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...
When on February 1st 2021 Marilyn Manson was called out by name on social media by Evan Rachel Wood and a number of other women for alleged abusive behavior, and in the lawsuits that followed months later, one of the most common terms used to describe this abusive behavior was "gaslighting", which is an umbrella term that includes grooming, controlling, brainwashing, love bombing and manipulating with a goal to get someone to question their own reality, memory or perceptions. The association of Marilyn Manson with gaslighting began with Evan Rachel Wood's 2018 congressional testimony , in which she described that the abuse she suffered by her then anonymous abuser was centered around gaslighting. She said: My experience with domestic violence was this. Toxic mental, physical, and sexual abuse, which started slow, but escalated over time, including threats against my life, severe gaslighting and brainwashing, waking up to the man that claimed to love me raping what he beli...