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Posted 1/15/2003 10:36 PM  

Arrest has Townshend fans searching for clues, too
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

Since Pete Townshend was arrested Monday on suspicion
of harboring sexual images of children, his fans,
media insiders and even psychologists have found
themselves re-examining his work.

For nearly 40 years, Townshend has cultivated a
reputation, as principal songwriter for The Who and as
a solo artist, for writing probing lyrics that don't
evade disturbing subjects. But when the rock star
admitted to police that he had visited child-porn Web
sites  activity Townshend says was research for an
autobiography, precipitated by discovering he had been
sexually abused as a child  some were tempted to take
a second, harder look at his more provocative
material. 

"There's an idea that important rock artists are not
just making art, but also tapping into an element of
themselves," says Chuck Klosterman, a writer at Spin.
"So when someone who has made a lot of personal
records makes a mistake, it's almost impossible not to
re-examine the work."

But is such revisionist analysis fair? Even putting
aside the fundamental need to distinguish between an
artist and his art, which has been cited in defending
button-pushers from Shakespeare to Marilyn Manson,
viewing creative expression entirely through the lens
of experience that comes to light after the fact can
be tricky. Klosterman recalls that after Nirvana
frontman Kurt Cobain killed himself, many went back to
Nirvana's single All Apologies "and decided it was a
suicide note. People said, 'Look, he's saying he
doesn't want to live anymore.' Well, no one had said
that when he was alive."

Klosterman notes that The Who song Pictures of Lily,
"which is basically about a father giving his son
pornography and teaching him how to masturbate so he
can sleep better, has always been seen as interesting
and progressive for its time. Now, all of a sudden
it's seen as weird and creepy."

Many now re-exploring Townshend's lyrics have pointed
specifically to The Who's 1969 rock opera Tommy, which
focuses on a deaf, dumb and blind boy who is molested
by his uncle. Ivy Helstein, a psychotherapist and
author, feels that creating such a character was
likely cathartic for Townshend.

"It's interesting that Tommy is deaf, dumb and blind,"
says Helstein, suggesting these traits may signify
Townshend's own alleged abuse "was something he wasn't
supposed to have noticed or remembered. And yet (he)
seems to need to keep coming back to that experience
in some way."

Veteran rock writer and Who biographer Dave Marsh
concedes that Helstein may not be completely off base.
"Yes, Tommy reflects an interest in this issue, and
other things Pete has written have made passing
references to it," says Marsh. "But what they reflect
is not great delight but great torment.

"Pete's been a great friend for more than 30 years,"
Marsh adds. "But how we really became friends was I
was writing from the point of view of someone who had
been abused in a different way, who was a battered
child. His records helped save my life. And if people
are going to start interpreting his work in light of
various things, we ought to make sure that light
shines in all the places it ought to, not just in the
most scandalous places. This is not a guy who's about
hurting people."

Andy Pemberton, editor of music magazine Blender,
feels that the music community, at least, isn't likely
to condemn Townshend without more concrete and damning
evidence against him. "I don't think there's any bad
will against him, and people won't jump to
conclusions," says Pemberton. 

But Marsh, while allowing that Townshend's online
"research" was "not a wise thing to have done,"
worries about its long-term fallout, for both the
rocker and Marsh's own industry.

"Yes, the cops had a right and an obligation to look
into this," Marsh says. "But that isn't what happened.
They took somebody and dragged him through as much mud
as they could dig up. This is basically about
criminalizing investigative behavior  saying, 'You're
not allowed to investigate certain things.' And any
journalist who doesn't feel threatened by that is not
paying attention."


=====
-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
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