Rocker Eloquently Explains His Fight Against Hypocrisy
By Michael Norman
NEW YORK -- Marilyn Manson doesn't come across as a deep thinker in his bondage thong and zombie makeup.
So, when rock's self-proclaimed Antichrist Superstar arrived at New York's Avery Fisher Hall last week to give a keynote speech at the CMJ music marathon, people in the audience were understandably a bit skeptical.
But that skepticism turned quickly to shock once Manson began speaking.
He didn't rip off his clothes or have sex onstage. He didn't cut himself with a razor or pray to Satan or indulge in any of the other antics that have made him a favorite target of conservative religious and political groups.
No. The thing that freaked everybody out was that Manson, born Brian Warner in Canton, Ohio, turned out to be a helluva speaker - smart, witty, fun, even eloquent.
He was speaking in front of a friendly audience, of course. The Music Marathon is an annual convention sponsored by the CMJ new music report, an industry trade publication that covers the college and underground rock, rap, and dance scenes. The young, liberal, music-loving crowd at Avery Fisher Hall was certainly more disposed to give Manson a fair hearing than the religious conservatives who have spent the last year trying to ban his "satanic" recordings and concerts.
But Manson has his critics in the rock underground, too - people think his Alice Cooper-meets- David Cronenberg approach to rock music is an insincere, sensationalistic ploy to grab publicity and sell records.
Not insincere.
Manson told the CMJ audience that he was guilty of everything but being insincere.
"All I am really trying to do with my songs and performances is to make people think," he says. "That's part of rock'n'roll that's in danger of extinction.
"I don't go around burning down churches or protesting Sunday school or kicking nuns in the kneecaps. I just want to speak my piece. And me getting up on a stage in front of a lot of people and them paying money to hear what I have to say is no different than what happens on Sunday afternoon in any church.
"The strange thing about my religious critics is that they do not abide by the Christian principles they are trying to uphold. What ever happened to, 'Love thy neighbor?' And, 'Judge not lest ye be judged?' They just prove my points by their actions.
"And my point has never been to shock anyone or be sensational. It's just been to get people's attention so they will listen to what I have to say. That's the beauty of the modern media. It's not that the media is evil. It's just that people should see everything for what it is. You can be used by it or use it. I choose to use it."
And what is it precisely that Manson is trying to say in concert performances and on albums such as the new Antichrist Superstar? Manson says his intention is to celebrate freedom and individuality by skewering religious hypocrisy, political correctness and social conformity. That is why he has embraced satanism, he says. To him, the devil is not the personification of evil. But the ultimate symbol of rebellion.
"Over the years, I spent a lot of time exploring all sorts of religions and philosophies," he says. "Judaism. Catholicism. And other forms of Christianity. Satanism was one that particularly appealed to me. Satanism, in my view, is a philosophy not unlike Nietzsche or Darwin. It's man as self-preservation. Man being his own god.
"And the word Satan, which tends to scare people, represents the ultimate rebellion against the mainstream. To me, the character of Lucifer in the Bible always was a hero because he got kicked out of heaven because he wanted to be God.
"That's always been my take on Satanism. A lot of people have turned it into something else. It's often pointless to try to fight it. No matter what you say, there is a stigma attached to words like that. The truth is, I've always been into the balance of God and Satan."
Failing to fit in.
Like many rockers, Manson says he developed his persona and approach to music after years of unsuccessfully trying to fit into mainstream society. He likened himself to a controversial rocker of another era, Elvis Presley.
"I don't consider myself to be an innovator," Manson says. "I don't think what I'm doing is any more controversial than what Elvis Presley did in his time."
Presley rebelled against the social conventions of the 1950s, particularly the cultural monotony, class discrimination and sexual repression of his day. Manson says he was responding to "different elements of fascism" in today's America.
"One of them is organized religion," he says. "But there's also plenty in the media. The idea that you have to be beautiful to fit in, that you have to use a certain type of toothpaste, use a certain type of shampoo or drive a certain car.
"It was after so many years of trying to fit in and feeling like an outsider, that I finally realized that I didn't want to fit in anymore. I wound up creating my own status quo."
A mother in the CMJ crowd expressed concern that young children might not comprehend the paradoxes and symbolism in his work. She worried that too many kids might be frightened by it or take it too literally. It's one thing to talk about the value of "self loathing" and "inner-dying" to adults familiar with Nietzsche. Quite another to do it with a 13-year-old kid who just graduated from Goosebumps books and Nickelodeon.
"I feel responsibility to do what I do so that parents will educate their children," says Manson. "I think any parent who is afraid to let their kid come to a concert like this should go with them. If something scares or confuses them, they should talk about it."
"My parents took me to my first Kiss concert," he says with a sly smile. "I turned out alright."
