Katy Perry: E.T. (feat. Kanye West)
Gaga influence aside, “E.T” is a bold step for the California gurl, but reveals some lack in its visual interpretation
Being on Lady Gaga’s turf isn’t always a walk in the park. Katy Perry’s pop doesn’t really call for avant-garde displays and out-of-this-world pagentry. Metamorphically speaking, “E.T.” doens’t really need to get too literal in its video translation, but Katy Perry pushes the envelope with her out-of-this-world visual experience. Kanye West, stuck somewhere in the Milky Way in a floating pod, spits out his fiery lines in his futuristic black astro suit. While he’s trapped in outer space, our star – dressed in Avatar gear and Gaga-influenced designs – hits Earth and discovers her ‘Avatar’ boyfriend.
We see where a super video like this earned its origins. It’s a strong possiblity that Perry felt she could do a mini-movie on Gaga’s egg-cellent Grammy performance minus the sexually-clad male dancers. But somewhere within the concept video, the translation gets a bit derailed from the lyrics. Instead of Perry meeting her “man from another dimension,” she’s actually…well…we don’t want to blurt out a spoiler. But Perry isn’t all she’s cracked up to be, put it that way. Plus, the slow-mo reels drag the song with only a few galaxy snapshots, fancy lighting angles and Gaga’s marvelous wadrobe to gaze over. The ending is the shocker, but it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
“E.T.” is still a work of art, in terms of Katy Perry cinema, but it comes no where near close to what Gaga would’ve imagined it to be.
J MATTHEW COBB
