Sam Smith reveals the death of transgression

Over the weekend a very mediocre British musician by the name of Sam Smith attempted to generate controversy by dancing in satanic garb while performing at the Grammy Awards. Smith, who has declared himself non-binary, sang a song named “Unholy” along with trans performer Kim Petras while dancers with satanic horns, leather lingerie, and whips surrounded the duo on stage.

If you were unaware that the Grammys were broadcast, or that they even exist, you’re in good company. No one cares about these self-congratulatory media spectacles any more, and Smith’s performance was obviously designed as a desperate bid for relevance. In the past, transgression has been an easy way to generate outrage and gain attention for America’s degenerate cultural elites, but the only remarkable thing about Smith’s antics were how lazy, safe, and banal they really were.

The left is a coalition of those who stand to gain from deconstructing Western civilization, and Christianity is one of their favorite targets. Progressives generate pollical power by deconstructing the nation’s heritage, its families, and its values, but they seem most gleeful when they get the opportunity to attack its dominant religion.

Rather than build something of substance by venerating the good, beautiful, and true, the vast majority of leftists' art and culture for many decades has been built entirely on subversion. At first these television shows, movies, and songs had interesting things to say. There were, of course, many instances of hypocrisy and contradictions that early works of this type could examine. But when a cultural movement’s only trick is the deconstruction of the culture that came before it, that movement is living on borrowed time.

Smith’s performance would like to recreate the shocked indignation of old. The kind of scandal that caused outraged parents to rail against the sexually charged performances of Madonna or inspired Tipper Gore to lead a campaign of censorship targeting bands like Motley Crue and Twisted Sister. But those days are far in the rearview mirror. Hollywood, the music industry, academia, and every other major cultural force in America have done nothing but challenge, deconstruct, and transgress these boundaries while building nothing of their own, and frankly, it has become a bloodless and depressing affair.

Madonna herself may have been the poster child for how sad and empty the revolution has become. The aging pop star, who made a name for herself with highly sexualized videos that mocked religion, made a presentation at the awards show honoring those who had picked up her torch of rebellion. The real question is: Rebellion against what? Every cause Madonna championed has now been accepted by corporate America; every attitude about sexuality or religion has been adopted by the public school system. Madonna's face is almost unrecognizable. A weird collection of plastic surgery procedures, undergone in an attempt to stay young and relevant, have left the artist looking like a caricature. A musician who once relied on youth, beauty, and subversion now desperately tries to stay relevant and edgy by pushing a revolution that became mainstream and boring many decades ago: a perfect reflection of the pop culture complex in its entirety.

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