Living Legends
October 12, 2004 4:28 a.m.

As I started typing I realized that I had something to say on the subject,...and decided to make it an entry.

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Regarding your entry on the death of legends, it's true we've lost a lot this year,....Johnny Cash, Ray Charles...Chris Reeves..

and while I've become rather cynical and jaded in the past 2 years...I have to say that I'm still relatively idealistic. ....Angelina Jolie is a celebrity using her name and finances for more than just personal reasons.

Yeah, we have a lot of fallen icons....Michael Jackson,...to name one, but I think our living legends are:

Oprah: Love her or hate she as moved from rags to riches to become one of the most powerful and influential women in the world. She does try to help people and emotionally challenge people...in ways media persons before her have not dared to try. While a number of people dislike her, admittedly...and think she is merely sentimental, her icon status gives back to a lot of people . ..Maybe she isn't giving a lot of money, but she convinces others to do so. She does try help people with emotional issues, and is ready to bring up topics which are taboo, particularly for her audience. ..While fans of Howard Stern and Bob and Tom my be familiar with sexual topics,..Oprah's not shy about bring up the issue to soccer moms AND their daughters. She's not afraid to do shows asking the question why girls in middle schools are giving goodnight head instead of kisses.

Tori Amos: A strong woman, artist, wanting to change our perception of the world...She is a strong advocate and role model for young women, speaking out abuse towards women, physical, sexual. She even has her own foundation to help women coping with rape. Not to mention her amazing voice, and how she uses it for political purposes. Her album Strange Little Girls, consists entirely of cover songs. All the songs are written by men and are usually misogynistic or violent to women. One example, she covers Eminem's '97 Bonnie and Clyde.

Showing the impact she has had on me (and I'm not really a fan)...One song and one moment with her effected my life forever. On the Infamous September 12 (or maybe the 13th) She was booked on the David Letterman show to promote Strange Little Girls. This was something booked months in advance, and no one knew the events that would transpire around that performance. That night Dave concluded his show with Tori at her piano (and she is always spellbinding). She sang her version of the Tom Waits' song, Time. While the subject of the song relates nothing of 9/11, the pain in her voice is evident. The camera was positioned in front of the piano, above her, ...so you saw her sitting at her piano looking up into the camera. She sang with such pure raw emotion and pain, you could hear it in her voice, ...and you could tell she was choking back the tears and willing herself threw thing song. it was one of those moments where she connected with the viewer, she connected with me,..joined in sorrow of that tragedy she sang directly to my heart. When she finished Dave came over and hugged her, tears falling from his eyes. This woman was put in a situation where she could comfort and move, and emotionally connect with the world....all on a simple twist of fate. Britney could not have done that. And now whenever I listen to that song, it makes me want to cry, a beauiful cry, because it still touches straight to my heart. the image that comes to my mind is always Tori at that shiny black piano, holding back her tears.

Marilyn Manson: Love him or hate him....He's intelligent and he's a presence in the world that can't be ignored. he makes very strong statements about religion and government..and people hate him for them. I would like to add that John Lennon did the same...to the same effect. Not in the same way, but we aren't a generation of peace and love. Not leaving a bed for a period of time just won't get the message across these days. Lot of Manson's early work before they became political...was really about telling parents to raise their kids properly. Manson is telling us to question religion, to question the government, to think about things and not just take what we are spoon fed. ..He's trying to teach us about the hypocrisy evident in the world...criticizing those who criticize him....pointing out they are flawed in the same ways they blame him. He reads the Bible in he's concerts, passages that are more violent then any lyric he has ever written.

Angelina: Clearly all her work with the UN can't be ignored. She's donated so much to so many causes, not to mention all her time and effort in those places and addressing political bodies on behalf of those causes. A lot of celebs put on the make up and make the appearances. She actually makes good on the time and the money. ...She is there, in the dirt shit and piss, trying to do whatever she can to help people who are starving or don't even have clean water to drink.

Ed Norton: An amazing actor who will be remembered. His films are often political. Things like American History X, and Fight Club, The People Vs. Larry Flint, 25th Hour. He's very smart, and clearly wants to make films that cause people to think outside of the box that is their mind.

I think we do have celebrities that are using their names to say and do things to enlighten the masses. ...Politically and emotionally. Poor Fiona told people to think for themselves and not to worry about what MTV says is cool....and she was burned at the stake.

And Pitt might have done Troy for the money...but his films have notoriously been thought provoking and original (Seven, 12 Monkeys, Fight Club).

Admittedly we have our Britneys.....but really? where is Debbie Gibson now? ...Maybe Britney has sold more than she, ...she's made more money (and thus will keep recording because people want to keep making money off of her)...but we do live in a different world where our pop stars are being shipped over seas...and thus have a bigger market to sell to. ....Clearly where are New Kids on the Block....? Hopefully her image will become so saturated that people will realize that's all she is....and she will recluse to her mansion and start popping out kids. ...because clearly that's what women are supposed to do, get married and pop out kids.

I'd like to hope that Christina will continue on a path to greatness, mixing her voice with more political banter...but it's a bit early to tell if she will continue on, or fall like Whitney. Hard to classify someone as a legend when they've only recorded 2 albums, ...but her voice is the best in the business and she has the potential to become legendary.

It is a bit early to start defining who our legends will be,...These are just a few names that sprang immediately to mind (~smile~ can't be related to the fact that I recently bought both Strange Little Girls, and the new Manson greatest hits) But...I think our generation does have a few, they aren't all just Kobe's and Jacksons, and Simpsons.

We've also had our tragic share of rock star deaths. Kurt, Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, Aalyiah. ...People who have died before their true potential could be known.