Gay Conservative

I just read something that strikes me as absolutely hilarious. FOX News reports that shock rocker Marilyn Manson has made a direct threat: “If one more ‘journalist’ makes a cavalier statement about me and my band, I will personally or with my fans’ help, greet them at their home and discover just how much they believe in their freedom of speech. I dare you all to write one more thing that you won’t say to my face. Because I will make you say it. In that manner. That is a threat.”

I’m not sure what’s funnier…saying he’ll do it himself or that he’ll get his fans to do it. Can you possibly be serious?

Now, I’ll admit that there have been songs I found myself enjoying that turned out to be Manson songs. I listen to grunge and heavy metal. But the bands that I like actually have talent; they don’t rely solely on their shock value to gain a following. That is the only driving force behind Marilyn Manson’s popularity: the shock factor. Every time I see a group of “disenfranchised youth” waiting for a Manson concert, they all look the same. Black clothes(layered, of course, and torn to shreds), neon hair, and makeup, all done to make them look like freaks.

We ARE freaks, they say. We’re the ones nobody wants. We’re the castaways, the ones with no talent, the unpopular ones, and YOU religious nuts, YOU MADE US THIS WAY!!!

Oh, please. Gag me.

You know what? I was bullied all the time as a kid. There are times when it still affects me, but I do not let it rule my life. Some of you guys have no idea what it’s like to be beaten to a pulp in the locker room because one of your junior-high classmates told the popular girl that you liked her. A person largely becomes an outcast because they allow it to happen. You cannot blame it on religion, your parents, your teachers or your classmates. You’re an asshole because you want to be that way.

I’m almost completely sleeved out. I have piercings. Sometimes, I even let them show. I do not wear a chip on my shoulder and beg people to knock it off. You can express yourself without needing to go to the extreme, and that’s all Manson knows how to do. His fans have followed suit.

Manson, don’t send your fans, because that will have all the ambiance of a traditional lynching. Spend your own money and have the balls to go completely on your own. Don’t hide behind your army of fans who’d kill for you because you don’t have the balls to take someone else on intelligently.

And for Chrissakes, grow up. All of you.