Jo Spurrier ([email protected])
Tue, 28 Jul 1998 21:37:00 +0930
Ahhh, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Bono got burned in the
eighties. He was honest, open and sincere, and he got the shit beaten out
of him by the press. After R&H, he got smart, and learned how to avoid all
the slings and arrows: he invented the characters mentioned above, and
probably others as well. Despite what we wirelings would like to believe,
Bono is not a god, nor is he perfect. If you touch something hot and get
burnt, you have learned not to touch it again. This is why Bono invented
the characters�hell, it started WAY back when he first began to call
himself Bono, a way of escaping from the pain caused by the death of his
mother. The easiest modern example is the hood and red glasses Bono wore
for public appearances, such as press conferences and photo opps. It was
simply a means of dealing with people fawning over him and sucking up to
him�imagine a protective suit to keep the bullshit away. I imagine it
would have been pretty important on PopMart, because it would have been
pretty awkward to be Bono the Really Big Famous Important Rock Star when he
was supposed to be Bono the Father. After a while, the clothing, and the
mannerisms that go with them would tell Bono how he is supposed to act in
each situation. They are necessary to enable him to lead at least a
semblance of a normal life. They allow him to deal with a situation that
would otherwise drive him nuts�just think of how many people in his
position have burnt out on drugs, alcohol, etc, because they could not
cope� I think all the modern (ie, within the last few years) personae came
out of the Fly�he was kinda the precursor to all the others.
As for MacPhisto and Mirrorball�they were basically on-stage characters,
but I can't believe that they were borne out of a commercial need. U2 are
pretty good at gauging where the trends, etc, are going to go, but who
could predict the popularity of a preacher from Hell and a gold-suited
devil? Americans (or anyone for that matter) are not really known for
embracing something which mocks them, which is exactly what the Mirrorball
man was doing. No, he wasn't sincere, but does that in any way change the
messages both in the music and in Bono's on-stage speeches? Imagine Bono
pointing at a dictator, saying "What you're doing is wrong. Stop it.", and
then imagine MacPhisto, who we mustn't forget is the devil, applauding the
same dictator, saying "You're doing a wonderful job. Keep up the good
work." Which would have the greater effect? Bono isn't stupid, and
neither are we.
Just one more point�Rob also said "the 360 degree turnaround and the
various Bono schticks points the fact that their previous stances were not
intrinsically noble gestures but a conscious effort to use that compelling
theme at least to an extent"
Are you saying that because Bono and U2 are insincere now they must have
been insincere in the past? Come on now, that's not very scientific. It's
like saying that because I'm not wearing anything blue now I must not have
worn anything blue in the past. Is it not possible that things like Live
Aid were a chance to do some good AS WELL as being a good career move?
I'm Back. I'm back with a vengance. Dammit. Just when I thought I was free
to do some real study, I get sucked back into Wire. Grin
Cheers!
Jo S. >^..^< <*((()))><
Finding peace in the neon
Hey, I just realised�on the two occasions I saw Bono in Melbourne (YAY!
sorry), which were both times when he would expect to see fans, ie, at the
hotel and after the show, he was wearing 'normal' clothes�there was nothing
to suggest he was in persona. Does this mean that he doesn't put is in the
same class with reporters/press/bullshit hurlers? I think that's rather
flattering, don't you?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Tue Jul 28 1998 - 05:01:56 PDT