The latest scandal revolving around the eccentric Marilyn Manson is neither the first, nor the last ever provoked – if it’s not his odd appearance, it’s his heavy music, or his dark, obscene lyrics or his immoral, morbid videos. He is the down-right industrial goth artist with a tint of dark glamour and a load of rebellion and anti-system believes delivered in a very angry, grotesque, horror movie-like manner.
All the above attributes classify as characteristics of the video released a few days ago, apparently directed by Eli Roth (known for Hostel – 2005, Grindhouse – 2007). The scandalous video (entitled Sturmgruppe 2013 Reel) quickly drew public attention, as it presented violent rape scenes including Lana Del Rey. In the debated scene, the American singer is grabbed by a man (who appears to be Roth himself), thrown into bed and brutalized against her will, as she is wearing a Texas Chainsaw Massacre T-shirt. The sound of the video is no Marilyn Manson track, as it only features the uttering of some dark themed words, including the recurring ‘’rape’’, spoken word also available in written form, on some colorful balloons carried by creepy zombie-like ladies.
The clear origin of the controversial video has not yet been established and Marilyn Manson representative, Kathryn Frazier, totally denies the affiliation of the artist to such a piece: “Manson did not direct this, shoot it, nor was it for a Marilyn Manson video or out-take footage made by him or to be used by him with his music”. On the other hand, director Eli Roth declared during a last year Larry King question and answer session that Manson was a friend and that they had worked together on a video: ‘’The footage is so sick, it has been locked in a vault for over a year’’. Although some sources imply this, it is not certain whether the video he made reference to is indeed the one which leaked a couple of days ago. According to Manson’s representative, “It must be a fan video splicing up old Manson video footage with someone else’s Lana Del Rey footage”.
The short clip includes scenes from previous Marilyn Manson videos like “No Reflection” (the disturbing ambient and the sitting at the table scenes) or “Slo-Mo-Tion”. In addition, ”some people have suggested that the shocking footage could be an outtake from Del Rey’s video for Pretty When You Cry” a The Independent article suggests.