Marilyn Manson
The Anti-Christ Superstar
“Society has traditionally tried to find scapegoats for its problems. Well, here I am.” -Marilyn Manson
In the pop culture world of music, there exists a strong connection between religion and music. From Kurt Cobain, Madonna, and Lady Gaga, many musicians utilize the power of song in order to advertise their religious beliefs and feelings towards various religious doctrines.
While endeavouring to find the perfect musical icon to represents religion throughout their musical career, I could not help but uncover a better fit than Marilyn Manson. Marilyn Manson, a name in itself presents a situation between two extremes: The beloved icon Marilyn Monroe and the religious cult leader and mass murderer Charles Manson inspired the stage name of Marilyn Manson.
Throughout Manson’s music, it is very evident that he is critical of religion, and even the mainstream world of popular culture. For instance, in the songs “Astonishing Panorama of the Endgames”, and “Rock is Dead”, Manson argues that television has become society’s modern-day God. This very much reminded me of J Z Smith’s video discussion on how television influenced the study of religion and the impact of TV on how different cultures and peoples understand religion.
Here is an interesting 2009 documentary on Manson entitled, “Deeper than Hell” produced by CNN in 2009 that discusses society’s varied responses to his music:
According to Manson’s 1998 memoir, The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, he was born and grew up in Ohio where he attended an Episcopalian school. Known at the time as Brian Hugh Warner, you could say that his upbringing was quite religious as his father was Catholic and his mother was a practising Episcopalian.
However, as Manson matured and began to question his spiritual practices, he ultimately forced his parents to allow him to attend public school by the tenth grade. Eventually Manson was ordained to the Church of Satan, an atheist organization, by Anton LeVay in which he writes extensively about in his book.
Here is an excerpt from The Long Hard Road From Hell (1998) provided by Spin followed by a fascinating interview with Manson where he discusses his entrance into the Satanic Church and his album Antichrist Superstar (1996):
In the interview with Spin, Manson discusses how his music reflects his views on religion. Throughout the album Antichrist Superstar (1996), Manson confirms that he compares himself to “Lucifer’s fall from heaven, giving God the middle finger the whole way down.” (Manson)
Throughout my research of such a fascinating music icon, what I found most interesting in regards to his religious beliefs was that he did not necessarily believe in Satan. Rather, Manson believed in the idea that Satan has become a socially constructed tool utilized in order to manipulate people very similar to Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.
In the following video produced by ABC News, Manson talks about this man-made idea of the Devil. (Check-out Manson at 3:56, however I suggest that you watch the entire video as ABC News does an excellent job demonstrating how art and popular culture have shaped our perceptions of hell):
Society continues to have mixed emotions and attitudes towards Marilyn Manson’s music. As you witness first-hand in CNN’s documentary of Manson, religious groups have protested against the religious imagery throughout his music, while the United State’s government continues to blame the evil lyrics of Manson’s music in promoting hate, violence and ultimately becoming society’s poster-boy of fear.
I will leave you with a political clip produced by Michael Moore in which Manson responds to the United States’ government and their claim that Manson’s music had something to do with the Columbine shooting. He discusses how the United States uses the media and the fear of consumption to keep society in check.
Bibliography
Manson, Marilyn. The Long Road Out of Hell. New York: Regan Books, 1998.
