O'Reilly Interviews Marilyn Manson

February 28, 2007 7:50 PM

Whu? Bill O'Reilly does a respectably good interview with... Marilyn Manson! This is surprising on so many levels. And the content, superb. Well worth the viewing. [video link] via Cyberdork via Reddit
posted by five fresh fish (63 comments total)

I've heard Manson talk before. To my surprise, he was remarkably well-spoken and reasonable. I expected he'd eat O'Reilly alive, having by far the better wit and clarity of thought. Much to my surprise he appeared in costume (but didn't play the role) and much to my surprise O'Reilly did not play his tyrant character role.

The video is worth listening to. Manson speaks well and is an artist who challenges traditional values and thinking.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:59 PM on February 28, 2007

(Er, I was surprised the first time I heard him. This time I expected him to be his non-role self, and looked forward to hearing what he'd say. I also expected O'Reilly to play the bully pulpit role, which is why I expected Manson to eat him alive. It'd have been an unfair fight of wits.

Which I kinda figure O'Reilly figured out pretty quick, hence the half-hearted questioning. Heh.

bleargh. can't write worth a damn today.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:02 PM on February 28, 2007

Maybe Bill wants a crack at Dita.
posted by jonmc at 8:04 PM on February 28, 2007

I have to agree, he is a bright, thoughtful fellow. It would be refreshing to see more of this side of him; his whole nightmare aesthetic is totally tapped out at this point. Perhaps he'll write some essays.
posted by Scoo at 8:07 PM on February 28, 2007

Although he should probably ask about her position on falafel first.
posted by jonmc at 8:08 PM on February 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

He's so well-spoken!

(By the way, that clip is about five years old.)
posted by emelenjr at 8:11 PM on February 28, 2007 [2 favorites]

He's so articulate!
posted by inconsequentialist at 8:15 PM on February 28, 2007

Back when Bill was just a young pup.
posted by nola at 8:16 PM on February 28, 2007

And a real nice lookin' guy!
posted by maryh at 8:16 PM on February 28, 2007

He does know a thing or two about parenting.
posted by sourwookie at 8:19 PM on February 28, 2007

And clean too.
posted by octothorpe at 8:19 PM on February 28, 2007

I suppose they're both intelligent, but I really think they only offer shock value rather than challenging ideas.
posted by evil holiday magic at 8:22 PM on February 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Is it just me or does it seem like the unspoken line Bill should be saying with every question he ever asks should go something like this . . ."A lot of old people think . . ." or "Don't you think old people deserve an explanation for . . ."
posted by nola at 8:23 PM on February 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Alice Cooper is a scratch golfer.
posted by bardic at 8:24 PM on February 28, 2007

Dee Snider sung in the church choir.
posted by jonmc at 8:27 PM on February 28, 2007

Eh, I'll take Frank Zappa!
posted by lee at 8:27 PM on February 28, 2007

Speaking for myself, I am both attracted and repulsed by Manson. Do I listen to his music? Yes. Do I make it a lifestyle? No. Now what do I do with myself? I like Bill's show and Manson's music. I am sooo going to have to go back to therapy... I think both make pretty good points though. I don't think you can discount the impact Manson might have on a confused kid (or adult for that matter), but you can't blame him for someone's misinterpretation either.

A mini-van driving soccer-mom-looking-mom listening to Marilyn Manson. I'm pretty sure he'd think that's cool. (and so f**king what if he doesn't ;o)
posted by queenofthegeeks at 8:27 PM on February 28, 2007

Eh, I'll take Frank Zappa!

Yeah, Zappa doesn't mince words or need a faux-Bowie eye.
posted by evil holiday magic at 8:31 PM on February 28, 2007

I'm sorry, even political disagreements aside I take serious issue with the assertion that Bill O'Reilly is an intelligent person. Maybe the word has a different connotation to you...
posted by inoculatedcities at 8:44 PM on February 28, 2007

All i know is that clown gangs can be intimidating.
posted by nola at 8:49 PM on February 28, 2007

Hehe. Chaim Witz (aka Gene Simmons) was a good Jewish boy studying to be a rabbi before forming KISS.

People assume a lot about rockstars. What they seem to forget is that becoming insanely wealthy through presenting a fake image to teenagers takes some work. It ain't rocket surgery, but it doesn't happen by accident either.
posted by bardic at 8:49 PM on February 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Hey jon, they is splitsville.
posted by stinkycheese at 8:54 PM on February 28, 2007

Eh, I'll take Frank Zappa!

Yeah, one small problem with that.
posted by WCityMike at 8:59 PM on February 28, 2007

The Donahue interview is far better.
posted by mullingitover at 9:07 PM on February 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm sorry, even political disagreements aside I take serious issue with the assertion that Bill O'Reilly is an intelligent person. Maybe the word has a different connotation to you...

I think Bill's just as fake and contrived as Brian could ever hope to be. I'm not saying he's humble, informed or great at reasoning; but, like other talking heads, he knows how to keep the rubes watching.
posted by evil holiday magic at 9:17 PM on February 28, 2007

jonmc - Maybe Bill wants a crack at Dita.

if so, he doesn't need Marilyn's approval anymore.
posted by pruner at 9:18 PM on February 28, 2007

Well, Bill's never been the quickest cat. Maybe he just wants Marilyn to help him meet burlesque chicks.
posted by jonmc at 9:22 PM on February 28, 2007

"Marilyn Manson now going door to door trying to shock people"
- Onion headline
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:23 PM on February 28, 2007

Well well well, "Brian Warner"...
Or should I call you James?
It's time to stop running and own your inner wuss, son.
posted by maryh at 9:37 PM on February 28, 2007

I thought everyone knew Manson was a thoughtful fellow from Michael Moore's interview with him in Bowling for Columbine.

And if O'Reilly seems coherent, then it shows how much carnival barker he's absorbed in the last 5 years.

I heard Rush Limbaugh two days in a row after not hearing him at all for five years, and he sounded like he had gone way further around the bend even from his previous state of residence around the first bend. Apparently the past 7 years have not been kind to Brokaw and Russert's co-host for NBC's primetime election night 2000 coverage.
posted by dglynn at 10:58 PM on February 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Aha! BfC, that was the first time I'd seen him interviewed!
posted by five fresh fish at 11:19 PM on February 28, 2007

What struck me is that the reason it's such a good interview -- Marilyn Manson being an articulate & intelligent guy aside -- is because BILL O'REILLY DIDN'T INTERRUPT. Seems to me he has such a tendency to do that. Maybe he was scared to interrupt the guy staring at him with a white eyeball, I don't know. But Marilyn Manson was able to complete his answers & thoughts and he was listened to, and that was interesting. He wasn't being corrected or disputed & talked over the whole time, which is something I've seen in an awful lot of Bill O'Reilly interviews.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:30 PM on February 28, 2007

Eh, I'll take Frank Zappa!
posted by lee

There's an old Zappa clip where he was on the Steve Allen Show in the early 60's. Zappa plays a bicycle and it is entertaining to watch. It has nothing to do with anything in this thread, but it's fun.

Watch it here.
posted by jefbla at 12:29 AM on March 1, 2007

bardic: "Hehe. Chaim Witz (aka Gene Simmons) was a good Jewish boy studying to be a rabbi before forming KISS."

Gene Simmons and Krusty the Klown: brothers beneath the greasepaint.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:57 AM on March 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

This is completely unsubstantiated, but I'm going to go ahead and assert that Bill O'Reilly wishes he could just drop the whole stiff-suited fighting-Irish persona and run away with Manson to a squat in downtown Berlin, get into some studded leather overalls with a silk peacock ruff, and rest his New Rocks on the back of some silent mime-masked submissive while hot-knifing a coin of Thai opium between two fake-blood-stained Nazi daggers.
posted by Drexen at 2:15 AM on March 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

Where can I sign up, Drexen?
posted by Meatbomb at 2:37 AM on March 1, 2007

miss lynnster: I've only seen the barest handful of O'Reilly, and that immediately jumped out at me too.
posted by VirtualWolf at 3:55 AM on March 1, 2007

bill o'reilly's thing is to make his interviewees seem like half-baked liberal fiends

how does one do that with a guy who's wearing white makeup, lipstick, a captain's hat and has two different colored eyeballs? ... to his average viewer, marilyn's going to look like the freakiest thing in the world ...

all bill has to do is act polite and let him talk for himself ... his audience does the rest ... you don't have to play the theater of outrage with the outrageous and bill knows that
posted by pyramid termite at 4:43 AM on March 1, 2007

I guess not a lot of people here saw Bowling for Columbine, which also featured a (albiet shorter) interview with Manson that many people considered the most intelligent and articulate part of the entire movie- in fact, he says a lot of the same answers in the movie that he said here.

To be honest the bigger surprise here for me isn't that Manson is an intelligent person but that he's still around and relevant enough to be interviewed on a major news channel. (Unless this was a clip from, like, four years ago or something; I'm not entirely sure)
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 5:08 AM on March 1, 2007

I didn't know anything about Marilyn Manson until I watched this and I was pleasantly surprised to listen to an articulate, intelligent artist who easily handled and even appreciated Loofa's typical attack-the-guest style of interview.

I have a new respect for Marilyn Manson and actually feel like I know something about him now.

As a parent I know it would be convenient to blame an artist like Manson any problems my children have. =)
posted by rmmcclay at 5:09 AM on March 1, 2007

Last year, after my friend Annmarie was killed in an alligator attack, another friend, Robert, was interviewed about it on Bill O'Reilly. It was awesome to see weird little gay-boy art-fag Robert in his thrift store glasses and self-hacked mullet, wearing a shirt he screen-printed himself, up on the screen talking to Bill O'Reilly. It was completely surreal. He had a minute to talk to Bill on the sattelite hook-up before he went live, he tried to show him some of Annmarie's art and tell him a little bit about her, Bill completely blew him off, and when they went live, asked stupid questions like 'was she a risk-taker?', as if trying to place some blame on her for the attack, when he knew full well that she had been swimming in a place where all kinds of other people swam all the time. It looks like he was a little more respectful to Marilyn Manson.
I like Marilyn, I hate his music but he seems pretty together and friendly and low-key. I wouldn't have been able to be so cool and polite to O'Reilly, no way.
posted by cilantro at 5:12 AM on March 1, 2007

I can't agree more, XQUZYPHYR.

My first exposure to Marilyn Manson's eloquent speaking was on Bowling for Columbine and I came away highly impressed. He came across as lucid and insightful--especially juxtaposed to Charlton Heston who came across as either a raving looney or a dottering old man.
posted by leftcoastbob at 6:24 AM on March 1, 2007

This must be really old, notice there is no scroll at the bottom the Fox screen.
posted by parmanparman at 7:04 AM on March 1, 2007

Loved it, thanks.

Though odd to be muttering to myself "quit being so smarmy, Marilyn!".
posted by Jody Tresidder at 8:00 AM on March 1, 2007

"Charlton Heston who came across as either a raving looney or a dottering old man."

It's called alzheimers disease. Fun to laugh at isn't it?
posted by vronsky at 8:22 AM on March 1, 2007

Manson's finest work:

The ancient Pharaohs weren't to bright they say,
But they made one contribution that I live by to this day,
It's the food pyramid and it's approved by the USDA!

Oh, grains are the foundation,
So please take my advice,
Have 5 to 11 servings,
Of bread, cereal or rice,
3 to 5 of vegetables,
And 4 of fruits fruits is best,
Their anti-oxidants and fibers,
Help you to digest,
3 servings of yogurt, milk and cheese!
Will help your bones,
And subsidize the cattle industries,
A body needs to grow,
And growing takes proteins,
That's why meat can be a tasty treat,
Like fish or human beings,
And when you eat your sweets,
Be sure you try,
To limit your servings,
Or you'll DIE!

Everybody!
My body is a pyramid,
That's made of healthy food,
So do what we say,
(yeah!)
Eat right everyday,
(boo!)
I... love... you!
Buy American!
posted by WinnipegDragon at 8:23 AM on March 1, 2007

And the video to go with the lyrics...

No idea if the site (grouper.com) is NSFW or what...
posted by WinnipegDragon at 8:30 AM on March 1, 2007

Manson muses. I like his music it has a good beat and it is easy to dance to. "The beautiful people, the beautiful people, Ahhhh."
posted by MapGuy at 9:50 AM on March 1, 2007

But is it as good as Marilyn Manson and Mrs. Brady teaming up on Politically Incorrect?
posted by Ruki at 10:57 AM on March 1, 2007

This interview is five years old - before O'Reilly became really popular and got on his high moralistic horse.
posted by Rashomon at 1:54 PM on March 1, 2007

"Charlton Heston who came across as either a raving looney or a dottering old man."

posted by vronsky It's called Alzheimers disease. Fun to laugh at isn't it?

Oh, we're not laughing at Alzheimer's. We're laughing at Charlton Heston, who is a mildly-retarded racist asshole who richly deserves every bit of mockery and scorn he receives.
posted by fandango_matt at 5:44 PM on March 1, 2007

That would it explain it all.

Now it feels like I've made a fraudulent front page post.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:33 PM on March 1, 2007

really matt? The star of the greatest sci fi movie ever made deserves to have his alzheimers disease mocked and ridiculed by some grotesquely fat third rate propagandist.

Have you ever had a family member suffer from alzheimers?

You seemed smarter than this. Guess I was wrong.
posted by vronsky at 9:40 PM on March 1, 2007

Charlton Heston was in Empire Strikes Back?!?!
posted by coust at 10:27 PM on March 1, 2007

No, but your mom was.
posted by vronsky at 10:29 PM on March 1, 2007

charlton heston was in plan 9 from outer space?
posted by pyramid termite at 5:55 AM on March 2, 2007

If you must know PT, I was referring to "The Ten Commandments."
posted by vronsky at 8:09 AM on March 2, 2007

but seriously:

Touch of Evil
Ben-Hur
Planet of the Apes
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
The Omega Man
Soylent Green
Airport 1975
Earthquake
Wayne's World 2
and 2 SNL's

matt's got some netflixing to do
posted by vronsky at 8:42 AM on March 2, 2007

I'm familiar with Heston's movies and his NRA speeches, thanks. Perhaps if you saw Bowling For Columbine and listened carefully to what Charlton Heston says you'd wouldn't be so willing to defend him.

And I'm more familiar with Alzheimer's than you'll ever know, you sanctimonius little asshole.
posted by fandango_matt at 9:07 AM on March 2, 2007

O I'm a big asshole matt, but what part of - he was in the early/mid stages of alzheimers disease when that was filmed - do you not comprehend? Not mildly retarded. If you truly did understand this or have a family member suffering from it you wouldn't make such blithely idiotic comments.
posted by vronsky at 10:35 AM on March 2, 2007

vronsky, did you see the interview?

Heston was a bigoted, intolerant jerk loooong before he was struck with Alzheimer's. The disease didn't cause him to be so, it let it leak out without filtering.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:01 AM on March 3, 2007

And speaking of Marilyn Manson, I stumbled across this today: lots of videos et al.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:02 AM on March 3, 2007

Who crapped in your corn flakes, vronsky?

He was the spokesperson for the NRA, giving speeches for them and said some horribly racist things in Bowling. Sorry about your family member, but the discussion was not about him/her. You might do a lot better if you adjusted your filter a bit.
posted by leftcoastbob at 11:33 AM on March 3, 2007