Holy, The God Of Fuck must be truly pissed off at some audiencies. His latest work cleverly named "No Reason" turns out to be some some kind of mockery targeted to Hollywood and the mainstream. In an era where its seems that nothing is shocking anymore, where we're being constantly fed YouTube memes and all sorts of trends no matter how badly they want to stay they die soon the same way that a firefly does.
Yet Manson manages to somehow fight back with this clip/short film directed by Shia La Beouf, yes, the Transformers dude, you heard it (mind you, not your regular MTV material) that gives an introduction to the concept of the 8th studio album dubbed "Born Villain."
In order to create the suspense they launched a campaign a few months ago which involved invading the streets of L.A. plastering the Born Villain image which is presumably the new album cover. Furthermore Marilyn Manson conducted a private screening of the short film on August 28th at the L.A. Silent Theatre and the art book Campaign, (a new strategy or publicity stunt, maybe?) which some locals labeled as "random street art." In MM's terms it sounds more like a smart propaganda.
MM has had a great love affair with the avant garde, such as Dadaism, Expressionism and Surrealism all of which have things or elements in common.
The imagery of the film reprises things already covered in 2003's "The Golden Age Of Grotesque" and even "Phantasmagoria". Although it couldn't be labeled as innovative, more like flirting with the past avant garde movements and the decadence of Weimar Berlin, it still contained something new.
In the companion DVD "Doppleherz", which was also a short film MM introduced us to the new era at the ending credits quoting
The film offers no explanation, nor needs one. Many thanks to those who helped make this, the beginning, not an end, to the most amazing era of Marilyn Manson.
For those who aren't hardcore fans, MM worked on a parallel movie project called "Phantasmagoria: the Visions of Lewis Carroll" which was to be thought of as a fetaure length film featuring veteran artists such as Tilda Swinton and Angelina Jolie. Although those names were shuffled in the creative process what remained only of what was to be his opera prima as a film director is a footage that was canned last year. It included MM starring as the writer and Lily Cole as Alice.
A lot of speculation rose since early production circa 2005; it was implied that other minor characters such as Alice In Wonderland's Tweedledee and Tweedledum but Manson suggested that these would be females instead furthermore that they would be involved in explicit sexual scenes with each other.
"I'm going to do a lot of things that may end up being illegal. Until they are, I will do them. I think it will change people's opinion about horror films and they will realize they're not all about slasher [...] I might add that the girls playing Tweedledum and Tweedledee are twins who get to have real, genuine sex with each other. I like to make dreams come true."
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| From Phantasmagoria, a similar scene is featured in "Born Villain." |
I won´t analyze frame by frame just the most relevant and shocking, so let´s begin
THE ACTS
Traditionally Greek play were all divided into three acts, consisting of the beginning, the middle and the end. Later on they were developed into four or five acts.
INTRO.
In the opening sequence Marilyn Manson dons the role of the Alchemist seen in The Holy Mountain with slight variations and underneath a eerie background music and illumination.
The following sequence presents an old man and a child watching TV in an empty room and seems that it might not be that far from the truth, almost autobiographical (see Jack Warner, The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell) The kid, which some goddamn reason reminds me of the character of Gelsomina in Fellini´s La Strada about to receive an intense lesson of perversion. Two naked women sit blind folded in an operating table.
ACT I (A revolver with an embedded crucifix on top of the Roman numeral I)
Besides the obvious Macbeth quote I really preferred to explore the visuals that accompany it.
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,It signifies nothing.
A man deposits his left eye in Manson´s hand pretty much the same way like in the Luis Buñuel film Un Chien Andalou, this scene is also familiar with one of The Holy Mountain where an old man gives up the eye as well to a prostitute little girl while walking outside the church.
Because these films are in a way tied with the surrealism movement Manson has already given us a hint that the album has no explanation of whatsoever, in a few words, it means nothing, unless you want it of course, complete with the chorus,
NO, NO, NO, NO, REASON!
ACT II ( A flashing picture of a lamb on top of the Roman numeral II)
Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,And fill me from the crown to the toe topful Of direst cruelty!
Another quote from Macbeth, Lady Macbeth to be exact. A robust woman caresses a man with no legs, or could also be interpreted as a dwarf, which is also a concept of the Shakespearian tragedy.
So yeah, in the next scene Manson violently passes a hook through MissCrash´s cheek and prepares her to be hanged carrying the "eye" and "implanting" it into her sex. Most of these surgical devices resemble the ones featured in Gottfried Helnwein´s pictures, another artist who collaborated with the singer back "The Golden Age Of Grotesque."
At the same time, as some form of ritual Manson sets himself on fire with a simple candle. Hmm, don´t try that part at home, kiddies.
the rape of Persephone was choreographed by all the wrong Greeksthe rape of Persephone was a marketing schemea reference to Greek mythology, of course. However the theme of abduction has been covered in Manson´s film Doppleherz already.
rape, rape, rape Persephonerape, rape, rape Persephone rape, rape, rape Persephone rape, rape, rape Persephone
Siamese twins are seen or conjoined by the spine abducted in the middle of the night, courtesy of Manson and his evil posse and while nothing happens in the end the girl are treated as mere freaks while in Born Villain they only tied and blindfolded.
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| Scene from "Doppleherz" |
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| Brunette and Blonde |
MissCrash hangs by the knees like a vulgar piece of steak in the market, cruelty, or just for the fun of it?
ACT III ( a burning cross on top of the Roman numeral III)
Manson carries a revolver with a cross embedded to it as he recites a passage from The Bible:
The wages of sin is death. Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it
as he kills the dirty old man, thus setting the child free, justice is served.
I, can never leave I, can never leave
the rest is just a repetition of the perverted imagery you saw in the previous acts.
But does this entire pastiche of extreme visual torture mean anything? Why should it, why would there be an explanation?
In the inmortal words of Tristan Tzara, one of the founding fathers of Dada:
DADA DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING.
If we consider it futile, and if we don't waste our time over a word that doesn't mean anything...
After watching "NO REASON" two or three times the shocking imagery is already implanted into your unconscious, not quite as a subliminal message yet only as something provocative.
