A Different Kind of Comeback At first glance, Henri Alexander Lévy's music video for Marilyn Manson's "Front Toward Enemy" appears surprisingly restrained. Considering the title and the confrontational tone of the song, one might reasonably expect a visual statement built around warfare, retaliation, or public vindication. Instead, the music video repeatedly turns away from those expectations. It lingers on a child dressed in military attire, a motionless body on an examination table, shelves of psychology books, childhood trophies, playground equipment, and a cabinet filled with carefully arranged artifacts. None of these images directly illustrates the lyrics, yet none of them feels arbitrary. By the time the music video ends, it becomes clear that Lévy is asking the viewer to consider something more complicated than revenge. That immediately distinguishes the video from the song itself. Borrowing its title from the M18A1 Claymore mine, whose front face bears th...
James Dean and Marilyn Manson (and another interesting comparison between Natalie Wood and Evan Rachel Wood)
At the peak of his career at the age of 24, James Dean died on September 30, 1955 after crashing his Porsche Spyder, which he nicknamed "Little Bastard", on the highway. Within a year of the accident nearly four million people had joined his fan club and his studio was receiving up to 4,000 letters every day. Since today is the anniversary of his death, I thought I would share what I think is a relevant interview with Natalie Wood, his co-star in Rebel Without A Cause , where she analyzes the James Dean she came to know in the months before his death, as opposed to the pop culture icon the world came to love. Listen to this interview in light of the Marilyn Manson allegations, and the perception of Marilyn Manson and his art as opposed to the reality, and see if you can take from it what I took from it, which I think Natalie Wood explains eloquently and sincerely. Since we are on the subject of Natalie Wood as well, I thought it would be fun to share something I wr...