MAN OF THE DAY: Morrissey

You have to love Morrissey. Well, at least I do. The former lead singer and lyricist of the seminal 80s indie band The Smiths, and avowed vegetarian and animal rights activist, he has never been shy to voice his opinions on politics, royalty, the state of the planet, the very state of the world. The pic below of him on stage says  it all:

Dubbed by some of his detractors as an 'anarchist' (and so what if he were?) and 'perpetually gloomy' (which makes perfect sense), the man speaks his mind because he is no doubt one very pissed off man who is highly attuned to the sheer hypocrisy and pedantry of the modern world. Which is why every time he says something which alienates and outrages half the world (who know of him), then I'm with the other half - with all those who relish what he has to say.

A well-known anti-royalist (right there he's one of mine), Morrissey has now taken a full-blooded swipe at the ongoing London Olympics, whilst also taking a well-aimed swipe at the British royals. Call that two very hard punches, in fact. It's left some howling in disdain, and others (myself included, of course) clapping and cheering in gleeful agreement.

 This is what he had to say about the Olympics and those tiresome Windsors, as quoted on www.dlisted.com, and as reported on the excellent gay news site www.towleroad.com:

"I am unable to watch the Olympics due to the blustering jingoism that drenches the event. Has England ever been quite so foul with patriotism? The "dazzling royals" have, quite naturally, hi-jacked the Olympics for their own empirical needs, and no oppositional voice is allowed in the free press. It is lethal to witness. As London is suddenly promoted as a super-wealth brand, the England outside London shivers beneath cutbacks, tight circumstances and economic disasters. Meanwhile the British media present 24-hour coverage of the "dazzling royals", laughing as they lavishly spend, as if such coverage is certain to make British society feel fully whole. In 2012, the British public is evidently assumed to be undersized pigmies, scarcely able to formulate thought."

Brilliant. He goes on to say:

"As I recently drove through Greece I noticed repeated graffiti seemingly everywhere on every available wall. In large blue letters it said WAKE UP WAKE UP. It could almost have been written with the British public in mind, because although the spirit of 1939 Germany now pervades throughout media-brand Britain, the 2013 grotesque inevitability of Lord and Lady Beckham (with Sir Jamie Horrible close at heel) is, believe me, a fate worse than life. WAKE UP WAKE UP."

Hmmmm. They sure as hell don't make music stars like this anymore. Makes me even more proud to have been an 80s teenager! Seriously, at least this is a man who thinks about the world around him, and doesn't speak as if he were being thought-managed and opinion-styled by some Hollywood agent creep or 'image consultant.'

Maybe that's why I admire a guy like Morrissey so much. Yeah, he made lots of money. Yeah, he disses all the jingoistic paraphernalia at the Olympics (which I have to admit I have always loved, and still do, so there!). But at least he has an opinion that goes beyond what some other celebrity said or what the media is saying about him.

At least Morrissey is an original that is self-thought, self-styled and self-created. In this age of regurgitated celebrity fluff, that can only be described as refreshing.

He is not just another walking corporate hack who speaks in soundbites and has, like, really, no opinion whatsoever, like, you know. That in itself is avant garde in this shallow, soundbite-ridden day and age. And for that alone I easily make Morrissey the Man of the Day.

Off with their heads indeed!