She helped Ireland wake up to the abuse and scandals of the church, and made us look in the mirror.
Like you, I was pissed off at the reverence and hand wringing after her death, and kept thinking, why weren't you there for her when she was alive. She could be " difficult " to work with, and erratic , especially in her personnel life, with some bad choices, but these traits would have been accepted if she had been a man.
Absolutely spot on about the cynical use of "martyrs" in both industries. We should also be careful not to make Ms. O'Connor a sort of "plaster saint" ourselves, however; as right as she was about the Church, it was not the sole reason for her exile from the industry. Some of that exile was self-imposed; and some was the result of the harsh and antagonistic way she treated people she dealt with, both professionally and personally. Why that was can certainly be speculated upon, if one wishes; but there's no denying it left scars on some people.
No argument here. Actually, a common aspect of manufactured martyrdom stories, as I said in my piece, is that the subjects are often not around to speak for themselves. This makes them a blank slate. It almost doesn't matter what O'Connor did or did not do--they were going to paint her over anyway.
Same thing with actors. From a different angle, If I see another Pee Wee Herman Insta-tribute from actors and other folk about how kind, caring and talented he was and what a friend he was I’m going to be sick. History is rewritten by those living and it’s a bit of a revisionist sham. He may have been all these things (can’t vouch for it) but he also went thru some dark times with the arrest for indecent exposure and child pornography. This isn’t the sum of who he is nor likely something that’s written in an obit but glorifying the dead has a sort of macabre effect and serves the living in an unhealthy way I think. It’s a way it signaling their good. Oof. All done with my soapbox.
I too was wondering if I was just imagining that old history of Pee Wee. Could this be the same person? I agree with you. Hollywood and Big Music operate in much the same way: without shame.
I think it goes back to people unhealthily engaging with this form of martyr behavior with one of the positive outcomes for them being that it builds social equity with others in their networks. I feel like this is such a good psychology case study idea ...
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Setting it up with the man in Italy in the first section really worked beautifully. I can feel the barely contained anger in the string of short sentences. Excellent writing.
She helped Ireland wake up to the abuse and scandals of the church, and made us look in the mirror.
Like you, I was pissed off at the reverence and hand wringing after her death, and kept thinking, why weren't you there for her when she was alive. She could be " difficult " to work with, and erratic , especially in her personnel life, with some bad choices, but these traits would have been accepted if she had been a man.
She was too good for this world.
Spot on. Thanks Geoffrey.
Absolutely spot on about the cynical use of "martyrs" in both industries. We should also be careful not to make Ms. O'Connor a sort of "plaster saint" ourselves, however; as right as she was about the Church, it was not the sole reason for her exile from the industry. Some of that exile was self-imposed; and some was the result of the harsh and antagonistic way she treated people she dealt with, both professionally and personally. Why that was can certainly be speculated upon, if one wishes; but there's no denying it left scars on some people.
No argument here. Actually, a common aspect of manufactured martyrdom stories, as I said in my piece, is that the subjects are often not around to speak for themselves. This makes them a blank slate. It almost doesn't matter what O'Connor did or did not do--they were going to paint her over anyway.
Same thing with actors. From a different angle, If I see another Pee Wee Herman Insta-tribute from actors and other folk about how kind, caring and talented he was and what a friend he was I’m going to be sick. History is rewritten by those living and it’s a bit of a revisionist sham. He may have been all these things (can’t vouch for it) but he also went thru some dark times with the arrest for indecent exposure and child pornography. This isn’t the sum of who he is nor likely something that’s written in an obit but glorifying the dead has a sort of macabre effect and serves the living in an unhealthy way I think. It’s a way it signaling their good. Oof. All done with my soapbox.
I too was wondering if I was just imagining that old history of Pee Wee. Could this be the same person? I agree with you. Hollywood and Big Music operate in much the same way: without shame.
I think it goes back to people unhealthily engaging with this form of martyr behavior with one of the positive outcomes for them being that it builds social equity with others in their networks. I feel like this is such a good psychology case study idea ...
Agreed. something akin to "virtue signalling".
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Setting it up with the man in Italy in the first section really worked beautifully. I can feel the barely contained anger in the string of short sentences. Excellent writing.
Thanks Steve, coming from a master, that's high praise!
Great article...I didn't know much about Sinead - thanks.