Gaga released her Judas Video (or at least the first one). It won't embed, but you can watch it here.
I've now watched it four times. Admittedly, I still don't really get it. Some of the online sources claim that she is playing Mary Magdalene. If she is, I'm not quite sure which Gospel she is reading.
I now think that her purpose in the video/song is to have an honest approach to being involved/in love with sin and evil while trying to follow the proper way. I get that, although I don't really.
Most interesting, the end of the video. I'm interpreting it as a statement about what society does to someone who is in love with evil. Strange representation of it, but I do think it is a strong statement.
I think, maybe, that if I saw Judas as the root of all evil, I'd understand the whole world and their stance on this song and the history of Jesus in a different way. But, I don't. I see Judas as a human being who made a mistake (but a mistake they may not have been in his control, because of it's foretelling in the prophets).
I think the world has equated Judas with evil, and GaGa is continuing this effort. In fact, she begins from this premise.
The problem for me is that the history of Christianity's relationship to Judaism (and especially events like the Holocaust) is sometimes attributed to Judas and his betrayal of Jesus. That outlook does nothing but tear down our world and the relations that people of other faiths have with each other.
For that reason, I choose not view Judas as the source of evil within the Passion narrative...and I think that adds to my inability to fully understand GaGa's "message." Stay tuned, this could get interesting.
-B