what was the true meaning of mr. mcphisto and mirrorball man

[babyman]

i also heard that hold me thrill me kiss me kill me has tightly to do with mr.macphist, in fact we see him in the video, what represented these two characters?

 

[U2girl]

I think Hold me... was released in 1995, which is later than the Zooropa recordings where the song was first created. The song, to me, describes a celebrity's lifestyle and all that comes with it.

Macphisto was designed for European (and Australian, NZ and Japan) audiences because the band thought the character of Mirrorball man wouldn't connect outside of US.

I think Mirrorball man is poking fun of TV evangelists who are more into the money than really spreading faith.
Macphisto is probably the next step from The fly, an old, tired, washed up "star" - interesting, he sometimes makes serious points with phone calls. On a lighter note, it was probably a way for Bono to get out of the earnest, overly serious and preachy 80's image.

 

[babyman]

 

[Katey]

I think if you read the screwtape letters you get an interesting perspective at the alter ego Macphisto.. great book

"the devil .. the prowde spirte.. cannot endure to be mocked"Thomas More

 

[babyman]

i've heard mr. mac phisto represents also a neophyte, but of what?

 

[isabelle_guns]

where can I get that book

 

[Katey]

I'd hate to speculate on Bono's reasoning but in the book it's letters from a senior devil (screwtape) to a junior neophyte wormwood(his nephew).. who has a charge on earth he is tempting.

I might have got some of that very wrong but i think the best guess is Macphisto is like Wormwood.. maybe

the author is C.S Lewis, if your looking for it in the bookstore or online

 

[Roland of Gilead]

"MacPhisto came out of this Fly Goes to Vegas and he's still there 50 years later." - Bono.

"The Mirrorball Man, he's 'the preacher stealing hearts at the travelling show.' He's a cross between a tele-evangelist and a politician/country singer." - Bono.

The Mirrorball Man was dropped for the European-leg of the Zoo-tv tour for fear of Europeans not having a clue what this "American" character was all about.

 

[u2granny]

It's just possible that there is no deep hidden meaning.

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

...interesting, he sometimes makes serious points with phone calls.

can you mention some of those? I would like to know.

 

[GhostranchHills]

Macphisto- the devil as a tired old pop star
mirrorball man- tv evangelist/used car salesman

 

[Earnie Shavers]

It's actually pretty complicated and very clever.
If you read the book "U2 At The End Of The World" you get Bono's explanations of MacPhisto. If you read "The Screwtape Letters" as mentioned above, you get the inspiration.
Also, in the "Hold Me, Thrill Me..." video clip, MacPhisto holds up a copy of The Screwtape Letters.

 

[Axver]

"Mock the devil and he shall flee from thee."

That's the basis of MacPhisto.

 

[U2girl]

can you mention some of those? I would like to know.

For example, he calls the UN on 28 8 1993 (even though I also read somewhere Adam pre-recored the "answering machine" part) or in Italy he called Allesandra Mussolini, saying he was good friends with her grandfather. In Wembley, Macphisto calls Salman Rushdie who then appeared on stage.

 

[starsgoblue]

Here is another post of mine from another thread in Every Artist.... we were reading the Screwtape Letters and discussing The Fly/Macphisto. The Fly is MacPhisto before he's gone too far...here's my ohter post written in that thread:


Ok, so before we dive into the actual book itself I wanted to give some food for thought about the characters The Fly and MacPhisto and thier relations to The Screwtape Letters.

So from reading the first 5 letters, you know that a senior devil named Screwtape is writing to his young nephew named Wormwood in charge of corrupting a soul. Let's look at the name Wormwood... The book of Revelations on the Bible states that one of the signs of the end of the world will be a huge star polluting rivers/springs, notice here in Rev. 8:10-11:
"The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water-- the name of the star is Wormwood."
So it is clear Lewis took the title Wormwood from the Bible....but who else also talks (or sings rather of stars falling from the sky?)--The Fly!

Well ok, but where the heck does the name The Fly come from anyways? The insect fly is considered to be the agent, or assistant of the devil, once attributed to the pagan god Baal in the Bible. Fly's are associated with decay and disease...THE FLY was a display or corruption and egomania. The Fly, in Bono's own words, is "like a phone call from hell...and the guy likes it there". The Fly is an obnoxious, self-centered, potty mouthed, conceited projection of a rock star wrapped into delusion; his head is filled with love of money, glamour, and other worldy things. No thought is given to God or the nature of life.

To tie in The Fly with Screwtape Letters is the idea of corruption and concentration on worldly things. When The Fly was created it was a projection of a rock and roller down the line...someone that has brought thier whole life focus onto 'thier career and image'. The rock n'roll lifestyle becomes central, and fueling the job is excess and greed. Too much is never enough.

In Lewis' introduction to The Screwtape Letters, he writes: "The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid dens of crime {concentration/labour camps}...But it is concieved and ordered...by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth shaven faces who do not need to raise thier voice. Hence my symbol for hell is somehting like the bureaucracy of a police state, or the offices of a throughly nasty business concern"

I found a parallel in a Bono quote from Hot Press Magazine, June '93: "This whole question about the nature of the devil is very important to me. But I don't necessarily see the devil in the kind of darkness most people associate with the devil...for me you see it more in corporate life...Because tthe is a great power people have if nothing will get in their way, if they have no morality, no uncertainty, no doubt. All those things trouble the spirit. This, to me, is where darkness lies."

It is understood that MacPhisto is considered to be The Fly down the line...MacPhisto is The Fly once he has become fully corrupted and doesn't know any other way to live. Corruption worked so through The Fly that MacPhisto's heart has become cold. We'll talk about the nature of MacPhisto next...but for now let's discuss The Fly.

Bono’s Fly doesn’t wear the horns or appear garishly unhuman like MacPhisto because he hasn’t reached any stage of accountability as far as 'evil' goes. He is a glamorous rockstar with a passion for his image, yet he is still earnest in his attempts to conquer the world. Innocence through naivety carries him a long way--- what does his character say about society? About human nature? What was Bono's point? How do you think The Fly's behaviors in concert and video and song relate to Screwtape Letters? Go with it!

 

[Katey]

the other thing I get out of the fly and this comes from screwtape I think is time.... make them believe that they have lots of time.. How little things can turn a man can be a lot of darkness in those .Every waking moment you make a choice ..

 

[starsgoblue]

I also see a big battle between light and darkness, good/evil..... The Fly dresses himself in black because unknowingly he's reaching for the point of total bleakness. MacPhisto has reached that point with aplomb, so much so that he needs to wear gold lame to be able to reflect/gather any light becuase he has reached the point of no return....

 

[babyman]

Here is another post of mine from another thread in Every Artist.... we were reading the Screwtape Letters and discussing The Fly/Macphisto. The Fly is MacPhisto before he's gone too far...here's my ohter post written in that thread:


Ok, so before we dive into the actual book itself I wanted to give some food for thought about the characters The Fly and MacPhisto and thier relations to The Screwtape Letters.

So from reading the first 5 letters, you know that a senior devil named Screwtape is writing to his young nephew named Wormwood in charge of corrupting a soul. Let's look at the name Wormwood... The book of Revelations on the Bible states that one of the signs of the end of the world will be a huge star polluting rivers/springs, notice here in Rev. 8:10-11:
"The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water-- the name of the star is Wormwood."
So it is clear Lewis took the title Wormwood from the Bible....but who else also talks (or sings rather of stars falling from the sky?)--The Fly!

Well ok, but where the heck does the name The Fly come from anyways? The insect fly is considered to be the agent, or assistant of the devil, once attributed to the pagan god Baal in the Bible. Fly's are associated with decay and disease...THE FLY was a display or corruption and egomania. The Fly, in Bono's own words, is "like a phone call from hell...and the guy likes it there". The Fly is an obnoxious, self-centered, potty mouthed, conceited projection of a rock star wrapped into delusion; his head is filled with love of money, glamour, and other worldy things. No thought is given to God or the nature of life.

To tie in The Fly with Screwtape Letters is the idea of corruption and concentration on worldly things. When The Fly was created it was a projection of a rock and roller down the line...someone that has brought thier whole life focus onto 'thier career and image'. The rock n'roll lifestyle becomes central, and fueling the job is excess and greed. Too much is never enough.

In Lewis' introduction to The Screwtape Letters, he writes: "The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid dens of crime {concentration/labour camps}...But it is concieved and ordered...by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth shaven faces who do not need to raise thier voice. Hence my symbol for hell is somehting like the bureaucracy of a police state, or the offices of a throughly nasty business concern"

I found a parallel in a Bono quote from Hot Press Magazine, June '93: "This whole question about the nature of the devil is very important to me. But I don't necessarily see the devil in the kind of darkness most people associate with the devil...for me you see it more in corporate life...Because tthe is a great power people have if nothing will get in their way, if they have no morality, no uncertainty, no doubt. All those things trouble the spirit. This, to me, is where darkness lies."

It is understood that MacPhisto is considered to be The Fly down the line...MacPhisto is The Fly once he has become fully corrupted and doesn't know any other way to live. Corruption worked so through The Fly that MacPhisto's heart has become cold. We'll talk about the nature of MacPhisto next...but for now let's discuss The Fly.

Bono’s Fly doesn’t wear the horns or appear garishly unhuman like MacPhisto because he hasn’t reached any stage of accountability as far as 'evil' goes. He is a glamorous rockstar with a passion for his image, yet he is still earnest in his attempts to conquer the world. Innocence through naivety carries him a long way--- what does his character say about society? About human nature? What was Bono's point? How do you think The Fly's behaviors in concert and video and song relate to Screwtape Letters? Go with it!

wow, i'm out of breathe! great post!