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Gods, Monsters and Humans
Feb. 7th, 2022 11:26 amMight be the second time a member of a band I love is proven to be a sexual predator. Whew, who would have guessed. It is however easy for me to brush it away as these accusations have never targeted my favorite member, which in both cases, had distanced himself from the accusee long before the allegations came out, either through a very public dispute that led them to not speak to each other for nearly a decade, or by giving him a silent treatment during group activities and never mentioning him ever again once the band was formally disbanded. Not to brag about how moral my idols are : no one is moral, especially not celebrities.
My 53 year-old fave is also infamous for ruining the career of his ex-girlfriend, to the point her bands’ sophomore album never got the critical praise it deserved, eclipsed by the aftermath of her breakup, and my fave painting her as the cause of all his troubles. Eventually, her band broke up in 2001, and she declared on the same year that she « never wanted to make music ever again ». Probably a bad for a good, as she lend her remaining instruments to the woman who would become the most important British artist of the 2000s, and would co-write her breakout song in 2003. (Hint : ya-ya-hey, ya-ha-yaaa.)
So, is there a truly moral celebrity ? The answer is no. Because in spite of the deification process celebrities go through, they remain people. And normal peopel are deeply flawed as well ; it’s just that even with social media, there is little chance that the entire world will ever be exposed to their dark side. Commoners can choose to hide their private life if they want, but for celebrities, the rare ones who remain extremely private usually do it to keep a mysterious facade, that is considered more profitable, especially in an age of manufactured relatability (I would however object that relatability is really used as a marketing tool, likely because I do not care about Western pop celebrities)
Greek gods, unlike the almighty god of Christianity, were in no means good people, which is supported by the amount of sexual conquests of Zeus. The Greek god is a god that can be feared, and more often creates horros than wonders. Hence why their rituals of worshipping were begging them to be clement, rather than to be helpful. The Christian God, however, is no longer feared, except in some American Protestant organizations that are closer to sects than to realy worshipping churches. Catholics tend to pray God for protection, not to beg him to not punish humans.
What is teh relatiosnhip with fame ? As I mentioned above, celebrities are treated as god-like entities by media and commoners alike. They can’t be defailing. Their appearances should be perfect at all times. They should be moral, in supporting the « right » causes, using their influence for « good ». The quality of their work that made them known in the first place is a secondary quality in the age of social media. Celebrities are no longer praised for their skills, aside by critics that are often paid by their label or their agency to write raving reviews. People no longer become famous for their talent ; they become famous for being slightly above than average people. And giving clout and power to slighy better than average people, or even talented people, rarely is what they need.
Many will resolve to addictions, anxiety, anorexia, depression, self-harm, suicide ; many will see their preexisting flaws, such as their attirance for young people, or their greed, grow to an extent they’ve lost what makes them human in the first place : their empathy. Fames is a monster-making factory. Hence why it feels like celebrities, more than regular people, seem to have unmoral behaviors.
So, is there a solution to stop ruining talented people ? Putting an end to celebrity culture will not happn overnight. First of all, we must accept that our faves suck. The punks had a point when they told us to kill our idols : metaphorically, we must kill the unsullied image we have of them. Our fave suck because they are human, just like us, and even ourselves, as people, have done horrendous acts in one point of our lives, despite what high-and-mighty puriteens on Twitter might believe. There is no fixed victims, no fixed bullies ; we can all occupy one of these roles at different points of our lives. This is also why we can feel compassion for celebs who have debilitating mental health issues, and call them out at the same time for having despicable public or private behaviours. It could happen to any of us. By doing so, we can also stop talented peopel from ruining the lives of other humans. I don’t believe that sexual assault solely stems from privilege ; if it was the case, domestic abuse rates would not be so high within same-sex couples, or cases of domestic violence within upper-class families would hardly be heard of. It is a playing factor, indeed, especially in grooming cases. However, not all famous people are predators, in spite what the Pizzagate loonies might claim. It is first and mostly a matter of power.
Saying that we must get rid of power is a very childish and idealist thing to claim, obviously. But we, as commoners, give celebs too much power. Even quote-tweeting a media article about someone we hate, or « ratio-ing » them, is already giving them power, by inflating their retweet and like numbers, and maximising chances of people who haven’t been exposed to them before to know their name. As Gaga explained already in her own words back already in 2008, there’s no such thing as bad buzz : in the end, people still talk about you, making the job of your PR team at your place. Scandal and outrage are amazing promotion tactics ; just check how R.Kelly’s streaming numbers have skyrocketed after her got convincted for sex trafficking, and how Kanye West gave Marilyn Manson a mainstream exposure he had never gotten before right after his ex-partners (notably accaimed actress Evan Rachel Wood) have revealed he is not just playing with Nazi imagery, and also an alleged rapist.
Does this means people can’t accuse celebs of abusing them ever again ? Of course not. Everyone should name and shame their rapists, their groomers, their assaulters and their bullies. However, we shall believe them, even when they are telling us that our perfect semi-god celeb is actually a horny pedo who doesn’t understand consent. We are allowed to listen to their music, just, do not promote it. The only perks of streaming not paying artists correctly is that, at least, you can listen to a terrible person’s work without remunerating them. Do not go see them live. Do not buy their merch. Pirate it. Unfollow them , never share their social media posts. Only support the band’s individual endeavors. Accept no apology. Treat these celebs the way you would treat a real person in your entourage that has been called out for similar crimes. We won’t stop bands from enabling abusers within their line-ups, but we can stop ourselves from enabling abusers. And before raving over this « unproblematic band » to « stan », let’s keep in mind that every human is faulty, and celebs have a bigger risk of developing immoral behaviors due to the poer they are untrusted with.
My 53 year-old fave is also infamous for ruining the career of his ex-girlfriend, to the point her bands’ sophomore album never got the critical praise it deserved, eclipsed by the aftermath of her breakup, and my fave painting her as the cause of all his troubles. Eventually, her band broke up in 2001, and she declared on the same year that she « never wanted to make music ever again ». Probably a bad for a good, as she lend her remaining instruments to the woman who would become the most important British artist of the 2000s, and would co-write her breakout song in 2003. (Hint : ya-ya-hey, ya-ha-yaaa.)
So, is there a truly moral celebrity ? The answer is no. Because in spite of the deification process celebrities go through, they remain people. And normal peopel are deeply flawed as well ; it’s just that even with social media, there is little chance that the entire world will ever be exposed to their dark side. Commoners can choose to hide their private life if they want, but for celebrities, the rare ones who remain extremely private usually do it to keep a mysterious facade, that is considered more profitable, especially in an age of manufactured relatability (I would however object that relatability is really used as a marketing tool, likely because I do not care about Western pop celebrities)
Greek gods, unlike the almighty god of Christianity, were in no means good people, which is supported by the amount of sexual conquests of Zeus. The Greek god is a god that can be feared, and more often creates horros than wonders. Hence why their rituals of worshipping were begging them to be clement, rather than to be helpful. The Christian God, however, is no longer feared, except in some American Protestant organizations that are closer to sects than to realy worshipping churches. Catholics tend to pray God for protection, not to beg him to not punish humans.
What is teh relatiosnhip with fame ? As I mentioned above, celebrities are treated as god-like entities by media and commoners alike. They can’t be defailing. Their appearances should be perfect at all times. They should be moral, in supporting the « right » causes, using their influence for « good ». The quality of their work that made them known in the first place is a secondary quality in the age of social media. Celebrities are no longer praised for their skills, aside by critics that are often paid by their label or their agency to write raving reviews. People no longer become famous for their talent ; they become famous for being slightly above than average people. And giving clout and power to slighy better than average people, or even talented people, rarely is what they need.
Many will resolve to addictions, anxiety, anorexia, depression, self-harm, suicide ; many will see their preexisting flaws, such as their attirance for young people, or their greed, grow to an extent they’ve lost what makes them human in the first place : their empathy. Fames is a monster-making factory. Hence why it feels like celebrities, more than regular people, seem to have unmoral behaviors.
So, is there a solution to stop ruining talented people ? Putting an end to celebrity culture will not happn overnight. First of all, we must accept that our faves suck. The punks had a point when they told us to kill our idols : metaphorically, we must kill the unsullied image we have of them. Our fave suck because they are human, just like us, and even ourselves, as people, have done horrendous acts in one point of our lives, despite what high-and-mighty puriteens on Twitter might believe. There is no fixed victims, no fixed bullies ; we can all occupy one of these roles at different points of our lives. This is also why we can feel compassion for celebs who have debilitating mental health issues, and call them out at the same time for having despicable public or private behaviours. It could happen to any of us. By doing so, we can also stop talented peopel from ruining the lives of other humans. I don’t believe that sexual assault solely stems from privilege ; if it was the case, domestic abuse rates would not be so high within same-sex couples, or cases of domestic violence within upper-class families would hardly be heard of. It is a playing factor, indeed, especially in grooming cases. However, not all famous people are predators, in spite what the Pizzagate loonies might claim. It is first and mostly a matter of power.
Saying that we must get rid of power is a very childish and idealist thing to claim, obviously. But we, as commoners, give celebs too much power. Even quote-tweeting a media article about someone we hate, or « ratio-ing » them, is already giving them power, by inflating their retweet and like numbers, and maximising chances of people who haven’t been exposed to them before to know their name. As Gaga explained already in her own words back already in 2008, there’s no such thing as bad buzz : in the end, people still talk about you, making the job of your PR team at your place. Scandal and outrage are amazing promotion tactics ; just check how R.Kelly’s streaming numbers have skyrocketed after her got convincted for sex trafficking, and how Kanye West gave Marilyn Manson a mainstream exposure he had never gotten before right after his ex-partners (notably accaimed actress Evan Rachel Wood) have revealed he is not just playing with Nazi imagery, and also an alleged rapist.
Does this means people can’t accuse celebs of abusing them ever again ? Of course not. Everyone should name and shame their rapists, their groomers, their assaulters and their bullies. However, we shall believe them, even when they are telling us that our perfect semi-god celeb is actually a horny pedo who doesn’t understand consent. We are allowed to listen to their music, just, do not promote it. The only perks of streaming not paying artists correctly is that, at least, you can listen to a terrible person’s work without remunerating them. Do not go see them live. Do not buy their merch. Pirate it. Unfollow them , never share their social media posts. Only support the band’s individual endeavors. Accept no apology. Treat these celebs the way you would treat a real person in your entourage that has been called out for similar crimes. We won’t stop bands from enabling abusers within their line-ups, but we can stop ourselves from enabling abusers. And before raving over this « unproblematic band » to « stan », let’s keep in mind that every human is faulty, and celebs have a bigger risk of developing immoral behaviors due to the poer they are untrusted with.
