Something Wicked This Way Came by L. Brent Bozell III May
20, 1997
A few years ago, in an exchange of correspondence, came
this simple message from ABC's Sam Donaldson: "Remember, always
professional, never personal." Good advice for anyone who analyzes the
words and actions of another. But not always. From time to time a person
comes on the scene who is so disgusting, and whose message is so revolting,
that one should take the affront personally.
Which is why I hope someone smacks that pig of a
"man," the so-called musician Marilyn Manson, right in the chops.
Literally.
Manson and his band stopped in Washington this month on a
concert tour, performing songs that set hate-filled, despairing, grisly
lyrics to an obnoxious, techno-heavy metal racket. They've been compared to
Alice Cooper and Kiss, but those acts and their comic-book gore are to
Manson and his repellent presentation what an ocean breeze is to a
hurricane.
In a recent Rolling Stone cover article, Manson said that
one of his messages to his predominantly teenaged fans is, "Believe in
yourself and stick to what's right." As gleaned from press accounts and
from his latest LP, "Antichrist Superstar," which entered the
Billboard chart at #3, here's what Manson thinks is the right course for
children to follow.
On religion and the religious: "Angel With the
Scabbed Wings" juxtaposes Christian doctrine with Manson's: "'He
is the maker'/He is the faker/'He is the saviour'/He is the raper."
"The Beautiful People" sneers, "It's all relative to the size
of your steeple/You can't see the forest for the trees/And you can't smell
the s-t on your knees." In the Rolling Stone piece Manson endorsed
"the Nietzsche philosophy of 'you are your own God,'" but even on
that score he's a hypocrite: he's a member of the Church of Satan.
On the free market: In "The Beautiful People,"
Manson states, "Hate every motherf---er that's in your way/The worms
will live in every host/It's hard to pick which one they eat most/..
Capitalism has made it this way/Old-fashioned fascism will take it
away." His loathing for the market doesn't prevent him from taking
advantage of it. Check out "Irresponsible Hate Anthem," which
proclaims, "I'm so all-American/I'd sell you suicide." He also
sells T-shirts reading "Kill Your Parents" and "This Is Your
World in Which We Grow and We Will Grow to Hate You."
On thievery: Manson told Rolling Stone that in school,
"I started going to the record store and buying [an album by the '80s
heavy-metal group] W.A.S.P?.for seven bucks and then selling it for, like,
twenty bucks to some kid whose parents wouldn't let him go to record stores.
We didn't have locks on our lockers because we were on the honor system, so
later in the day I would go and steal the album back and keep it for myself.
I didn't realize it at the time, but there's always been this underlying
theme in the stuff I do: It's teaching people not to be so stupid."
On violence, a sampling: "Let's just kill everyone
and let your God sort them out" ("Irresponsible Hate
Anthem"). "I lift you up like the sweetest angel/I'll tear you
down like a whore/I will bury your God in my warm spit/You'll be deformed in
your porn" ("Deformography"). "Spread me open/Sticking
to my pointy ribs/Are all your infants/In abortion cribs" ("Man
That You Fear"). Don't misunderstand the last entry. Manson is not
pro-life; he's promoting brutality for purposes of titillation.
The audience for Manson's rants would be infinitesimal if
not for two entities. One is the establishment media, which are allowing him
to peddle poison. The adulatory Rolling Stone piece was bad enough, but it
contained nothing as appalling as this bilgewater from the Washington Post's
Richard Harrington: "Perhaps Manson could be regarded as a well-meaning
but eccentric camp counselor. He's providing a kind of emotional support?for
teenagers grappling with the awkwardness of growing up." Even the
normally rational New Republic chimed in, stupidly suggesting that
"Marilyn Manson will soon be as mainstream as Hootie and the
Blowfish."
The other is Manson's record label, Interscope. A few
years back, Interscope, then affiliated with Time Warner, issued the vile
gangsta rap of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Doggy Dogg. Now the company is part of
the Seagram empire. Throughout, it has been run by Jimmy Iovine and Ted
Field. Write to them at 10900 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1230, Los Angeles,
California 90024 and tell them what you think of Marilyn Manson. And tell
them they deserve a smack in the chops, too.
Voice Your Opinion!
Write to Brent Bozell
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