Marilyn Manson Unmasked

A documentary mess. And yet another example of misleading packaging. With no in-deapth knowledge on the topic of Marilyn Manson/Brian Hugh Warner prior to watching this series - NOTHING has changed after being put through the misery of watching all episodes. Marilyn Manson Unmasked (MMU) is a series that has very little to do with the stated subject matter.

MMU is, essentially, hours of "standard legal drivel". In summary; as with many "high profile celebs" there is going to be, from a "common persons" perspective, a massive amount of accusations and "legal issues". To, almost, every one of said issue there are going to be at least two sides with regard to which events did, or did not, take place.

And yes... if some really bad things went down it IS terrible and if "they didn't" - falsely accusing someone of despicable acts IS terrible too. Despite being the only topic covered by this ridiculous, sensationalist, documentary - absolutely NO CLARITY on the matter is provided. Nor is there any information, let alone insights, provided on the artist and his work - an artist quite obviously of "enormous calibre" (even if under appreciated by this reviewer).

MMU is a documentary made with one objective, and one objective alone - to create a rift between people based on different points of view - "Formulaic Hate Mongering". It's, one of, the lowest forms of documentary filmmaking - especially as it is, deceptively, done under the pretence being objective.

On a less poignant note - MMU is also a missed opportunity to present Brian Hugh Warner, his persona Marilyn Manson alongside som "grown up reasoning" as to why Marilyn Manson became such a pop-icon.

In hindsight, it seems overdetermined that Marilyn Manson should have been revealed as an abuser of women. Like many rock stars, he had many to choose from; moreoever, his whole act was based on being conventionally evil, someone who spat in the fact of good behaviour. Whether this reflected his original personality or was just a performance, in time you become what you do. This documentary is important but also rather tawdry: there's little rock star glamour on show, just the story of someone who thought he could get away with it and who, for most of his career, was correct in that assumption. My advice: take your art where you find it, but don't have heroes. But villains, like Manson, will take advantage if they can before you have managed to learn that wisdom.