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Showing posts from March, 2022

The New Symbolism of Marilyn Manson's Stage Show Since 2024

   Since Marilyn Manson returned to the stage in the summer of 2024 with the One Assassination Under God tour, pulsating illuminated upside-down double crosses have been a consistent part of the stage design. The double cross itself is nothing new in Manson's work. It has been part of his imagery for many years and became particularly prominent again after the Heaven Upside Down era. What is new since 2024 is the way the symbol has been incorporated into the lighting of the performance. Rather than functioning simply as a static emblem, the crosses now pulsate and change as part of the stage itself, becoming one of the most noticeable elements of every concert. Manson's return to the stage has also involved bringing back many features and images from earlier periods of his career, which has naturally given the performances a nostalgic quality for longtime fans. What interests me for this analysis, however, is what has actually been added during this new period that has not be...

What Evan Rachel Wood Said About Marilyn Manson's 2007 'Heart-Shaped Glasses' Music Video Before 'Phoenix Rising' in 2022

Evan's Obsession With Nabokov's Lolita On July 7, 2009, after the second breakup of Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood, when she was dating Shane West, Vanity Fair published an interview with Evan Rachel Wood to promote her film Whatever Works . Whatever Works is a film directed by Woody Allen and is about a middle-aged, misanthropic divorcé (Larry David) from New York City who surprisingly enters a fulfilling, Pygmalion-type relationship with a much younger, unsophisticated Southern girl (Evan Rachel Wood). During this interview, Evan was asked about Nabokov's Lolita , since the film is about the relationship of a young girl and a much older man, and she talked about her obsession as a young girl with Nabokov's Lolita . It is clear from the interview that Evan did not view her relationship with Manson as being in the "Lolita-like" territory, since she does not even mention him. Instead she viewed her relationship with Manson as being between two consentin...

An Early Backstage Account of the Making of the Marilyn Manson Video for "Heart-Shaped Glasses"

The Earliest News Announcements for the Music Video "Heart-Shaped Glasses" On Saturday the 17th of March 2007, the California based photographer Tyler Shields put out a bulletin on MySpace with a casting call for a new music video/short film, which Marilyn Manson would be both directing and starring in. It said: MARILYN MANSON IS DIRECTING A MUSIC VIDEO/SHORT FILM THIS WEEKEND AND WE NEED SOME BEAUTIFUL GIRLS FOR A CLUB SCENE STARRING MARILYN AND EVAN RACHEL WOOD. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COME BE A PART OF THE SCENE PLEASE EMAIL 2 PHOTOS AND YOUR CONTACT INFO TO    DUSTINBLACKBURNCASTING@GMAIL.COM CALLS WILL GO OUT TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND THE SHOOT WILL TAKE PLACE SUNDAY NIGHT IN LOS ANGELES. NOTE THERE IS NO PAY INVOLVED IN THIS. THANK YOU DUSTIN BLACKBURN INK Casting ------------------------------------------- French music site Charts In France was first to report that Marilyn Manson was filming a new video, "When The Heart Guides The Hand", with James Cameron as the d...

Evan Rachel Wood's Ridiculous Documentary 'Phoenix Rising' (Part Two: Stand Up): A Detailed Review and Examination

Like my review for Part One of Phoenix Rising , I am here presenting a detailed review and examination of Part Two, and will try to clarify its many errors and separate the facts from the fiction. Because so many topics are brought up, as well as left out, in Part Two, I will be giving a summary here and save the details for future articles. I encourage reading this review while watching Part Two of Phoenix Rising , since it is now widely available and I will not post many videos and photos from the documentary to supplement what I write. Part Two of Evan Rachel Wood's documentary Phoenix Rising begins on September 12, 2020. Anyone familiar with this case knows that on this day, a former crew member and personal assistant of Marilyn Manson, Dan Cleary, came forward on Twitter to lend his support to the accusers of his former boss. Evan first appears on screen with tears in her eyes, not tears of pain or sorrow, but of joy. She says she just woke up to an email informing her of Da...