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Now that fans have been
offered the chance to see Marilyn Manson's new video
"The Nobodies," some have begun to speak out about
the censorship of the video and wrote SLS News with
the following essays:
1. Contributed By: C.
Robert Hyman
Rarely am I ever completely
and totally sickened by our society and it's (deeply)
fucked up state. Now is one of those rare times. Strangely
enough, this involves Marilyn Manson, but not in the
way many would assume. Censorship and denial has reached
a new low, with the release of Manson's video for
"The Nobodies" off his recent "Holy Wood" album. In
it, the phrase "We're Dead", the word "Died" in the
phrase "Some children died the other day", and (this
is the real kicker) the word "Ratings" in the phrase
"You should have seen the ratings that day" have been
muted out. Effectively, the powers that be have silenced
what was (in my opinion) the most relevant, socially
conscious, and powerful song Manson has recorded to
date. With his inflammatory past, I am honestly not
surprised to see him censored, but in this case I
believe doing so was a serious mistake.
The song most directly
addresses the tragic shootings at columbine and the
even more tragic means in which the aftermath was
handled by the media, religious groups, and society
at large. Manson decries the weeks of gruesome description,
and resulting exploitation of the victims. He calls
out against the violence being committed by our young
people. He shuns the media for making celebrities
out of two deeply misguided youths who felt that violence
was their only way out. And he responds to those who,
rather than being critical of the familial breakdown,
and seeming unwillingness of school officials, teachers,
coaches, etc. (not to mention students themselves)
to accept "outsiders", would instead punish, torment,
and in many cases persecute those students who do
not fit the "social norm." Not only that, but these
same people would then try to blame such horrendous
actions upon musicians, movies, television, video
games, ANYBODY but themselves, who are much more directly
responsible for the troubled nature of violent children.
Perhaps his lyric "Some
children died the other day" is a painful, and shocking
reminder of the events that transpired in Colorado,
but I think few would disagree that it is much less
shocking than the weeks of media coverage and religious
"witch hunting" that went on in the immediate aftermath
of the attack. As for the word "Ratings" somebody,
somewhere, is simply trying to hush up the sad and
frightening truth, that news people were glued to
those events, and we Americans were glued to the TV.
In hindsight I'm sickened that even I myself, sat
and watched the "continuing news coverage" for new
developments.
What can be done about
this cowardly and dangerous censorship that has been
imposed upon the one person who, in light of his persecution
following the tragic events, ought to be allowed to
speak his mind in such an eloquent and powerful fashion?
2. Contributed By: The
Instigator
This is the instigator,
over from the Marilyn Manson BBS. I watched Marilyn
Manson's new video "The Nobodies" repeatedly after
I taped it, and there are several representations
of the symbology regarding the tarot cards. The death,
fool, hermit, devil, and other preferences to Holy
Wood are very present. This is simply the best video
Marilyn Manson has put out.
By the way, not only
did MTV censor 'dead', and 'died', but they also cut
out the word 'ratings.' It's pretty sad that they
won't even let Manson make an honest statement about
the blood-thirsty media. You can't even say that the
media thrives off of the tragedy of others. You can't
allude to the simple fact that Columbine got a lot
of people sit around the TV and stare. You can't even
tell the truth in a non-offensive way. It's not the
words, which are offensive. Itıs the truth they can't
handle.
For the complete lyrics
to "The Nobodies," and all of "Holy Wood" please see
this
link provided by the official Marilyn
Manson website. Those who would like to contribute
an essay just like the two viewers did above, can
do so with my news email
address.
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