SOMEONE HAD TO GO THIS FAR...
The age old question, huh? Well, right off the bat, at the risk of sounding
like a broken record... HE IS NOT A DEVIL WORSHIPPER! So what if he does have an album
called "AntiChrist Superstar"?
Symbolism, people... symbolism.
The point is to show people a part of themselves that they are not willing to see. In "AntiChrist Superstar" This was to show people the part of them that deep down, no matter how religious or spiritual, they had an anger toward God for letting the world go on in the fashion that it does... with horror and sorrow and pain and hate day in and day out, unrelentless.
This is not meant to turn people toward "Satan" or "Satanism". That's NOT his message, people! What does it matter of his religion? Don't we live in a free country for a reason??? And if you think hard, Christianity has done a LOT more damage than Marilyn Manson.
The album also points a lot toward his childhood, and the stages of his life. aka. The section of songs entitled " Inauguration of the worm" are songs about his childhood and perhaps your childhood, too.
See? That's the whole thing! HE WANTS PEOPLE TO THINK! He's not out there
just to cause a ruckus. Although, granted, I'm sure it's fun seeing overly
emotional people get all riled up. And he does have a bit of a wild personality...
But does that make him the monster the media makes him out to be? No. In fact, if you look and listen closely to the lyrics in the song, you can see that
he's expressing a lot of painful experiences. The one that really hits home, I believe, is the song entitled, "Man That You Fear". Going from explaining about the corrupt world around him and how as a boy of conformity he was loved, but when he believed in other things besides only what he was taught was he an object of fear and dislike. (aka. the lyrics, "The boy that you loved is the man that you fear.") Then when he looks at the world around himself and realizes it, hence the words, "I was born into this? Everything turns to shit." (At least, that's what I gather from it, anyway.)
Marilyn Manson is not a destroyer. He is a preserver. But only for those who wish to be preserved by opening their minds a little and looking at their environment around them. What kind of species destroys itself and it's habitat? People who devote themselves to one cause or belief are sometimes so caught up in that cause or belief that they fail to see the other faults around them. Like I said before, what Marilyn Manson wants is for people to THINK... not to be blind to the ways of the world. Not to lead or follow blindly. He doesn't want people to be mechanical. All those Christians who protest him should stop and think for a moment. Wasn't Jesus an outcast? Wasn't Jesus one who was looked down upon and ridiculed and protested? And yet there were enough people to follow him and his beliefs right through to where they weeped and mourned when Jesus' own "children" crucified him on the cross. There were believers in an uncorrupt society then and there are believers in an uncorrupt society now. Why should we protest that? Because it doesn't follow through with our "rules and regulations"? Marilyn Manson is not against religion. He is against people who MISUSE religion for corruption. Marilyn Manson is not a misanthrope. A misanthrope would want to destroy humanity.
in my opinion, Marilyn Manson has got to be one of the most influential musicians I have ever seen. He is loved and he is feared and he is hated. It's quite an accomplishment, I would imagine, to know that you've reached people in so many different ways. How, you ask? He dared to THINK. Ideas are dangerous things to society. Difference, individuality, creativity... all those things can lead up to people using their right to think and to act. Society can't have that, now can they? And as for the Christians who so avidly preach against him, they only fuel the fire more. People NEED to think. They need to express themselves, but they are taught not to. "Follow the crowd. Be a good little sheep. One sheep in a whole flock doesn't matter. It's the flock that counts, right? Shall we jump off this cliff to our deaths?" "Sure!" Well, you get my point. Marilyn Manson has been to Hell and back and it seems like he's finally getting his point across. Look at his fans! Look at the individuality, the creatitivity, the will power to be themselves. And we are stepped on for it. Nevertheless, our minds will prevail, and it seems like individuality is becoming a catchy trend. Praise the gods! Praise Marilyn Manson! Through something like music, he's reached millions! How is that for a boost in morale? However, be wary. Being different in mind and soul earns you scorn and hatred. People are hurt and killed for being "too different". Even now, our system is primal. People fear what they don't understand. Hence, Manson's song, "The boy that you loved is the man that you fear." The moment he changed, he was looked down on by his peers and family. And now, as I start thinking for myself, (Keep in mind that I don't dress like a "freak" if that's what you're thinking, and I am not a devil worshipper) I am scorned, jeered at, outcasted, and discarded even by my own friends who I thought loved me as I loved them. I offered nothing but kindness and this is what I recieved in return. Marilyn Manson has the guts to express the crap he's gone through. He has the mind to reach people through music and maybe, just maybe, knock some sense into the facist idiots who preach that he is EVIL. The Evil lies in themselves. And only when they stop looking to Someone who doesn't respond for answers, will they realize this. And that, my friends, may be a long time. No one man can destroy humanity, but nobody said humanity can't destroy itself.
(For anyone who would like to find out more about Marilyn Manson I would recommend reading his autobiography, "Long Hard Road Out Of Hell".)
My REFLECTIONS
*WARNER'S WORDS OF WISDOM*
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