Brian Warner Started Out Like Most of Us

I’m a big fan of Brian Warner.

He’s an extremely controversial figure, but his words have meaning when one looks past his persona and digs a little deeper.

He’s been blamed for the ills of the world and revered by those without a voice.

His lyrics speak truth others do not like to hear and also acknowledge that he is a societal target.

“Take your hatred out on me…make your victim my head.”

“Hate today, no love for tomorrow.”

“Feeling unknown and you’re all alone; flesh and bone by the telephone; lift up the receiver and I’ll make you a believer.”

What may surprise you is that Brian Warner’s parents are very supportive of his career.

Still, when he developed his persona, many in the public domain called him a sinner. They called him evil.

Why?

They don’t like what he stands for.

A mirror.

Usually the thing people hate the most about another person is the very trait they dislike in themselves. Or they are jealous of someone else's success. In this case, the biggest trait exposed by the haters is intolerance.

When an artist creates a persona, it doesn’t mean they ARE their persona.

Alice Cooper is the persona of Vincent Furnier.

The Rock is the persona of Dwayne Johnson.

George Jung was Johnny Depp's persona in the movie Blow.

Coco the Clown was the persona of Nicolai Poliakoff. 

Spock is the persona of Leonard Nimoy.

So why do people think Brian Warner IS his persona?

As a person, he may not be perfect, but who really is? 

Brian Warner is an only child. Growing up, he attended church and went to a Christian school from grades one through ten.

He was an art student and worked at getting a journalism degree. To get his feet wet at writing, he wrote for a music magazine, which gave him the opportunity to meet musicians who ended up influencing the rest of his career.

Just your every day average American. And yet, people hate him. Despite that, Johnny Depp was inspired by his persona for his role in a children's movie.

Brian Warner has created an energy drink. He's dabbling in the movie business as both a director and actor. He paints watercolors and his art has hung in many reputable galleries across the country.

Both his art and his music reflect the opposite of his upbringing -- and his persona. They speak to the disenfranchised, to the shunned, to the hated. They expose the naysayers of tolerance, open-mindedness, and true faith.

His work, as in his persona's name, is something beautiful and something ugly -- the good of Marilyn Monroe and the evil of Charles Manson.

Yes, Marilyn Manson is the persona of Brian Warner.

Did you know that Marilyn Manson started out writing poetry, then got a club owner to let him read it?

He booked his first show before he had a show to put together, and had a show before his band had songs.

He drafted up newsletters and hand-wrote the envelopes to hundreds of people.

I don’t know about you. That sounds awfully familiar to how most of us started our own careers.