Schizophrenic Thoughts about Prince and the 8th Wonder of the World 25
I used to get trapped in my own head. I would find myself narrating a fictional story that could plausibly occur in the near future, but it definitely wasn't very likely. Recently, I realized I had started telling myself these stories again, just a little more infrequently. What is irrelevant about these stories is that they are about me. What is relevant about these personal stories is that I tell them in the third person. (Maybe the Jimmy episode from Seinfeld was my initial inspiration). Thinking about yourself in the third person could be a sign of schizophrenia, an intrapersonal disconnect (which I realize is just a euphemism for schizophrenia) or hopefully, it’s just rather narcissistic. All three of these explanations hint at serious mental illness, so I am not exactly comfortable with these explanations.
As a child I would always narrate my life in the third person. My internal narration parallels the main concept of Stranger Than Fiction with Will Ferrell except I was the one telling the story, not some lady across town writing her latest masterpiece. I remember laying awake in bed, late into the night, imagining what was coming tomorrow. I would create a screenplay and play out the next day's events. If I had a big soccer game the next day, I would act like Bob Costas commentating on the soccer game. I was the commentator to my own individual play during a game and I made sure to provide the appropriate amount of excitement for all the glorious goals I scored. Of course, with all this being narrated in my imagination, I scored four goals a game and my team was by far the greatest group to ever grace the pitch. Now, commentating on a sports event may seem rather tame, but I would also play commentator to the more mundane details of my life. I would lie in bed and dictate the script of my life with fervor and dedication. Yea, it’s a bit narcissistic. This third person thinking relates to the way some of history’s most famous athletes and artists talk about and create different images for themselves.
Muhammad Ali is one of the most charismatic orators of the 20th century. He was able to infuse his speeches with arrogance, passion and comedy all the while slyly disrespecting his opponent. His ability to orate, combined with his freakishly fast hands helped make him the most well known boxer in history (George Foreman may be up there also, but he is more famous for bringing the BBQ indoors than for being a great boxer –wait that guy used to be a boxer?). Alie was probably as arrogant and confident as any man alive, once saying, "When you are as great as I am it is hard to be humble," or, "if you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize," and lastly "I am the greatest, I said that before I knew I was." As self-promoting as this man was, he was brilliant and renowned for his boxing ability and even if he doesn't meet the standard of talking about himself in the third person he certainly attained the arrogance and self-righteous rhetoric to be included in this blog.
Next are Rickey Henderson and Shaquille O'Neal. The best lead-off hitter in baseball history and, arguably, the greatest basketball center ever. Henderson and O'Neal are infamous for speaking about themselves in the third person. Ricky felt under-appreciated by the media so he wanted build his reputation by hyping himself up, while Shaq is the epitome of an entertainer. Henderson once called the San Diego Padres' General Manger Kevin Towers and left a message saying, "Hey Kevin it’s Ricky. Ricky needs to talk to you. Call Ricky back." Initially, he referenced himself in the first person, but decided to finish the voicemail with two third person comments for the sake of affirming his greatness.
A better example than Ricky is Shaquille O’neal. Not only is Shaq funny and likeable while speaking about himself in the third person, but he has given himself multiple nicknames. His most popular nickname is The Diesel and being 7'1" and 325 pounds he can call himself whatever he wants. When a reporter questioned his leadership and control of the Lakers Shaq responded with, "Yep, it's my team. You [media] guys might give it to him (speaking of another player), like you've given him everything else his whole lifetime, but this is the Diesel's ship." And when a reporter questioned Shaq's credibility he responded with, "Shaquille O'Neal has always been one to speak the truth." Shaq is a self-purported sage and enjoys basketball as much as having a familiar reporter’s tape recorder stuck in his face. His ability to speak contributes to his fame and popularity and while some may argue that his antics are egocentric and ostentatious, he is just a gentle giant. Henderson and O'Neal both deserve the extensive accolades they have received and these honors grant them the respect to make their own nicknames and refer to themselves in the third person as separate and distinguished entities. Spider-man once said, "with great power comes great responsibility," but I think more importantly, with great talent and skill comes great nicknames. Furthermore, two incredible music artists have taken the opportunity success gives them to create a nickname, brand and title surrounding their music.
Prince has blessed us with the hits Red Corvette, 1999, Purple Rain, I Wanna Be Your Lover and When Doves Cry. It is very likely that one of these songs is forever intertwined with a particular moment in all of our lives. As an enigma, Prince quickly shines and then fades from the spotlight with his androgynous fashion and perpetually evolving music. His eccentric behavior probably peaked when he held a press conference - with the world 'slave' written on his face – to announce that he would not longer be called Prince, which is his birth name. He wanted to be called 'the artist’ and be recognized by a design he called the 'love symbol' or be referred to as 'the artist formerly known as Prince.' He claimed Warner Bros. stole his name and used it as a trademark to sell music, thus he needed a new name and designation. He was doing the opposite of Shaq. Prince was erasing any name or title that could be used to exploit him as a commodity. Yet it is a bold move to claim to be 'the artist' as if he were the one and only significant artist in the world. Also to be as known as a symbol is to ask to be seen as something very significant and important. When I asked my roommate for something represented by a symbol and how he feels about Prince wanting to be known as a symbol he responded with, "Prince is an idiot and an eagle is a symbol for the United States, the Confederate flag for slavery or a noose for segregation and the KKK, I guess??? Stop asking me hard questions I have to put away my groceries," and then he left. Symbols represent greater ideas and concepts and I am not so sure we can use it in reference to a successful music artist. Prince is practically asking to be nameless and names are how we recognize and define objects or feelings, and without a name he might fade into the ether.
Jay-Z is another example of a self-serving and proud man who realized early-on that no one else was going to promote for him like he could. Jay-Z dotes himself in almost every song he writes and has claimed, "I'm the greatest rapper alive." But his love for himself is most apparent in his song ‘H to the Izzo,’ which starts with Jay-Z declaring, "I'm the eighth wonder of the world.” The song continues with the lyrics, “H to the izz-O…V to the izz-A…,” which has been analyzed to mean he is some sort of messiah because of the H-O-V-A spelling. By naming himself Jay-HOVA, Jay-Z is basically saying he is the god of rapping??? The last point on Jay-Z, in another of his songs he says, "I am not be a businessman, I am a business, man," which is pompous, but fairly accurate considering his record company, clothing line and other successful business ventures.
The extreme levels of success these individuals achieve create a unique life experience that us common folk could hardly imagine. Most of the egos of these cultural icons are so bloated that could use some Beano, but I suppose that is fairly natural when someone like Jay-Z and Shaq fulfill such surreal dreams. From talking about themselves in the third person to offering us multiple nicknames, these stars seem a bit narcissistic, but certainly not schizophrenic.
P.S. - Britney Spears was deleted from the blog because she completely contradicted my closing sentence and I liked the sentence more than her presence in this post.
.
As a child I would always narrate my life in the third person. My internal narration parallels the main concept of Stranger Than Fiction with Will Ferrell except I was the one telling the story, not some lady across town writing her latest masterpiece. I remember laying awake in bed, late into the night, imagining what was coming tomorrow. I would create a screenplay and play out the next day's events. If I had a big soccer game the next day, I would act like Bob Costas commentating on the soccer game. I was the commentator to my own individual play during a game and I made sure to provide the appropriate amount of excitement for all the glorious goals I scored. Of course, with all this being narrated in my imagination, I scored four goals a game and my team was by far the greatest group to ever grace the pitch. Now, commentating on a sports event may seem rather tame, but I would also play commentator to the more mundane details of my life. I would lie in bed and dictate the script of my life with fervor and dedication. Yea, it’s a bit narcissistic. This third person thinking relates to the way some of history’s most famous athletes and artists talk about and create different images for themselves.
Muhammad Ali is one of the most charismatic orators of the 20th century. He was able to infuse his speeches with arrogance, passion and comedy all the while slyly disrespecting his opponent. His ability to orate, combined with his freakishly fast hands helped make him the most well known boxer in history (George Foreman may be up there also, but he is more famous for bringing the BBQ indoors than for being a great boxer –wait that guy used to be a boxer?). Alie was probably as arrogant and confident as any man alive, once saying, "When you are as great as I am it is hard to be humble," or, "if you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize," and lastly "I am the greatest, I said that before I knew I was." As self-promoting as this man was, he was brilliant and renowned for his boxing ability and even if he doesn't meet the standard of talking about himself in the third person he certainly attained the arrogance and self-righteous rhetoric to be included in this blog.
Next are Rickey Henderson and Shaquille O'Neal. The best lead-off hitter in baseball history and, arguably, the greatest basketball center ever. Henderson and O'Neal are infamous for speaking about themselves in the third person. Ricky felt under-appreciated by the media so he wanted build his reputation by hyping himself up, while Shaq is the epitome of an entertainer. Henderson once called the San Diego Padres' General Manger Kevin Towers and left a message saying, "Hey Kevin it’s Ricky. Ricky needs to talk to you. Call Ricky back." Initially, he referenced himself in the first person, but decided to finish the voicemail with two third person comments for the sake of affirming his greatness.
A better example than Ricky is Shaquille O’neal. Not only is Shaq funny and likeable while speaking about himself in the third person, but he has given himself multiple nicknames. His most popular nickname is The Diesel and being 7'1" and 325 pounds he can call himself whatever he wants. When a reporter questioned his leadership and control of the Lakers Shaq responded with, "Yep, it's my team. You [media] guys might give it to him (speaking of another player), like you've given him everything else his whole lifetime, but this is the Diesel's ship." And when a reporter questioned Shaq's credibility he responded with, "Shaquille O'Neal has always been one to speak the truth." Shaq is a self-purported sage and enjoys basketball as much as having a familiar reporter’s tape recorder stuck in his face. His ability to speak contributes to his fame and popularity and while some may argue that his antics are egocentric and ostentatious, he is just a gentle giant. Henderson and O'Neal both deserve the extensive accolades they have received and these honors grant them the respect to make their own nicknames and refer to themselves in the third person as separate and distinguished entities. Spider-man once said, "with great power comes great responsibility," but I think more importantly, with great talent and skill comes great nicknames. Furthermore, two incredible music artists have taken the opportunity success gives them to create a nickname, brand and title surrounding their music.
Prince has blessed us with the hits Red Corvette, 1999, Purple Rain, I Wanna Be Your Lover and When Doves Cry. It is very likely that one of these songs is forever intertwined with a particular moment in all of our lives. As an enigma, Prince quickly shines and then fades from the spotlight with his androgynous fashion and perpetually evolving music. His eccentric behavior probably peaked when he held a press conference - with the world 'slave' written on his face – to announce that he would not longer be called Prince, which is his birth name. He wanted to be called 'the artist’ and be recognized by a design he called the 'love symbol' or be referred to as 'the artist formerly known as Prince.' He claimed Warner Bros. stole his name and used it as a trademark to sell music, thus he needed a new name and designation. He was doing the opposite of Shaq. Prince was erasing any name or title that could be used to exploit him as a commodity. Yet it is a bold move to claim to be 'the artist' as if he were the one and only significant artist in the world. Also to be as known as a symbol is to ask to be seen as something very significant and important. When I asked my roommate for something represented by a symbol and how he feels about Prince wanting to be known as a symbol he responded with, "Prince is an idiot and an eagle is a symbol for the United States, the Confederate flag for slavery or a noose for segregation and the KKK, I guess??? Stop asking me hard questions I have to put away my groceries," and then he left. Symbols represent greater ideas and concepts and I am not so sure we can use it in reference to a successful music artist. Prince is practically asking to be nameless and names are how we recognize and define objects or feelings, and without a name he might fade into the ether.
Jay-Z is another example of a self-serving and proud man who realized early-on that no one else was going to promote for him like he could. Jay-Z dotes himself in almost every song he writes and has claimed, "I'm the greatest rapper alive." But his love for himself is most apparent in his song ‘H to the Izzo,’ which starts with Jay-Z declaring, "I'm the eighth wonder of the world.” The song continues with the lyrics, “H to the izz-O…V to the izz-A…,” which has been analyzed to mean he is some sort of messiah because of the H-O-V-A spelling. By naming himself Jay-HOVA, Jay-Z is basically saying he is the god of rapping??? The last point on Jay-Z, in another of his songs he says, "I am not be a businessman, I am a business, man," which is pompous, but fairly accurate considering his record company, clothing line and other successful business ventures.
The extreme levels of success these individuals achieve create a unique life experience that us common folk could hardly imagine. Most of the egos of these cultural icons are so bloated that could use some Beano, but I suppose that is fairly natural when someone like Jay-Z and Shaq fulfill such surreal dreams. From talking about themselves in the third person to offering us multiple nicknames, these stars seem a bit narcissistic, but certainly not schizophrenic.
P.S. - Britney Spears was deleted from the blog because she completely contradicted my closing sentence and I liked the sentence more than her presence in this post.
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