Lady Gaga’s monster diction seems to have jumped off the page and onto her face. With horns that protrude from her forehead, checks and shoulders, she is visibly transforming herself into…a monster?

Notorious for using the word monster to describe many a thing including her fans (little monsters), her tour/concert (monster ball), the message is clear: She wants to reach people that deem themselves different, a misfit…a monster.

But even amidst all her wild transformations and vulgar outfits…think: “meat dress” there is still a probing questions that resonates in both her fans as well as the critics who obsess over her: who IS Lady Gaga? HBO’s Documentary starts to tell us…

Specifically there is a scene that starts to pull at the heartstrings of this humming question so many spectators, critics, and fans alike feel; the moment is caught backstage before her show; she breaks down in sobs; through her choked tears she says “I don’t really give a shit if people don’t understand what I do…as long as my fans understand it…I just don’t want my fans to ever feel…I still feel like a loser kid in high school still…I have to tell myself I’m a superstar every day so I can be for my fans what they want me to be…”

She continues…”They see wigs and lipsticks and they just shut down because they don’t understand…I just want to be a queen for them and sometimes I don’t feel like one…it’s not about being a winner…it’s about being a winner for all of them.”

How does she pull herself together? She prays: “Dear lord thank you so much for the blessings of my family and friends and my fans…please give me the strength to be a winner for them…remind me to empower them and not myself because that is my gift…my gift is the worship of others…allow me to walk in your light.”

I defer you to be the judge of answering that question who IS lady gaga? Is it all show? Is it really her? Can we look past her crazy exterior and see something more human and less monster? Is it ironically this softer side to her that keeps her fans right where she wants them?

While it may seem that Lady Gaga has a “born this way” confidence 100% of the time to the public, this film shows you the soul behind the monster and makes you wonder…are the horns just a ploy?

In essence it gets at what many documentaries seek…the truth revealed like never before seen.