The concept of knowing almost too much on a subject

In a delightful contrast to my floundering about with makeup, there are things that I know a lot about. Team Fortress 2 is one example, where I know far too much on the metagame and can outclass most players with little effort.

Another example. which is the focus of this entry, is Marilyn Manson. I have all of their albums, I know almost every song back to front, I've seen them live twice, I have his autobiography, I have a lot of videos of interviews he's had over the years, his appearances on talk shows... I know a lot about him, the band, and a lot of the controversy surrounding everything he does.

It's at the point where I'm starved for The New. I feel like I'm near the ceiling of knowledge when it comes to him. This sadly results in me getting bored with the subject, because of my desire (need) to constantly learn, so if I can't learn more about something I move on.

Thankfully, I happened upon a book, Dissecting Marilyn Manson. I thought it might be interesting. At worst it'll be something to add to my library. At best I'll learn a few things about him.

I just finished reading it, and it's probably one of the most interesting things I've ever read.

What I expected was a mostly on the surface analysis, maybe some lyric quotes, something about religion and bam, instant book. What I got was a complete and total deconstruction of MM, his surrounding philosophies, Satanism, drugs, Alister Crowley, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Manson, The Beatles, gothic culture, industrial music, Nine Inch Nails, the antichrist, decadence, serial killers, David Bowie, glam, gender roles, gender stereotypes, childhood traumas, art, horror, sadomasochism, fetish...

The startling thing is that the more I read, the more I identified with him. Reading through the early chapters about Dr Seuss, I got a flashback to my year 12 art project, which was focused on Green Eggs and Ham, specifically bastardising it into a dark and horrifying book. I remember being obsessed with this idea, but I could never articulate why. The contrast is delightful, really. Such childlike innocence, placed next to horrifying images. Does it corrupt innocence, or shed light on the horror?

Either way, reading through the book (the book about Manson, not Green Egg and Ham) I felt my brain expand as I suddenly relearned old concepts, and figured out how they fit into my life. All of the information was there, but it was arranged badly, so I saw it wrong. What I felt was the pieces falling into place.

The biggest thing I got from this book is that it has given me an intense urge to create.