(Firstly, I feel I must acknowledge, as is the custom, that it has been another TWO YEARS since updating this blog! Remember how cool blogs used to feel? The idea that you could say anything and throw it out into The Void. The possibility that anyone could see it was so exciting. I suppose I still do that every week on my radio show...play music into The Void and anyone could tune in. And I've been going on 10 years doing that. I still love it.)
But what I really want to pontificate upon tonight is Persona. Do you feel you have a mask? Of course, we all have a personality we project in different circumstances around particular people. But what about when it gets more complicated? When the internet gets involved. When you're neurodivergent maybe. When you have "fans." Do you ever think about how Norma Jeane felt about Marilyn Monroe? Do you think Marilyn Monroe killed Norma Jeane? I think Norma Jeane drowned in Marilyn's sexy baby bullshit because the world wouldn't let her grow up.
Who survives their drag character when it's become a famous monster? Cassandra Peterson? But then, I don't think she confuses herself with Elvira. She can probably exist largely unnoticed out of drag.
What about when your persona is supposed to just be "authentically" you? Do you become "inauthentic" to protect yourself from your adoring public? Do you confuse yourself with the Persona if it's too close to you? When strangers are your mirror and you're no longer yourself, how do you remain YOU? Can the self-delusion become the real you? If so, why aren't we becoming more formidable persona monsters? Why don't we manifest horror beasts that no one would DARE fuck with?
How many times do we destroy humans that made an impression on us before we learn to let them change? Billie Holiday. Marilyn Monroe. Courtney Love. Britney Spears. Amy Winehouse. Can you imagine how much richer their art could have been if we hadn't...done what we did? Pulled them apart with our NEED for them to be an archetype? When you love someone's art, tell them thank you. Respect them even when they're imperfect, unreliable narrators. And then leave them the FUCK alone.
