The Mid-Life Crisis Of Marilyn Manson

Now look, this post isn't a diss on Marilyn Manson. I *like* Marilyn Manson. So when I heard he had a new video out, I was really interested in watching it.

But really, I felt like vomiting on my keyboard after viewing "Heart Shaped Glasses." Since it's Manson, I suppose maybe that lends the video some "street cred." But.

Basically, the singer's real-life soap opera with his teenage (19) girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood is played out in this 8-minute video. "Heart Shaped Glasses" of course refers to the film "Lolita," about a man falling in love with a teenage girl.

We are first treated to a too-long introductory scene of Manson strangling Wood as they are having sex. Look, I have a healthy appetite for erotica as much as the next blogger, but this was damn near unbearable. Manson's playful androgeny that I found so appealling earlier in his career is now frozen in the standard middle-aged actress plastic-looking mask. But more than that, I can feel the unhappiness and exhaustion coming off him in waves. Most depressing sex scene EVER.

Then switch to Manson & Wood driving recklessly in his car. Wood steers the car with her bare foot from the passenger side. Manson says "I love you" but Wood doesn't hear. I lower the volume on my computer so the inevitable crash doesn't bust my eardrums.

But then, after a faux-concert sequence, we are again in Manson's bedroom. The pair are drenched in blood, and I kind of think Manson's killed her. Great. And I think Manson is still making love to her corpse, but I can't be sure.

What did Evan Rachel Wood think when given the script for this video?

At the end of "Heart Shaped Glasses," the two commit suicide by driving off a cliff.

I think Manson's got issues. Like, more issues than the original runs of "Amazing Spiderman," "The Mighty Thor," and Detective Comics" all put together. He's clearly torn about dating a girl half his age. He's clearly angry about something.

And maybe I'm getting soft, but the imagery of Wood lying in a pool of her own blood while Manson fondles her just didn't do it for me this afternoon. I think Alice Cooper kinda pulled off necrophilia better.