How Grimes Represents the Grip Elon Musk Has On Consumers

How Grimes Represents the Grip Elon Musk Has On Consumers

Over the previous decade, Elon Musk has developed a sizable cult following. His work at Tesla, space travel at SpaceX, and neurotech at Neuralink has piqued the interest of geeks all over the world. Not to mention his meme-ing Twitter character has helped to build a cult of personality that will not accept a negative word about Musk or his businesses.

The artist Grimes, on the other hand, was one of his oddest followers. She later became the mother of his baby and partner. Grimes amassed a following base that was diametrically opposed to Musk’s. Grimes built an open and socially progressive following while growing up listening to Nine Inch Nails and the Smashing Pumpkins at school, which was the polar opposite of Musk’s fans.

Grimes was drawn to Elon because of a common joke they both had about an esoteric AI notion. Grimes was raised on Sci-Fi literature like Dune, was interested in AI, but was also known for her eccentric style and personality — evidently shown by shaving her head and quoting Joseph Stalin in her yearbook. So how does someone go from calling themselves a communist to having a child with the richest and arguably most powerful man in the world?

Grimes had always been wealthy growing up but was always one to be rebellious and hang out with the “weirder” kids in school. She was an outcast with very strong leftist political views, which are now seen as highly hypocritical. In response to a fan who demanded she leaves Musk, Grimes responded by saying “I was hard, hard, hard, left before. I still actually sort of am, but there’s the obvious dissonance of my boyfriend. And I think this is the crux of most of the rage.” 

Grimes tends to come to his defense and appears to convince herself that much of what Elon does is reasonable in the context of his ostensibly beneficial deeds. She argues that he’s pushing away from fossil fuels with Tesla, restoring brains with Neuralink, and guiding humanity to space with SpaceX. This may seem admirable, but it’s not hard to see right through her arguments; he doesn’t seem to have great temperament in being a leader.

Musk personally union busted his own factory by threatening those who wanted the right to organize, make conditions better, and have a bigger voice. Yet this is who she’s saying we can trust to save the planet.

It seems like, similar to many people, Grimes has been seduced by the persona and image of Elon Musk. While she knows him personally, nobody can say that Tesla cars are changing the world; they are unaffordable and people can easily buy other electric/hybrid cars that are cheaper and more within reach. So then why are we so convinced that Tesla is single-handedly going to save the planet? 

Elon and his team are public relations experts who know exactly what the public wants to hear. We want to think that his hundreds of billions of riches came from hard labor and ingenuity — which is why he has spent so much time refining his pitch to burnt-out, miserable, and impoverished millennials. He is convincing you that he’s motivated by the greater good of mankind, rather than money or power. This is to convince you that when you are purchasing a Tesla product you feel as though you’re contributing to greatness.

It appears that Grimes loves the idea of Elon Musk being a philanthropist who wants to help humanity. However, what Grimes and many of his fans don’t seem to grasp is the iniquitous depth and political power that comes with having the wealth he has — it makes him untouchable. Keep in mind, we’re talking about the same guy who was celebrating the Bolivian coup. 

And yet, are we supposed to believe that this is the same guy who is a “Tony Stark” visionary? It feels as though Grimes, if she is holding on to her political views, has bought into the cult of Musk right along with most people. 

Ultimately, it’s crucial to comprehend that if Musk can so easily convince the mother of his child he’s a good guy, it’s even easier to convince millions of people of this through a decent PR campaign. That’s why he makes cameo appearances in Rick & Morty and smokes a blunt on Joe Rogan. It’s the reason he’ll tweet whatever it is that people want to hear.

Meanwhile, he’s viscously anti-union, violates labor laws, is guilty of security fraud, keeps his companies alive through government subsidies, is being sued by Germany and Canada for subsidy fraud, lies to his investors, and is guilty of countless other legal and moral injustices. His entire character is a total ruse, and more people continue to believe it.

This is exactly why so many powerful people ranging from celebrities to astronauts are condemning him. Not necessarily because of his aim to commercialize space, but because they know his pursuit is based on lies. They don’t believe him, despite the fact that the majority of the public does. This clearly demonstrates how successfully a smart public relations campaign can persuade anyone of anything. 

As a result, everything begins to fall into place for him: from his deceptions about his life and businesses to court fights and lawsuits, he’s done it all. Musk will never stop rewarding punishing workers and keeping people poor. Most of all selling us the lie that capital must be at the forefront of automation and innovation in order to save the planet — which rears the thought: MAYBE Elon Musk actually isn’t the savior he’s made out to be. Perhaps he isn’t the perfect man Grimes made him up to be.

Musk is a regular guy making billions from deceit, inheritance, manipulation, and cruelty. He’s not a symptom of a sick society, he is the exact reason as to why society is sick.