The MM Cult and Los Angeles

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the rock group Marilyn Madson (MM), whose name is a combination of the sex icon Marilyn Monroe and a mass killer Charles Manson, and who are seen as a curse on America's moral fabric. The author believes that Marilyn Manson, synonymous with everything bizarre, defiant and in opposition with mainline culture and beliefs, is a cult. The author explains that the close proximity to Hollywood and its bizarre culture is probably the biggest reason why cults prosper in Southern California.

From the Paper:

"Some experts also have blamed the city's structure for the rapid increase in cult followings. These views shed light on possible reasons why MM is more successful in this region. Mike Davis in his book, 'Ecology of Fear' maintains that cults prosper in LA for the same reason natural disasters hit this city more frequently than other parts of the United States. He blames the city's lack of common sense and rising ethnic tension for all its problems. Davis feels that cults and other ethno-sociological problems also are the result of Los Angeles' totalitarian system. He writes, "Paranoia about nature, of course, distracts attention from the obvious fact that Los Angeles has deliberately put itself in harm's way. For generations, market-driven urbanization has transgressed environmental common sense? As a result, Southern California has reaped flood, fire, and earthquake tragedies that were as avoidable, as unnatural as the beating of Rodney King and the subsequent explosion in the streets."(9)"

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