17 November, 2009

The question is not...




...why does he look like a douche? Because then the answer would be simple, i.e. he is a douche.

Instead, the question is more like this: why are there so many artistically/musically talented douches?

Or maybe: Is it only the douche-y talented people who become famous?

and finally: Am I a bad person for liking his music, even though he could totally suck as a person?

I am sending these thoughts in a letter to the universe. Maybe it'll get back to me soon with a little insight.

5 comments:

icl said...

I reckon one has to have a certain extra helping of self confidence to get anywhere in show biz, and that might manifest itself in doucheness, it might be a reaction to the thoughtless way many people treat stars, like they are public property, which their product is, yes, but I don't personally believe that means that their entire life details should be available for handling as well. People are people, and given all that opportunity, money and license to be "all that" it's not surprising how many wind up in doucheville.

I don't think you are a bad person for liking his music. Can't one like the soup even tho the chef is an a-hole? I worked with someone once who loved a particular author, until she discovered that she was a convicted murderer. Then she hated her books. I never got that. For me the product stands apart from the source. Not unconditionally of course, I am sure I could think of exceptions. I'm not sure this is insight as such, just, another opinion - nice how we don't always agree, it can lead to such interesting discussions.

Music Snob said...

It always makes for a fun conversation! I miss seeing you every week.

PnB said...

who is he? what's with the Stevie Ray tattoo?
john mayer is my guess judging from the pic.

i suppose being douche-y allows one to fight up the food-chain of the industry better than with a mr-nice-guy personality. how much of an artist's commercial output is determined by his/her talent/drive, and how much is determined by corporate backing? i don't think it's possible to clearly differentiate nowadays.

but really who cares? biographical background often is important in giving us a fuller view of the artist and work but let's not let that hinder the process of enjoying the music.

Music Snob said...

I agree! I just saw the picture, and I was compelled to post it.

:)

caitlinowenkelly said...

I saw him in concert in Nashville last night, the day after making the comment in playboy that his dick was a "white supremist" among other things. He's a total douche, but an incredibly talented one. At the concert, after playing "Gravity", he apologized to his band and spoke about "trying to be clever at the expense of people he loved". He started crying. Then he just started jamming out, crying while playing the soul out of his guitar. I don't know if I bought it, I was on the third level so whether he was being truly sincere was open to interpretation. Walking out of the venue, some people spoke about how he was so "real" and it was so "touching". I don't really know, but I've decided not to judge. For someone with his hyper-masculine sensibility, it seems pretty honest to apologize and cry on a stage in front of thousands of people. I don't know if Mayer has a precedent for this or if this was a one-of-a-kind authentic incident and I witnessed it without even being aware of what it concerned (I didn't find out about the comments til the day afterwards haha). Either way, authentic or complete bullshit, his talent is undeniable . . . . I kind of like to think that underneath his douche-bag persona is just a vulnerable little boy with penis envy who's scared of growing up :)