Marilyn Manson has finally delivered a massive retort to critics over the Columbine killings in the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine.
In an articulate and well argued article entitled Columbine: Whose Fault Is It? written by Manson, disavows himself of all blame for teenage mass murderers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold‘s actions, saying that the power of the gun lobby as represented by the National Rifle Association is too powerful, so people choose easier scapegoats for massacres such as “Doom, The Basketball Diaries and yours truly…”
“I chose not to jump into the media frenzy and defend myself, though I was begged to be on every single TV show in existence,” he wrote. “I didn’t want to contribute to these fame-seeking journalists and opportunists looking to fill their churches or to get elected because of their self-righteous finger-pointing. They want to blame entertainment? Isn’t religion the first real entertainment? People dress up in costumes, sing songs and dedicate themselves in eternal fandom.”
“I’d like media commentators to ask themselves, because their coverage of the event was some of the most gruesome entertainment any of us have seen. “
Manson laid much of the blame at the door of the media.
” From Jesse James to Charles Manson, the media, since their inception, have turned criminals into folk heroes. They just created two new ones when they plastered those dipshits Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris‘ pictures on the front of every newspaper. Don’t be surprised if every kid who gets pushed around has two new idols.
In an interview with MTV, Manson used an Old Testament analogy.
“There was no music to inspire Cain killing Abel,” he said. “That kind of set the tone for the rest of mankind. Man is violent by nature and he doesn’t need inspiration for what he’s going to do.”
Manson can expect a tabloid scrum and more howls of moral outrage from our homegrown right-wing and religious cranks when he visits the UK next month to play the Big Day Out at Milton Keynes Bowl on July 10 with Metallica. Already a local councillor and church group are calling for Manson to be prevented from playing.
Manson‘s ‘Mechanical Animals’ is being re-released in a special edition on June 21 to coincide with his European dates; the Tour Edition includes a manga-style comic book based on the video for ‘I Don’t Like The Drugs (But The Drugs Like Me)’.
Click here to read the full text of Manson‘s Rolling Stone article.
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