Enter Courtney Love, an artist that exists largely apart from this hyper-politicized artistic environment which is not to say that the content of her expression isn't politically potent. She as all great artists do implicitly understood the reductive nature of categorization and resisted it at all costs because the fact of the matter remains that the mere expression of her distinct identity and perspective was a political act in and of itself. She need not make note of this fact because rather than say it out loud, she simply lived it out loud, in a way that only Courtney Love could.
Both a recording artist and actress the dynamic fact of her artistry has long since been established, however the variety and gleeful irreverence of her perspective remain unmatched in the annals of popular music. As the lead singer of the alternative rock band Hole Courtney alternately rejected and embraced traditional female roles and representations. As she proclaimed herself both a willing and unwilling mother within the span of her twelve track magnum opus, 1994's Live Through This. Additional to this she also rejected categorization as a "feminist" on the track I Think That I Would Die, this proclamation and others like it demonstrate her sole possession of her creative output as she is fiercely independent of mind and absolutely unwilling to allow a special interest group the opportunity to hijack her platform and turn it into a political vehicle driven to only divisive ends. Distinctions such as these delineate her in my mind as an artist for all people and not just catering to women specifically. This fact in particular is something that I always appreciated and came to define the transcendent nature of her artistry in my mind.
Although it is important to note that while she did not cater to female demographics or placate her female contemporaries (most famously punching Kathleen Hanna in the face at Lollapalooza '95) she did detail female issues primarily in her music, addressing subjects of misogyny, rape, and the inequity of the patriarchal structure in her lyrics. Although however sharp her barbs or incisive her aspersions she was never slow to cast a critical glance at her own reflection and subvert her own authority in the most liberating and artistically compelling ways imaginable as she wrote songs in her early career like "Teenage Whore" and "Retard Girl". Courtney's ownership of her flaws and reckoning with her own occasional incompetence made her all the more earnest and credible a commentator on broader social issues as it was clear that she hadn't spared herself by taking accountability for her transgressions. Her sheer appetite for life during a time when it was absolutely taboo for a woman to express her sexual desire and promiscuity so outwardly was surely a revolutionary gesture as her hedonism surely put many of her male contemporaries to shame and thereby destigmatized female sexual conquest to some extent or another.
What is especially palpable about Courtney is her sense of entitlement, a beautiful entitlement that she clearly granted herself. She has given herself creative permission to exist amorphously and assume whatever shape she pleases. In a world where women largely have roles dictated to them Courtney has created her own identity and transcended gender norms by her anarchic expression of self. An identity that is surely derivative of the punk rock of 70's and 80's and doubtlessly owes a debt to rock icon Patti Smith, she stands alone as the only Courtney Love the world has ever known. A painfully human artist in an era of false pop idols she has always seemed beautifully alive to me. The ferocity of her appetite for life and the specificity of her perspective have always been a source of great inspiration to me even given my disagreement with many of her opinions. She remains equally hated by both men and women alike.(another fact of her transcendence) Ultimately her lack of shame and resilience against disapproval are perhaps her most enduring and valuable artistic attributes. Her canon of music amounting to the cumulative sum of a life where it can truly be said that no fucks were given.
- Milan Robinson
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