Sunday, June 10, 2001 - Channel surfing one sleepless night brought my first view of Marilyn Manson. The lead singer lurches across the screen, eyes enflamed, white makeup smeared into a dreadful death mask, his pale, thin body twisting and convulsing in some sort of dance. The music pounds and screams.
Faces and bodies flash, the images distorted, mouths open, tongues and limbs and torsos surging at the camera and slithering away. Voices whisper in frightening tones. The scenes depict bizarre sexuality, graphic cruelty and a frightening image of what lives in the mind of the creator. This video offends on every level, scratching raw the senses. I change the channel. And although I only saw 20 or 30 seconds, it left a lasting impact. I did not know at the time that it was Marilyn Manson.
Then came Columbine with a mysterious link between the killers and Marilyn Manson. And now the June 21 concert in Colorado. All of which has served to heighten our knowledge of, and attention to, this outrageous musical group. The airwaves and print media are filled with protest and argument. Church groups are planning protests; Gov. Bill Owens and Rep. Tom Tancredo have joined the fray, calling for cancellation of the Marilyn Manson concert. So, what do we make of it, we middle American, middle-aged baby boomers, products of the '50s, '60s and '70s?
Much has been made of the lyrics and language Marilyn Manson employs. I am sure some, possibly most, of us over 30, find everything about the group - its appearance, its performance and its lyrics - objectionable. Suicide, mass murder, aberrant sexuality and what appears to be sheer lunacy seem its stock in trade. Suicide is a frightening and real danger among today's youth. Most of us know someone with a "normal" son or daughter who slipped impossibly, quickly, and irrevocably into that awful and final decision.
And with Columbine and San Diego and Kentucky and Oregon, we are all too horribly aware of the potential for mass murder simmering in the hearts of these same normal kids. We want answers. We want something to blame, a dead certain and undeniable cause with which we can deal. The alternative is a tearful and heartbreaking impotence. An impotence that breeds fear. And fear impels us to do something. We cannot simply stand idly by while these evil influences dominate our culture and infect and destroy our kids.
So (the thinking goes) we must stand in the gap against this evil. As caring and loving adults, we must protect our children and our community from these forces bent on destroying the minds and stealing the souls of this impressionable generation. Marilyn Manson must be banished. We can't control what the rest of the country does, but we can certainly control what goes on in Denver and Colorado. Our own great wall must be erected. Our then-cloistered community will flourish, our children protected. We will have done our duty. Our children will be safe. Evil dispatched to the barren wasteland. Say New York or California.
Alice Cooper plays golf regularly on the celebrity pro-am tour. He is very good. And very popular. Alice Cooper. The inventor of shock rock is a middle American, middle-aged gentleman. Of sorts. He keeps his eye makeup to a minimum.
I find Marilyn Manson and all that he represents abhorrent. But if I had the time, and I could stand the ear-piercing noise, I would buy a ticket. How can I talk intelligently with my son and daughter or other young people I know without viewing the product of their generation firsthand?
OK, maybe I wouldn't actually go. But, protection against evil comes through knowledge and understanding, not denial and avoidance. How can I speak without hypocrisy of the Bill of Rights and what it means to be an American if I don't echo Patrick Henry? This is not lofty, pie-in-the-sky sentiment. Marilyn Manson may be one of the most purely evil musical groups to ever hit the airwaves - or one of the most elaborate commercial creations of the modern music era. Either way, he has a right to perform, and it is our duty to defend that right. Too many people have died defending to the death that right. We cannot deny even one person those freedoms we cherish.
Too often in our short history ideas and positions unpopular at the time have suffered persecution and violence. The First Amendment does not guarantee the freedom to express the popular. I am a conservative. I voted for both Gov. Owens and Rep. Tancredo. But they, and far too many others, have bowed to unthinking pressure and unreasoning fear. Shame on them. It is inconceivable to hold some truths self-evident, some rights unalienable and our Constitution in high regard until you disagree.
That is hypocrisy of the highest order.
-- Matt Henehan Matt Henehan lives and works in Littleton. Guest commentary submissions of 650 words may be sent to The Post editorial page.