Ah, the classic âIâm sorry you donât like what I saidâ fauxpology.
A nearly-mandatory part of growing up is accepting that at least one of your childhood idols not only is an asshole, but always has been an asshole. Thus it is with Gene Simmons.
Aside from the inane dishonesty of the fauxpology, the assertion that having your advertisers consider dropping you because the cost/benefit doesnât add up for them is âpolitical correctnessâ, complete with implications of the repressive hand of Political Commissars enforcing orthodoxy and so on, is as insufferable as it is common.
Itâs so common that Iâm actually not quite sure what to make of it: is it purely a cynical complaint, used merely because itâs known to work; or do people like Simmons not understand that, as entertainers, itâs their business to get up on stage and pander to the audience. Your rights to freedom of speech and whatnot are wholly unaffected; but if you pick a career in entertaining people you voluntarily agree that failure to be entertaining means a bad performance review.
What some people call political correctness, others call simple human decency. I think the phrase actually originated as a self-parody among Marxists, but itâs not really funny any more.
What a charming POS. As long as weâre detailing his many faults, Iâd like to add âgrossly misogynistâ to the tally.
I think it was Neil Gaiman who observed that âpolitical correctnessâ was a synonym for ârespecting other peopleâ.
Gee, thanks for clearing that up, Gene.
A sentence so nice it deserves to appear twice.
It seems to me the only people who use the term âpolitical correctnessâ anymore are those like Simmons, who think it means âI donât like being called out on things I shouldnât have saidâ.
No surprise that Gene Simmons is making an ass of himself again, but I was happy to see the link in the article to Nikki Sixxâs views on depression. Mr. Sixx deserves credit for taking on the cause of depression awareness. That guy has been through the wringer.
It could have been worse. He could have suggested depressed people listen to Kiss. That would have been really cruel
I always assumed it was just an act, his playing the âGene Simmonsâ character⌠but nope. Asshole believes his own bullshit. His interview with Terry Gross was one of the most abhorrent things Iâve ever heard.
Oh my god that interview was priceless! Both of them immediately reduced to themselves at their worst and at one anotherâs throats. It was truly a train wreck of an interview.
A few years ago, the comic series KISS Psycho Circus was a big guilty pleasure for me; the art was nice and it was adorably campy. I then made the mistake of reading a bit too much about Simmons and it completely ruined it for me. I canât look at it anymore without being reminded of how thoroughly unpleasant this person is and feeling downright icky. I eventually lost the collection during a move and Iâm certainly not replacing it.
Finding out an artist is a huge asshole really sucks. It feels like someone offering you candy, then quipping that they didnât wash their hands after their last dump.
Lexicat and @da_Bird: yup, couldnât agree with the both of you more. True colors were exposed in that interview.
I love that interview, just because it is like two worlds colliding - he is just such an ass and she is just so flustered by him.
Also, Motley CrĂźe > Kiss
Absolutely. Another term for âpolitical incorrectnessâ is rudeness. There is room for rudeness sometimes, in comedy, in art, in commentary on the powerful. But being rude to the weak⌠thatâs just pathetic.
Absolutely in return to you, too.
And I think itâs even worse than pathetic rudeness; itâs also denying the full humanity of those whom one is labeling with noxious terminology.
