Alternative Culture- Marilyn Manson May 15, 2007
Posted by csfogler in alternative culture, bodies, evan rachel wood, marilyn manson.trackback
Has anyone here seen the Marilyn Manson music video with his new girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood? I know Marilyn Manson isn’t exactly mainstream, but what does it mean for her? She is much younger than he is, and recently she has started to dress/style herself like his ex-wife (Dita von Teese). I wonder if that is at his instigation, and whether or not it is, what that means about her individuality in the relationship.
We have talked about GirlPower being about owning your sexuality. In the video, we see Evan Rachel Wood hooking up with Marilyn Manson- we see overt sexuality from her. The fact that she has chosen to express her sexuality with him in this video interests me as a potential statement she is making.
Warning: incredibly graphic
Does anyone have thoughts about how to integrate alternative culture into our discussions of Girl Power? Is it relevent at all?
I think that if it was truly her choice to take part in the video and in sex scenes (which according to some sources were not simulated) then more power to her. Maybe this is the choice that she is making and her decision to express herself this way is her own representation of power. Nonetheless, I can’t help but think that Marilyn Manson is creepy and the fact that she is only 19 years old and he is in his late thirties is a little unsettling.
In my opinion, Wood’s character in the video is very much distinct from Manson’s, and she comes across as willful and headstrong throughout.
For me, what you broadly refer to as “Alternative Culture”, provides a rich vocabulary with which you can express your identity with accuracy and distinctiveness, whether you consider gender an important part of that or not.
According to this she did make some sweet cash doing it (in either sense of the word).
Still, she is too young and he is too creepy for me to feel anything but uncomfortable about this video.
The age gap is unsettling, but she did do this of her own volition… so eh. It was her choice. I can’t really bring myself to be comfortable with it though.
As for your alternative culture question, I think that it is relevent to our discussion of girl power. I’m trying to add more to my other blog, but it focuses on alternative culture, feminism, and girl power (the riot grrrl phenomenon of the 90’s and it’s after-effects). We can’t totally dismiss alternative culture… it’s more intertwined with the girl power phase and whatnot than we would imagine it to be.