Kanye West, Retroactive Jealousy, and MBDTF

In his somewhat groundbreaking book, Retroactive Jealousy: Finally, I’m Out, author Joshua Fletcher describes a new psychological phenomenon, the namesake of the book. He describes retroactive jealousy as compulsive, obessessive feelings of resentment and insecurity regarding a partner’s sexual history which can and often do lead to anger and distrust.

Towards the end of his book, Fletcher perscribes “The Kanye West Approach” as a simple and easy first step to alleviating the anxiety of retroactive jealousy. In short he challenges the reader to ask themeselves what Kanye West’s inner monologue would sound like as he starts to feel himself slide into jealousy over Kim Kardashian’s previous sexual transgressions. I found this example surprisingly profound.

Keep in mind, I have no idea what happens behind closed doors. I have absolutely zero knowledge of their true motivations for marriage and the nature of their relationship. Everything I’m saying, I’m saying under the assumption that they have some semblance of a normal, healthy, loving relationship.

This past summer a British comedian, Lee Nelson, brought an enormous flag portraying a sexually explicit scene from Kim Kardashian’s infamous sextape with Ray J to Kanye’s Glastonbury concert. This is just one example, out of the myriad, of people shaming Kanye for his marriage and supposed love of Kim Kardashain. Granted, Mr. West has exhibited some behavior worth mocking. But is nothing sacred? She is in no way a saint and Kanye has more than enough sexual innuendos and references in his work, but shaming thier relationship and sexual history hasn’t (as far as I know) hurt anyone and is thus, dare I say, none of our business?

As bothersome and amazing as it is for ordinary people, not platinum selling rappers and producers, to criticize and openly mock Kanye’s marriage, the real feat here is Mr. West’s response. He is surrounded by things that could enduce severe retroactive jealousy. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, anybody with an internet connection can watch his wife’s sextape. Yet he remains one of the most influential musical artists of the 20th century, his marriage is still intact and he probably loves his wife and daughter dearly, despite this ‘Lee Nelson’ guy’s antics.

Yesterday marked the five year anniversary of Kanye’s magnum opus, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. His most emotionally charged album glimpses into Kanye’s inner monologue, most notably in the last 2 minutes of “Runaway.” MBDTF portray’s the most vulnerable Kanye West we have seen. But it also shows that when Kanye is feeling vulnerable, he creates incredible music.

Perhaps Lee Nelson was onto something. Kanye has shown time and again his musical talent. MBDTF shows the amazing effects insecurity and anxiety on his music. The closer we come to inducing retroactive jealousy, the closer we potentially come to getting a masterpiece from Mr. West.

But, clearly, this is insane. Kanye is perfectly capable of making influential music in a healthier state of being. Furthermore, Lee Nelson is a comedian. His life is about making people laugh. He probably meant no offense. Beyond that, there is no campaign to make Kanye West sad for the sake of music. As far as I can tell, everybody wants to make him feel shitty because they feel he deserves it.

Nobody is going to stop hurling insults at Mr. West. Perhaps this might lead to a new frontier of music. But we’d be fools if we don’t consider the possibility of that constant scrutiny of him and his family could lead to him destroying his life. Should the gifted artist suffer for the good of society, the non-artists? Does happiness stunt the artistic progress of those artists and ultimately the world?

I don’t know. Maybe we need a break from Kanye. Maybe Kanye needs a break from us.

But we definitely all need a break from Kim Kardashian.