The inspirational musician and actor David Bowie peacefully died this past Sunday at the age of 69 in his New York home “surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer,” according to www.inquisitr.com. Although the website read, “While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief,” this has not stopped the explosion of grief that is flooding practically every social media platform you can think of. However, while viewing the numerous distressed statements of inspired fans, you will find amongst the grievances many others who are not so sympathetic to his sexually problematic past. That being said, and with it being barely a week since Bowie’s passed, many people are not sure how to feel about the entirety of the situation. Here is where I stand.
There is no doubt David Bowie was inspirational in allowing kids of the 70’s to better define their identity with his alter ego Ziggy Stardust. He also shaped the culture and industry of music for years to come with his androgynous, eccentric style and his No. 1 hit in 1983, “Let’s Dance.” However, there is no wiggle room when saying he had sex with Lori Maddox, a groupie in Los Angeles at the time and other young groupies who idolized him as well. Although she firmly says it was consensual, she was 14 years old at the time and that means she was not of the age to make that consensual decision, hence why people are not so sympathetic to the rock star’s stereotypical greasy and monstrous actions of committing statutory rape.
I do not think people should or should not grieve. I think they should recognize that it happened and it is something we need to absolutely address.
In present day, rape culture is accepted too often. For example, let’s considerthe sexual allegations of R. Kelly, the pedophilia and molestation rumors of Michael Jackson or the legitimate truth of Bill Cosby admitting to sedating young women to have sex with them. All of these examples include celebrities who contained power, money and responsibility. In these situations, it seems rape culture is brushed under the rug when one is deemed ‘talented’ by society. So, it’s contradictory when people raise arguments such as, “Why are you investing your time on this guy who is now dead, when men are currently doing the same thing and are actually alive? Attack them.’’
There are a handful of alive, healthy football players who have avoided consequences of sexual assault due to their status in society. Situations such as theirs, Bowie’s and numerous other influential celebrities still continuously get brushed under the rug until we ‘attack’ these situations. Continuing to disregard certain people from the consequences of their horrific acts that are identical with others who do bear the consequences, insinuates rape culture is still OK.
I’m not here to tell you to pick a side by posting another status about his significance or to go protest at his funeral. I am here to tell you that it’s not like this man is being mocked for continuously making good music and making one bad album like Nickelback, which is problematic on its own, that’s not the case. This man committed an immoral and illegal act that cannot go unnoticed like so many others. As James Nachtwey said during one of his TED Talks, “Society’s problems can not be solved until they are identified.’’
Whether you agree rape culture is a problem or not is another situation entirely. As for this one, you be the judge. Which David Bowie will you remember? The inspiring musician, the problematic rapist or both‑ and how will you let that influence yourself, others and our culture hereafter?
