I just can’t figure it out. When I first heard about Kanye West being portrayed as Christ on the cover of Rolling Stone, I dove into the media “frenzy” with gusto trying to find the why. I’ve been reading news articles for the past couple of days now and I can’t find the why except for Rolling Stone’s need to offend and their need to be “anti-establishment”. Me personally? I’m not really offended. I think it’s a gross misstatement to compare Kanye West and Jesus (it’s impossible…nobody measures up…nobody is so suffused with the divinity of God as Jesus was*), but it doesn’t really offend me. It’s kind of funny to see the lengths to which Rolling Stone will go to offend their readers, but I just don’t see the connection. Even if they were to say that the picture is art, I don’t get what they’re trying to say.
However, we once again find ourselves in a debate about freedom of the press. Ever hear the song “The Critic” by Toby Keith? Pretty much sums up what I think is going on at Rolling Stone.
“He caught a young hot star headin’ into town, and then he hid behind his typewriter and gunned the boy down.
Here come the letters, the e-mails, the faxes, they raised him to 20,000 dollars after taxes.”
The critic in question generated controversy that made people who were normally complacent with what was being printed respond in droves, therefore making his editor take notice of him and give him a raise. So that explains why Rolling Stone is doing what they’re doing. But now Christians are upset over a…flagrant depiction of a Christ figure? I mean, is there really anything wrong with showing Kanye West as a person who is punished and tortured for doing what he’s doing? Actually there is something wrong with that…it’s not true. The guy has 8 Grammy nominations. And he’s arrogant. He’s so arrogant that it’s a cliché to call him arrogant! So why are they upset? If I had my druthers, I’d be upset because he has enjoyed popularity for some very peculiar (and wrong) reasons. Namely, his comments during the NBC telethon. Right after he said “what everybody else was thinking” (his words, not mine), his new single shot up the charts. Irony thy name is Kanye. His words were chosen to speak to the “large” audience that disapproved of Bush’s post-Katrina tactics in order to increase his popularity. “Hey, he hates Bush. Let’s go listen to his music!” Normally, I would applaud his politician-like wheeling and dealing, his excellent grasp on the bull$hit that is marketing…except for the fact that he is wishy-washy on this very subject! In “Jesus Walks”:
“So here go my single dog radio needs this
They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus
That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes
But if I talk about God my record won’t get played Huh?”
Hm…interesting. So by extension, if you rag on Bush, your record will get played? Huh?
All in all, he’s not a Christ figure. He’s not someone who should be worshiped. However I find it most unsettling that Kanye likes to compare himself to Christ. Anyone care to explain this to me beyond another example of his outrageous arrogance? But the final point is that Rolling Stone has every right to help him compare himself to Christ. All I’m saying is that the boot don’t fit. It’s art that fails to make a significant statement, unlike this fictional piece from the hit comic series “Ex Machina”.
* This is my opinion and my belief and you can’t hassle me on it.
