But the clues are out there, and there are many. The answer to such questions - like the man - is complex. Was John Lennon a mean bastard? A foolish prankster? An aggressive sex-fiend? A musical tyrant? A drug abuser? A gay man? Still, the myths persist and the rumors swirl. All the while their fantasy expectations blind them from seeing - or even seeking - the real deal.įew have allowed us to see the real deal so well as John Lennon. They overanalyze facts just as quickly as they conveniently omit them.
The worshippers, in their zeal to idealize or crucify, forget the fact that their idol is a real human being just like themselves. Yet the burden of the famous is the sense of hero-worship that exists outside their control. Perhaps he knew that the vulnerability he exposed endeared him to anyone who experienced similar miscues in their own lives. John may have feared the dangers of entertaining people in public, but he was fearless in allowing the world to witness his strengths and his weaknesses. But in his case, the public persona wasn’t far removed from the private person, a rare thing at that level of fame. The life of John Lennon was a duality: the private man and the public personality. To that end, legends persist, myths remain, and clarity is a rare commodity. The analysis of his life and times matches the sort of detailed scrutiny usually reserved for the careers of world leaders. From his early days to the afterlife of the 1980 tragedy, perhaps no human being in the contemporary culture has been written and talked about more than John Lennon.