Of course, I was pulled in immediately upon seeing that creepy doll with a sun headdress. But also… WHAT!?! It’s Lady Gaga and Tim Burton! They’re like, PEAK all things monstrous. And with Halloween coming up, it is such a Trick & Treat to pull!
If you know me, you know that I love spooky art that can be enjoyed around this time of the year and can’t ever seem to get enough. I might be (for a while) too stressed, overwhelmed, and/or exhausted to enjoy it as much as I otherwise would, but I would love it nonetheless. And this one not only checked the spooky box!
The fact that they captured *gestures* all of this, in particular, does mean more than I can explain. But let’s just say: Going forward, it is beyond nice to forever have art you love, from artists you love, on a topic that is familiar to you, in a setting that is also familiar to you, and to have it do this sort of restorative and conclusive magic, too. That… is a piece that shouldn’t be missing.
I didn’t think much of it at first, but then the realizations started coming. Y’all, Halloween isn’t only typical European lore and North American store-bought decorations anymore. It is also This Island they filmed on. Why? Because freakin’ LADY GAGA AND TIM BURTON said so! Practically. And as someone who always adored Halloween but happened to live on an island that didn’t quite celebrate it or fit the aesthetic, yet still had its own spooky stuff going on, I literally cannot put into words how much this means. You’ll have to ponder it.
That’s not to say I don’t also appreciate other cultures and historical captures, you can bet I do and look forward to them, but this take is definitely an important and required addition to the ever-growing catalog of what gets associated with Halloween and all things spooky.
Besides hitting this milestone, I noticed a few details here and there that were peculiar. However, I can’t quite tell if they were subtly intentional, consciously or not, or merely attributable. Whatever the case, got The Dead Dance in there!
