Marilyn Manson

[implanted_microchip]

I’m in my (very) early 20s from a shitty small town and can say that in my experience Manson had a strong image/relevancy even a few years ago among teens. He’s one of the last rockstars that everybody knew the face and name of and still makes parents mad when they find out their kids are listening to him (and alternatively his parenting-age fans are now probably encouraging). I was in high school when Born Villain came out and and knew a lot of kids who talked about it, the guy’s image is practically a meme in the original sense of the word. Even people who can’t hum a single song know what he looks like (well, maybe not recently lol).

As much as getting stuck in his early/mid-2000s image has damaged his creativity and ability to feel fresh again, it also has meant that he’s remained a recognizable figure to people and the themes his best work dealt with are pretty much timeless if you’re a sad kid in a small town with lots of religious hypocrisy around. People who don’t get deep into music often just remember the hits of people and Manson’s have had a lot of staying power over the years, he’s made music for teenagers most of his career and as much as people who know his work more realize he’s a shadow of what he once was, on a surface level from a distance he still looks like he represents the same things he used to (even if in reality he doesn’t).

Marilyn Manson is a larger than life character thing that he got stuck inside of but the flipside of that is he’s one of the very last larger than life rockstar celebrities that managed to have their big relevancy just before the internet and social media swept that whole concept away. There’s a feeling of being a cultural constant around him that is both comforting/nostalgic for older fans and appealing and unreal to younger ones, because there’s basically no one else your parents remember hating and your older siblings loved and people you know still wear t-shirts of who has kept the same aesthetic and sound for so long. People who listen to full albums and talk about them at length and pay attention to touring cycles are less than enthused with the guy at this point but that’s honestly a minority of people. I’m not that surprised he can maintain audiences at shows despite how hit and (mostly) miss he is these days, especially since people like to see a trainwreck and it adds to the appeal.

Nostalgia, teenagers and instant name recognition go a long way and as ridiculous as it sounds he’s still a figure that the mention of him can bring out strong reactions in people — the whole dick-sucking rib thing, Satanism and burning the flag are things that kids and teachers all remembered and brought up in school and that was within the last decade for me, plus the whole Columbine thing that never went away. There’s no one else I can think of who you could say you liked and get such a reaction out of people over it — there’s no feeling of danger or shock or controversy around anybody but because he made his impressions at the tale end of Old Celebrity he’s managed to keep that staying power somehow. For me growing up liking Marilyn Manson felt like a way of vicariously getting to experience what it was like when everyone knew who you were talking about, before streaming and YouTube fragmented everything into subcultures and before nobody gave a shit. That was an amazing feeling and one I don’t think will ever stop being something people search for. The guy could easily coast on greatest hits sets and make enough money to support his lifestyle forever which is exactly what he’s been doing sadly.