Marilyn Manson - Phony?

This was written in late 1997 and refers to the albums known as "Portrait of an American Family" and "Antichrist Superstar". I like "Mechanical Animals", too, but this isn't about that. Furthermore, you know and I know and Manson knows that he is not Goth, and that all goths listen to some things that are "non-goth", so put your "poser" comments in a little box and throw them into the ocean okay?

Going through the four-thousand and something e-mail messages that accumulated when I forgot to unsubscribe from the spookykids mailing list over the summer, I came across something interesting. It seems that the National Enquirer, bastion of journalistic integrity, had decided to cash in on the Marilyn Manson craze by running an article about how he was really a nice church-going boy who only runs around in funky makeup for the money.

Needless to say, some fans were rather upset about this. But it got me thinking. People have been telling me for a long time that they can't understand why a smart girl like me would listen to a phony like Marilyn Manson. It's not just fossilized relatives saying this either - it's my friends.
I'd like to present a thought to the upset fans, to my friends, to people who don't know me but have already decided whether they love me or hate me based on my musical choices. Here goes:

It does not really matter if Marilyn Manson, Brian Warner, the man, is a phony or not.
I like the music. I like the message, most of it anyway, and that's enough for me. If Mr. Manson is a corporate tool just singing things that he thinks will sell, he's the one missing out. He's staring some damn good insights in the face every time he's on stage and looking right through them, but that doesn't mean that I have to look through them too.

C.S. Lewis was a Christian apologist. Jerry Rubin became a yuppie. Lewis Carrol had a sexual obsession with little girls. That doesn't mean that I can't glean wisdom out of all their works. Hell, I glean wisdom out of the Bible routinely, even if it was written by a bunch of misogynistic, bigoted desert nomads too dumb to know that bacon's good for you. Everyone is a Buddha, it is said, and some people have a talent for saying profound things even if they never accept the profundities themselves.

All that being said, I do not believe that Mr. Manson is a phony. I could be wrong, but I'm a pretty good judge of character usually. Some of the things he says seem too insightful to be coming out of the mouth of a corporate tool. (Admittedly, he also occassionally says things that are downright silly. This essay is not an endorsment of every word that comes out of the man's mouth.) But if I wake up tomorrow morning and all the talk is that he's become Born Again, I'll still relish Portrait of an American Family just as much.
For more info on Mariyn Manson, check this out: