People who can't stand modern-day Morrissey - why do they still follow him?

Maurice E Maher

Well-Known Member
It's easy to understand why long-term fans might have gone off Morrissey since his 1980s (and arguably to mid 1990s) heyday.
But why on earth still spend a huge amount of time following what he does? Criticising his every new song and his every new comment to the press?
It's odd isn't it?
I much prefer 1980s Morrissey to 2010s Morrissey for so many reasons. But I still like him enough to make it worth hanging around. I think the new album is really good - his best since Vauxhall. And whereas many of his TTY 'blogs' make me cringe, others I think are pretty cool (or at least fair enough).
So why do those that hate his modern-day persona and songs still hang around? Nothing else to do? To goad the fans who (in their opinion) have yet to see the light? In the hope that he will revert to how he used to be?
 
This subject was discussed few years ago.
Someone pointed out that trolls were generally losers who hadn't achieved anything in their lives, only taking advantages of online anonymity.
 
Good question, and one that merits ongoing debate, whether discussed previously or not.
Personally, most of what he says is complete and utter nonsense, melodrama, hyperbole or all of the above, though I'm never disappointed by the language he employs when issuing statements/speaking, regardless of what merit may or may not lie beyond the comments.

I do find it rather odd, the number of people who spent rather large chunks of their lives debunking everything he says or purports to stand for, rather than just choosing to ignore him and sites concerned with him - all the same.

As for his body of work - I would argue that our expectations and the bar we set has lowered substantially. As decent as some of the current output is - it's simply not plausible that it compares favorably with The Smiths' work in the 80s, or the best tracks from Vauxhall / Your Arsenal.
 
I've always suspected that those people must've had Morrissey held up on a very, very high pedestal once upon a time, and that they regarded him (and maybe still regard him) as something more than human—as though there's a higher standard that he should be held to simply because he's Morrissey. I don't understand putting that kind of expectation on anyone, but then I've never seen him as anything other than a person. As with other people I know and/or admire, I'm more than OK with not agreeing with him all the time. I'm also OK with not thinking every song he writes is the greatest thing ever.

Morrissey has had a huge impact on my life and has influenced me in some really significant ways, but I'm my own person—and so is he. He doesn't owe me anything.
 
I think this question has merit. I think the pedestal explaination is very good. I think that the themes from the beginning draw a certain sensitive type of person. When I was young this gave me a very close ally in all I was experiencing. As you grow older though, morrissey has never really provided redemption or a way out of those feelings. So unless you find your way out of that gloom yourself, I believe morrissey will never be the answer. I would imagine that could inspire a lot of hate that no solution can be found in the lyrics on really how to live life past those sensitive times. Maybe a promise left unfulfilled that they perceive morrissey should have answered for people who still suffer the ills of their emotional youth. If you are miserable it's not a stretch to try to squash people who are happy about morrissey.
 
Moz is a public figure and as such he will get criticism from all kinds of people. I do not agree with Kewpie that only trolls and losers do this, that is a generalisation that does not make any sense at all. I do not know how anonymous posters who are critical can all be failed people in life. They say what they think about Morrissey today and you have to take it for what it is namely criticism.

Kewpie is so famous for her achievements in life that no one or at least very few know who she is. I think of Oscar Wilde and what he said about being spoken about or not being spoken about and what is worse. If life was a contest then it would be a pretty hectic place. Some enjoy it instead of using it as a daily fight for survival or recognition. In a free world we can choose how we want to live.

Who are you in the real world Kewpie?
 
Moz is a public figure and as such he will get criticism from all kinds of people. I do not agree with Kewpie that only trolls and losers do this, that is a generalisation that does not make any sense at all. I do not know how anonymous posters who are critical can all be failed people in life. They say what they think about Morrissey today and you have to take it for what it is namely criticism.

Kewpie is so famous for her achievements in life that no one or at least very few know who she is. I think of Oscar Wilde and what he said about being spoken about or not being spoken about and what is worse. If life was a contest then it would be a pretty hectic place. Some enjoy it instead of using it as a daily fight for survival or recognition. In a free world we can choose how we want to live.

Who are you in the real world Kewpie?

Have you actually read Maurice E Maher's post?

He would like to have reasonable explanations that some people who can't stand Morrissey, but still follow him.
I just repeated someone's opinion about them.
 
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Have you actually read Maurice E Maher's post?

He would like to have reasonable explanations that some people who can't stand Morrissey still follow him.
I just repeated someone's opinion about them.

You always duck when the shots are fired. Being the outstanding famous citizen that you are you sure as hell do not make much noise outside of here.
 
i always imagined that people saw themselves in how they perceived him then and felt his changing a betrayal of who they think they are/were and are thus angry
 
I have always wondered what drives the 'later' Moz critics.
To expect a 50+ man to be writing about teen angst to preserve your own view of how YOU think he should write/record is pure egotism and major entitlement issues.
Many artists change and develop (yes, even to their image's detriment).
Many create albums with influences of where they lived: 80s Manchester giving way to giddy London, L.A.'s Hector, Rome's Ringleader...et al. So he's different - so what!? I'd be more concerned if he just churned out The Queen Is Dead variants for 30 years.
I have followed from the outset and would no more dictate what he should do than fly.
He is his, warts and all.
If I like his musical output, mores the good.
However, to have a troll-like outburst for hours a day about how awful something is will always indicate far more about the person than Morrissey.
If people haven't got that he will do exactly as he wants in 30 years - then there really is no hope in modern life.
Regards,
FWD
 
Some salient points here.

I can sum them up in five words

Empty vessels make most noise.

I guess like most of us, those who are now venomous in their criticism were fans of Morrissey or The Smiths at an impressionable age where people made emotional investments into pop music and the pop persona Morrissey portrayed. He was/is a true original in that sense and a breath of fresh air.

However as people grow up and join the rat race, the pronouncements and worsening returns in Mirrissey's music on an emotional and lyrical level make individuals project their bitterness at life onto someone who sings.

I am not speaking from personal experience. Ahem.
 
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He is old and boring and the things he sings about are still about feeling sorry for himself. He's not grown up at all. It is still teen angst and who can relate to that now?

No artist can stay interesting their whole career and he got new fans who weren't there from the start and some held onto him because of a lack of other talent being about.
 
Some salient points here.

I can sum them up in five words

Empty vessels make most noise.

I guess like most of us, those who are now venomous in their criticism were fans of Morrissey or The Smiths at an impressionable age where people made emotional investments into pop music and the pop persona Morrissey portrayed. He was/is a true original in that sense and a breath of fresh air.

However as people grow up and join the rat race, the pronouncements and worsening returns in Mirrissey's music on an emotional and lyrical level make individuals project their bitterness at life onto someone who sings.

I am not speaking from personal experience. Ahem.

Well, you have real problems instead like your local football side that is a sinking vessel.
 
I'll never understand why people like Benny come on here and spend their time ranting about Morrissey.

It comes off as desperate.
 
For better or worse, a good number of us here - and, at the peak of the site, probably hundreds of others - invested heavily in Morrissey, monetarily and/or emotionally. Some invested more deeply than others and I suspect feel a certain amount of betrayal as he has evolved into someone that does not fit their perception, their life. It is a touchstone of his artistry that he can affect a diversity of people so profoundly - but, also, his curse. Expectations are bound to telescope to something entirely unrealistic for some. As with anything else, some people will be equipped with better skills at compartmentalizing or coping in their lives and their relationships, whether they be with flesh and blood/friends or mediated extensions of people they don't know.

That said I wish it were easy for others to perceive that it should not be prerequisite to consider everything Morrissey's done as at least good if not great to remain here. I feel his best work is behind him, but I still strongly appreciate so much of his body of work that I don't feel invalid being a "lifer" at Morrissey-solo. If the opportunity arose, I would still have a beer with the man - just so long as we didn't have to talk about politics, the British royalty, or Kristeen Young.
 
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I only can't stand current Morrissey because he makes me weak in the knees.
 
Well, you have real problems instead like your local football side that is a sinking vessel.

I will be attending Cardiff v Leeds on Saturday reminiscing about the time we beat them in the 3rd round of the FA Cup when hey were riding high in the charts and wondering where it all went wrong for both clubs.

Peter Ridsdale please stand up.
 
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