Afghanistan war-zone remake of Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' video a viral hit
Lady Gaga is a polarizing pop star; love or hate her, we are rarely bored, which by definition makes her an oddly appropriate headliner for Lollapalooza this summer.
That she has fans all over the world goes without saying, but who knew that she was rocking American soldiers in Afghanistan?A homemade video by troops of the 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Southwest Afghanistan pays tribute to Gaga’s latest hit, “Telephone,” complete with choreography and costumes echoing the pop singer’s original video. The war-zone video has gone viral with more than 2.4 million views on YouTube.
The original “Telephone,” is typically high-gloss entertainment. It boasts the kind of choreography that has everyone from soldiers overseas to teenage girls replaying it in slow motion to precisely mimic each twist of the hips, each flip of the wrists. Gaga’s previous videos have all been loaded with little asides and references to classic movies. “Telephone” plays like an homage to biker-gals-in-prison B movies, while the interplay between Gaga and co-star Beyonce references Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 avenging-females opus “Death Proof.”
But the troops' "Telephone: The Afghanistan Re-make," led by one Aaron Melcher, does Gaga proud on a much more modest budget. By the end, eight costumed soldiers are involved, but it’s Melcher’s enthusiastic dancing that makes the video so watchable. Contacted by the Smoking Gun Web site, Melcher said the video was intended to be for "a couple of our friends and family and you can see that it has blown up way more than that...nobody in the video would like any further media coverage."
It’s too late for that. When Melcher uploaded the video a few days ago, he told Facebook friends to “share it with the world.” Mission accomplished.
greg@gregkot.com