A little over a week ago I wrote about a significant partial dismissal granted to Marilyn Manson on July 2nd in the lawsuit issued by Bianca Allaine Kyne. First, it stated that Manson's motion to dismiss all allegations in Kyne's complaint referencing sexual abuse as a minor in 1995 when she was 16 years old was granted. Second, any reference to Kyne's own personal drawings of Manson from when she was 16 are to be removed. Third, Kyne is therefore ordered to make a Second Amended Complaint within 30 days removing all of the above. Despite this significant victory of Marilyn Manson in managing to get a partial dismissal in this case, on July 15th Bianca Allaine Kyne and her lawyer Jeff Anderson decided to issue statements spinning their loss into a victory. They argue that since Manson was not granted a full dismissal (which he was not seeking), then he lost and they won in this particular ruling. What Was the Ruling on July 2nd? When you read the ruling issued on July
27 years ago, in an interview with Rolling Stone (March 6, 1997), Trent Reznor gave a good summary of what Marilyn Manson brought back to the music scene in the 1990's, which not only made him a controversial and misunderstood figure, but unique and successful as well.
When I was growing up, rock & roll helped give me my sense of identity, but I had to search for it. I remember I loved the Clash, but I was an outcast because you were supposed to like Journey. Before that, I loved Kiss. The thing these bands gave me was invaluable - that whole spirit of rebellion. Rock & roll should be about rebellion. It should piss your parents off, and it should offer some element of taboo. It should be dangerous, you know? But I'm not sure it really is dangerous anymore. Now, thanks to MTV and radio, rock & roll gets pumped into your house every second of every day. Being a rock & roll star has become as legitimate a career option as being an astronaut or a policeman or a fireman. That's why I applaud - even helped create - bands like Marilyn Manson. The shock-rock value. I think it's necessary. Death to Hootie and the Blowfish, you know. It's safe. It's legitimate.
Look at Marilyn Manson: They have no qualms about taking that whole thing on. The scene needs that, you know? It doesn't need another Pearl Jam-rip-off band. It doesn't need the politically correct R.E.M.s telling us, "We don't eat meat." Fuck you to all that. We need someone who wants to say, "You know what? I jack off 10 times a night, and I fuck groupies." It's not considered safe to say that now, but rock shouldn't be safe. I'm not saying I adhere wholeheartedly to all that in my own lifestyle, but I think that's the aesthetic we need right now. There needs to be some element of anarchy or something that dares to be different.