Clearly his bible burning antics are a little passe... we've seen it all. In a culture of gory horror films and violent television, its hard to really get under the skin of the audience. So when Manson steps onto the stage in androgynous garb or puts a dollar sign swastika in his video backdrop, its all too easy to look past the facade and see him as just another rock n roll artist. We're far beyond the days where Ozzy bit the heads off bats and Alice Cooper filled the stage with demonic imagery and blatant sexuality... we don't fear this stuff anymore. We broke those boundaries back in the 60s and 70s when it was truly new and frightening. Rock emerged as a rebellion, in its early days, rock itself was scary. It threatened the societal rules at the time. But as time passed, society loosened up, became more accepting and open minded (for the most part). Manson is now just a performer for most of us, not an unholy demonic influence. We've learned to separate the stage persona from the face behind it.
But this is what gave him a career. Marilyn Manson is famous and successful because it was cool to be into something that scared your parents. He got media coverage for being outrageous, for causing riots, for being the embodiment of fear. But the times change, and apparently Manson changes with them. In order to keep a career in being that fear, maybe stating you have the swine flu and you're still touring is the best way to keep this fear alive.
So does he or doesn't he? Personally, I think he's taking a regular case of the flu and using it as an way to hype up the fear and generate tour sales. He's being his typical self, intelligent. I mean, look at the attention he's getting! It's WORKING. Thats my personal opinion, what do you think?
In the mean time, lets hope the rest of us stay safe from the feared flu.
Rock On!
- Girl At The Rock Show
Song of the Day: Rock Is Dead- Marilyn Manson
"Rock is deader than dead, Shock is all in your head... God is in your TV"
