Originally Posted by
Sutekh
Sure but going on the current/latterday perceptions of the two guys... I mean Reznor might have been a hardass at work but that's different to being violent - he never gave anyone a hiding (when I say Lennon battered people I don't mean the rumours of spousal abuse - he decked the cavern club DJ and a few others, Lemmy talks about how hard they all were in his book). The last part of what you say seems to agree with what I'm saying - behind the facade lie a pretty dark and broken guy
Perception is tricky and if people incorrectly perceived Lennon to be some enlightened, messianic type then it is correct that he can hardly be blamed for that - however from my perspective it does appear that he attempted to present himself as an agitator for peace and social justice - he was involved in a fair bit of activism and wrote a few protest songs - this is why Nixon kept trying and trying to have him deported... he really was becoming a leftist agitator (of sorts)
Then as you say, he was murdered, so who knows. But ultimately the popular perceptions of these two guys is in a lot of ways at odds with the reality of who they are/were. I wouldn't say it was reaching to say people see Lennon as a hippy man of peace and Reznor as an angry goth
Reznor doesn't have the scrutiny applied to him that Lennon did, but let's be real - TR is not a fighter and never has been (doesn't matter if the spotlight is narrower, he's big enough that if he'd beat someone up they would have a story they could sell - it's not wide the spotlight is so much as how willing the person is to sell their story), and he kicked drugs when he was 34/35, whereas Lennon died at 40 having never managed it
Sean says he was never the stay at home dad, whereas we know TR took a few years off, takes his kids on tour etc. We don't know that much but I don't think that means we have to ignore what we do know
Ultimately I think it still rings true that one seems like a nicer bloke than the other