Month: November 2019

Through all of the detailed readings and the performance as Ziggy Stardust, I am still left wondering who David Bowie really is. In his own interview, I am left feeling that he has contradicted himself many times, perhaps due to his own uncertainty in who he really is as he was quoted saying “I honestly don’t know where the real David Jones is. It’s like playing the shell game. Except I’ve got so many shells I’ve forgotten what the pea looks like.” He was quoted saying disco is a dirge, and then said he loves disco. He was quoted saying he believes in himself, among other things, yet is also quoted saying he is not an original thinker and even describes his own music as plastic. In the beginning of the interview, he discusses how he “exploits”his bisexuality while later stating that he was exploited. However, these contradictions seem to make Bowie the artist he is. Above all, what came through in both Bowie’s interview and performance is a confidence bordering on arrogance (explicitly seen in the way he calls out Elton John and proudly states “I get away with murder”) and a love for the theatrics. Despite Bowie cycling through characters, in his performance it is evident that the audience connects with him, as several cried and many sang along. While Bowie himself was impossible to pin down, it should not be overlooked how he not only challenged rock culture, but the idea of sexual identity at the time.