How do we differentiate between genius and blatant craziness? A Study in Kanye.
Why do we give some the pass and others the not?
Kanye did a rant on Ellen a few months back. He talked about changing the world and all that jazz. I really don’t know why he had to do this. Why he needed to be so public with it. I am honestly so confused by what celebrities do and I am sort of convinced that their job is too distract the masses from the real issues we face in this world. Back in the day it was subtle, but this really has gotten out of hand.
There have been plenty of celebrities who have given to causes without any fanfare. Prince is an example of that. He simply gave millions and gave instructions for no one to hear about it. Kanye on the other hand is out of hand. I thought he was ok for awhile, until I watched a video on Top 10 Reasons Kanye West is Hated. Often times, people my age do not remember what happened in the early 00s because we could hardly read at the time. When our parents roll their eyes at certain people, we tend not to understand. This video put all the bits and pieces together. I genuinely did not believe that I would come to the point that I would really dislike him, but by the time the video was discussing how he posed as Jesus Christ and declared AIDS was a man-made disease — I knew that I could never go back to thinking Kanye was entirely ok.
In this day and age, we seem to give celebrities a pass for their weirdness because they give us art that we like. Woody Allen and Michael Jackson are two famous examples of this. It seems strange to me that the public praises Kanye for being weird, but then demonizes other weird celebs for saying offensive things. It seems as if we pick and choose the weirdness we want. If Donald Trump said what Kanye did, everyone would be all over him. I bet if Kanye ran for president the same people that said Trump had said bogus things would find a way to justify the oddities flowing out of Kanye’s mouth. Why? I really don’t know, but I am writing about this because I am frustrated with the blatant intellectual hypocrisy of common folk. Why do we praise some weirdness and demonize others? Why do we accept blatant misogyny from some people, but let others pass? (Kanye West versus any other rapper) Why do we allow some rapists to go free, while we crucify the rest? (Woody Allen versus Bill Cosby) I really wonder about these things. I wonder why we praise these people. Are our lives that terrible that we must depend on others to make it seem more interesting and worth while?
Recently, I have been watching 00’s teen soaps. While watching I found a common trend: The Wise Black Family. This is when a show that typically has an all white cast brings in a black person or family to show some sense of direction or wisdom. The family always cites the “we’ve gone through hard time, but survived” narrative constantly. The white characters fawn over these black characters for the 45 minutes they are on screen. Looking to them as an omen that life will be alright. In the same vein, Kanye seems to have this same effect. Regardless of what he does. Regardless of how crazy he sounds — he is loved by the majority. Even if he says the the universe came from his butthole — people seem to believe that he is saying something “deep” or “wise”.
This thought came to a head when I watched his 2016 VMAs speech. I had never seen something so — bad. To see the crowd hype this man who seemed incapable of speaking in full sentences, but basking in his own fame seemed surreal. For so long I thought everyone saw Kanye as I did — a glorified meme. In that moment, I realized people were being serious. Some may say that he is a genius, but I believe that he is in the vein of a plethora of other multi-faceted black creators such as Donald Glover and Chance the Rapper. But they don’t say they are the “greatest” all the time do they?
I guess I am not in love with hysterics. Perhaps I liked how Donald Glover dropped an amazing show (Atlanta) that was groundbreaking and relevant without much personal media. Perhaps I admire how he dropped a live album in the middle of the desert without much fanfare at the same time. Perhaps how I enjoy that Chance does not just talk about social justice, but he lives it. Like — buying back his tickets from scalpers or setting up voter registration booths at his concerts. Kanye talks about changing the world and influencing people with his art, but all I see is words. Perhaps I would be more impressed if all those words were backed up with a tad more action.
My conclusion? I have realized I really don’t find Kanye’s act very funny or “cool”, I find it disturbing. I believe that humans really want to be distracted from their own lives, so they find solace in the eccentricity of celebrity. I believe we place too high a price on celebrity because of our own lack. I believe that every moment we feed into this system, we taking away power from the people and placing them into the mouths of corporations — And we wonder why the world is what it is? Because of us. We create our own reality. Albeit through passivity or activity, it’s on us.
Until next time,
G.
