Faith VanDeventer's Blog

Homophobia in Surrey High Schools

sfvandeventer — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:05:49 +0000

Katy Perry vs. Lady GaGa: The pop princess battle of the new decade

sfvandeventer — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:49:54 +0000

As an aspiring celebrity journalist, I’m going to look at two of the biggest celebrities of the past three years, and their comparisons. Lady GaGa and Katy Perry, who burst into super-stardom at approximately the same time, are constantly being put on to a lab table to be dissected and compared. The world seems to think one is always copying the other, and that it is absurd to adore both. My purpose in the blog I’m writing is to suggest (with proof) that each is original, despite similarities.

I will start with “Katy copying GaGa” since there seem to be ten times more of these.

1. Argument: Katy Perry’s ‘Waking Up In Vegas‘ copied the gambling concept of Lady GaGa’s ‘Poker Face.’

Response:

‘Poker Face‘ was released as a single on September 23, 2008. ‘Waking Up In Vegas‘ was released as a single on April 21, 2009. However, ‘Waking Up In Vegas‘ was written in 2005 by Katy Perry, Desmond Child and Andreas Carlsson for her self-titled album that did not release.

2. Argument: Katy Perry copied Lady GaGa’s American flag outfit.

Response:

Heaven forbid if two American women are patriotic. Katy wore it for an Independence Day concert.

3. Argument: Katy Perry’s breasts lit on fire after Lady GaGa’s did in concert.

Response:

Listen to the song Katy’s “breasts” are lighting on fire to. They’re fireworks from her, and the others in the video’s hearts. Hearts and breasts are in the same area, but have very different functions.

4. Argument: Katy Perry’s ‘E.T.‘ video copied Lady GaGa’s alien-esque ‘Born This Way‘ video.

Response:

This is a baffling comparison because one doesn’t even have to do research to realize the lack of thought put into the argument. First of all, what did you think Katy’s extraterrestrial video was going to be about? Kitties? (Knowing her it could’ve been. Kitties was not the best example.) Katy Perry posted the alien make-up photo for the video on February 15, 2011. ‘Born This Way premiered February 28, 2011. How, unless Katy Perry is an alien, could she travel forwards in time to see what Lady GaGa would be doing?

5. Argument: Katy Perry copied Lady GaGa’s mermaid idea.

Response:

How cumbersome. That’s not even Katy Perry in the picture she tweeted. This argument becomes immediately irrelevant. Although, these may be interesting:

In this order: Katy Perry performing ‘Hot N’ Cold‘ live as a mermaid in May 2009, Paris Hilton as a mermaid in August 2009 for her perfume ‘Siren,’ Katy Perry doing a ‘Teenage Dream‘ promo shot.

6. Argument: Katy Perry didn’t dress “crazy” till 2010.

Response:

I guess her 2008 outfits, including this carousal dress are “normal”? This picture, unedited, with no comparisons, all on its own, kills this argument.

7. Argument: Katy Perry wore food after GaGa’s meat dress.

Response:

In 2008, Katy used fruits in her clothing. ‘One of the Boys‘ was a fruit-themed album, and ‘Teenage Dream‘ was a candy-themed album.

8. Argument: Katy Perry made up “Kathy Beth Terry” after Lady GaGa came out with “Jo Calderone.”

Response:

Yes, Kathy Beth Terry was first seen after Jo Calderone, who was on the cover of Vogue Japan in June 2010. Jo Calderone wasn’t Lady GaGa’s first persona though. During ‘The Fame Ball,’ Lady GaGa played clips in between dress change where she was identified as “Candy Warhol.” With that said, Kathy Beth Terry became known worldwide more than a year before Jo Calderone. Neither Katy or GaGa were the first to have side personas. Rather than a copy, this is certainly a trend, seeing how GaGa has Yüyi as well. You can never have too many counterparts!

9. Argument: Katy Perry copied Lady GaGa with the Sharktooth pattern.

Response:

If you want to get technical, I will get technical. Katy Perry wasn’t the one wearing the pattern in 2008, but it was on her Barbie doll in the 2008 ‘UR So Gay‘ video. But, please! Do you realize just how common this pattern is? Since this controversy came out a few weeks ago, I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled! Check below:

My friend, Selena Gomez’s skirt, clothing articles, backpacks, and binders.

10. Argument: Katy Perry copied Lady GaGa’s farm setting from the ‘Yoü & I‘ video.

Response:

Katy Perry’s song ‘The One That Got Away‘ is about a lost love and living your life regretting losing that person, so it makes sense that Grandma Perry would be on a farm. The commonality of a farm as the (or one of the) settings in a music video is more common than people think. One of my other favourite artists even has a farm setting in his video:

Bryan Adams ‘Summer of ’69‘

11. Argument: Katy Perry copied GaGa by posting a very ‘Born This Way‘-like make-up shot.

Response:

This picture was posted in the beginning of October. What is the biggest event in October? Hallowe’en of course! Katy Perry is just getting in the spirit! I could easily say Lady GaGa was ripping off every skeleton that came before her. Now how silly is that. It’s called using ideas and being creative.

Now it’s time for “Lady GaGa copied Katy Perry!” For some reason this is less common.

12. Argument: Lady GaGa copied the saxophone from ‘Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)‘ in her song ‘The Edge of Glory.’

Response:

Saxophones are instruments. Instruments are used in nearly every song. Katy had Kenny G in her song, and GaGa had Clarence Clemons. (RIP.) Some songs have similar tunes, some pop songs happen to incorporate jazz, it’s the music industry.

13. Argument: Lady GaGa copied Katy Perry’s hair colour.

Response:

I’m pretty sure, at one point in both of their lives, with all the wigs those girls have, that each of them have had nearly every hair colour. This is a terrible argument though, seeing how GaGa’s hair was teal, and Katy’s was blue. Not the same colours.

Artists don’t have time to see what the other has done, especially not in such short lengths of time. You think Katy and GaGa sit around all day watching every little thing the other does? If there is any “copying,” it’s all inspirational. The two are good friends. Katy said in an interview that GaGa was at her private wedding. They have exchanged gifts, hung out together, and praised each other. I have no clue what is going on in the heads of the angry fans when they hate on each other, but there is no rule saying you can only like one and must put down the other. Their messages to their fans and the public are to be accepting and love each other, and these accusations are not doing the girls justice.

Katy and GaGa kissing each other on the cheek on GaGavision in 2008.

Katy and GaGa hanging out in 2008.

Katy and GaGa hanging out recently at the 2011 VMAs, with GaGa dressed as Jo Calderone.

Steve Jobs passes

sfvandeventer — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:46:59 +0000

At a tender age of 56 (younger than my parents,) Steve Jobs passed away today due to cancer. Jobs was the co-founder of Apple, and many would say Apple was nothing without him. When Apple fired Steve Jobs in 1985, they seemed to go down the drain. Their products were lacking and a majority of the population owned PCs. Though when Steve was brought back in 1996, Apple slowly but surely gained popularity. The Mac improved, the iPod was invented, and Apple became a billionaire company. This begs the question: where does Jobs’ death leave Apple?

There will never be another Steve Jobs, that’s for sure. RIP.

‘Five’ to dominate dramas of the year

sfvandeventer — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:56:32 +0000

Brace yourselves. On Monday, October 10th, Lifetime will air Jennifer Aniston’s second piece of directorial work, Five, co-directed with Demi Moore, Alica Keys, Penelope Spheeris, and Patty Jenkins. The movie stars Jeanne Tripplehorn, Patricia Clarkson, Rosario Dawson, Tony Shalhoub, Jeffrey Tambor, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Holloway, Jennifer Morrison, Taylor Kinney, Annie Potts, Bob Newhart, Kathy Najimy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jenifer Lewis, and Lyndsy Fonseca. It centers around five different stories of people suffering from breast cancer. The TV movie has been called the “saddest of the year.”

Watch the trailer below. You do not want to miss this.

Lady GaGa honours late monster Jamey Rodemeyer

sfvandeventer — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:40:04 +0000

Last night, during the iHeartRadio Festival, Lady GaGa dedicated her song Hair to the late little monster, Jamey. Rodemeyer was a mere 14-years-old when he took his own life from homophobic bullying on September 17. His last tweet was, “@ladygaga bye mother monster, thank you for all you have done, paws up forever.”

GaGa is now trying her best to get U.S. president Obama to pass an anti-bullying law, with help from her followers. Trending topics on twitter the past few days have been “RIP Jamey” and “#MakeALawForJamey.”

RIP Jamey.

Video of Hair for Jamey.

Men: Stop leaking your girlfriend’s photos

sfvandeventer — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 06:42:19 +0000

I disagree with the way Essence Magazine’s blog post, Real Talk: Ladies, Stop the Sexting implies it is a woman’s fault for unwanted eyes falling upon their pictures. Perhaps they are even implying the act of taking a nude picture of oneself is sinful.

When a nude photo one doesn’t want out there does get out, I can confidently say it is mostly the fault of the person who put it out, as opposed to who took the picture. I find this paragraph particularly sexist:

“Many women who take nudie flicks have been with their man for a while — they trust him completely. Taking these kinds of pics seems like a great way to keep the relationship exciting, especially since men are the very visual creatures that they are. I guarantee you that Rihanna, Amber Rose, Jennifer Williams (“Basketball Wives”), Evelyn Lozada and Cassie thought the same things, and yet we’ve seen pictures of bare tushes/breasts and/or birth canals all over the gossip blogs.”

The writer, Demetria L. Lucas, blankly says that the women are usually in long-term relationships, trust the men, and take pictures to keep their love lives going. I did not hear one thing bad about women in the paragraph, although she is making it out to sound that way. If the women are taking pictures all for the right reasons, then what are the reasons men are giving them out? To brag? To boost their egos? To act tough? Typical reasons–bad reasons.

Recent victim of nude photo phone-hacking scandal, Scarlett Johansson, shows her opinion on the matter through direct action:

“TMZ also reports that her lawyer has sent letters to websites stating that Johansson owns the copyright to the pictures and threatening legal action if they are not removed.”

This proves that women do not want the photos out. Unfortunately it is still a man’s world, just more subtlety. Let’s look back on some of the biggest celebrity nude scandals. Paris Hilton, an underage girl’s sex life is violated by a much older man she felt she could trust; her family felt they could trust. In her documentary, ‘Paris, Not France,’ she talked about how she felt so horrible and embarrassed that people were laughing at the most personal thing one can do in their life. More recently, Vanessa Hudgens. She lost so many fans over an ex-boyfriend leaking some private photos. Fans were interviewed saying, “if she keeps doing that, we’re not going to like her anymore.” Some fans those are! Kids, the media is telling you that the picture-taking is wrong, when it is the sharing outside of boundaries that is wrong. And let’s not forget, Chris Brown. Did Chris lose fans though, over his full body nude? I think he gained them.

This bluntly says one thing to me; the men who leak the girl’s photos, or when the men’s photos are leaked, they get no where near the amount of hate the ladies do. Women get called all sorts of vulgar names, but when a man does it, he is considered “cool.” I wrote this, so next time you get a text about the super cool new nude photos floating around the internet, delete that text. It is someone’s private life, and they are not a “slut.”

See: Real Talk: Ladies, Stop the Sexting
Scarlett Johansson and other celebrities response to photo leaking

My title is SEO-friendly because the word ‘Men’ is popular from topics ranging from “Two and a Half Men” to men‘s sex lives. Then it goes on to explain what the article is about, briefly.

Johansson latest victim of celebrity phone hacking

sfvandeventer — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:30:46 +0000

Photos surfaced on the internet this morning of singer-actress, Scarlett Johansson. The 26-year-old sex symbol has asked the FBI to find out who hacked her cell phone and leaked the few pictures. She is the most recent victim of the celebrity phone hackers, others being Vanessa Hudgens and Jessica Alba.

Aside from the journalistic take, let me say this: taking nude pictures of yourself and having them accidentally leaked does not make you a “skank,” dearies Learn your vocabulary.

Aniston’s estranged mother in hospital

sfvandeventer — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:37:11 +0000

Emmy-winning actress, Jennifer Aniston, visited the hospital to see her estranged mother, Nancy Dow this Saturday. The 42-year-old and her mother have had a rocky relationship since the release of Nancy’s 1999 tell-all book, From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir. Dow suffered a severe stroke, leaving her in critical condition, including the loss of the ability to speak. Good luck Ms. Aniston and mother!

Reese Witherspoon’s misfortune

sfvandeventer — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:54:08 +0000

One of America’s Sweethearts, Reese Witherspoon, was hit by a car while jogging Wednesday morning. The Oscar-winning actress, 35, who runs as a hobby, was hit by an 84-year-old woman. Thankfully, Witherspoon was briefly hospitalized, suffered minor injuries, and is now resting to recovery in her home. I will pray for you, Reese!

Citizen Journalism

sfvandeventer — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:58:56 +0000

I set up this blog for a course. My posts will probably be mostly celebrity-related so bare with me if that is not your interest.

I took this course because I want to be an actress but trying to become famous is not a paying job. So while I try my luck at acting I will pay my way in journalism–writing about who inspires me to become an actress.