Gaga has never been one to stick to the script, and that applies equally to her new documentary. Gaga: Five Foot Two, available on Netflix, isn’t the ordinary, comical, BTS documentary that we’ve got used to seeing from the likes of people such as Mariah and Bieber. Lady Gaga, or Stefani Germanotta, reveals a side that we’ve never been exposed to. She is honest, raw and real; and you simply can’t not watch it.
The documentary that follows Gaga as she’s finishing her fifth album, Joanne, leads up to her Super Bowl performance. Gaga has frequently used her platform to speak up about things that she truly believes in, but Five Foot Two lets us in on the personal subjects she rarely ever touches upon. The documentary reveals how she battles with fibromyalgia, a muscular disorder that causes all sorts of pain, yet continues to perform, record and appear in public. Watching the pop star in tears as she receives physiotherapy shines a light on how far she goes just to do her job and please her fans.
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Gaga gets real about men, both in the industry and her personal life. She goes on to explain how she’s been made to feel by male producers or others in the music industry and features an up close and personal scene where she discusses why her previous relationships have failed. She even displays the moment that ex-Taylor sends her flowers before her Super Bowl show. In the opening minutes, Gaga is make-up-less, in her joggers and eating food whilst declaring “my threshold for bullshit with men is… I don't have one anymore". Note to self: Be more Gaga.
Who else is Gaga tired of? Madonna. People have been comparing the two since what feels like the beginning of time, and Gaga can't help but continue to admire Madge as a performer. She does, however, wish Madonna would say it to her face. "I just want Madonna to throw me up against the wall and kiss me and tell me I'm a piece of shit." Doesn't everyone?
We also learn of the pressures she’s felt from fame, explaining that her infamous, crazy outfits devolved from wanting to feel in control of the way she looks, instead of conforming to the standard ‘sexy’. Gaga discusses what fame did to Marilyn Monroe and Anna Nicole Smith. She goes to mention a third name but pauses and doesn’t- fans have suggested the singer was about to say, Amy Winehouse.
There are so many moments to be unpicked from Gaga’s documentary.* Five Foot Two* is bleak but real and not only gives us a true behind the scenes, but reminds us that performers like Gaga are human and, dare I say it, normal. The programme is an emotional roller-coaster, from learning of her extreme loneliness, to her half-time Super Bowl show, to hearing stories from when she visits Beyonce and Jay Z. Five Foot Two reveals a vulnerable new side to the Gaga we thought we knew.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.