apologizes For 'Retarded' Comment

'To anyone that was hurt, please know that it was furiously unintentional,' singer says.
By Jocelyn Vena


Lady Gaga
Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

When Lady Gaga dropped "Born This Way" earlier this year, the tune immediately drew comparisons to Madonna's "Express Yourself." Shortly after the song was released, Gaga shared with the world that the pop queen liked the song and gave the pop princess her seal of approval.

Now Gaga has once again been asked about the comparisons in a new interview with NME. And she didn't seem pleased by the line of questioning.

"That's retarded. If you put the songs next to each other, side by side, the only similarities are the chord progression. It's the same one that's been in disco music for the last 50 years. Just because I'm the first f---ing artist in 25 years to think of putting it on Top 40 radio, it doesn't mean I'm a plagiarist, it means I'm f---ing smart. Sorry."

The issue hit newsstands on Tuesday and by late Wednesday night the singer had issued an apology to her fans about her choice of words when defending herself and the chart-topping tune.

"I consider it part of my life's work and music to push the boundaries of love and acceptance. My apologies for not speaking thoughtfully," she said in a statement to Perezhilton.com. "To anyone that was hurt, please know that it was furiously unintentional. An honest mistake requires honesty to make."

She then went on to quote some lyrics from the feel-good dance track: "Whether life's disabilities left you outcast, bullied or teased, rejoice and love yourself today."

What do you think of Gaga's apology for using the "R" word? Tell us in the comments.

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