Did Lady Gaga Approve an LGBT-free Translation of “Born This Way”?

As described on this blog (and in detail in Japanese here), Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” lyrics were grossly mistranslated in the subtitles for her performance on the NHK Kohaku song competition, which is still most watched show of the year in Japan. While most of us had assumed this was done without Lady Gaga’s consent or approval, it seems that may not have been the case.

As this article in ShuPure NEWS quotes an unnamed source at NHK as saying:

もともとの歌詞には『レズビアン』や『バイセクシャル』といった言葉が入っているのですが、紅白でそのまま直訳するのは難しい（苦笑）。だから、ガガ側にも許可を取り、本来の意味を失わない範囲でやんわりとした表現に変更しました

In English:

Although words like “lesbian” and “bisexual” appear in the original lyrics, it would be problematic translate these directly on Kohaku [awkwardly laugh]. So, after getting permission from Lady Gaga’s people, we changed it to a more gentle expression that keeps the original meaning intact. [1]

If the above quotation accurately reflects how a version of “Born This Way” lyrics without reference to L, G, B, or T people ended up on the bottom of the screen during Lady Gaga’s performance on Kohaku, it is very disappointing. While NHK may have its reasons for feeling uncomfortable with the original lyrics, there is no excuse for Lady Gaga or her representatives approving a translation of “Born This Way” that replaces references to sexual identity with one to sexual fetish. [2]

If Lady Gaga approved this LGBT-free version of the “Born This Way” lyrics that would be incredibly disrespectful to her LGBT fans worldwide, who have supported her career since she was a small-time club act in New York. It would be incredibly disrespectful to the LGBT community in Japan, who had reason to expect more from a performer who is an international gay icon. And most of all, it would be incredibly condescending, patronizing, and disrespectful to the Kohaku audience, which in the Kanto Region alone included more than 40% of TV viewers. [3]

Lady Gaga, we expect more from you.

Notes:

1. Translation note: Although it’s hard to precisely translate between Japanese and English, I’ve attempted to be faithful to the words and meaning of the quotation. (Certainly much, much, much more faithful that NHK was with their LGBT-free version of the “Born This Way” lyrics.) Two aspects of the original Japanese are worth noting:
   First,「難しい」, typically translated as “hard,” “difficult,” or “problematic,” is actually somewhat problematic to translate itself. Depending on the context, it could convey one or more meanings, perhaps including but not limited to “wouldn’t be possible to fit in the space onscreen,”  “would be hard to translate accurately,” and “would risk offending our audience.” Since an accurate Japanese translation of the song lyrics was already available from Lady Gaga’s July appearance on SMAPxSMAP, however, I think it is reasonable to assume that the issue was not one of correctly translating the text into Japanese or fitting the subtitles onscreen.
   Second, the phrase 「本来の意味を失わない範囲で」 is also difficult to translate directly. This phrase could be literally translated as “within the scope of not losing the original meaning,” but I think the translation above accurately reflects the meaning of what is being said.
2. As an academic aside, it’s interesting to note that NHK’s staff considered a reference to sexual fetish more acceptable than a reference to sexual orientation.
3. According to the ShuPure NEWS article, average ratings in the Kanto Region during the second half, when Lady Gaga performed, were 41.6%.

Links:

• ShuPure Article: Kohaku Competition Defends Its Top Ratings Spot [Japanese]
• Wikipedia: Details about Lady Gaga’s long support of and to the gay community [English]