Unni Narayanan - The Mystery of Jack White
Unni Narayanan - Jack White has often been praised in the music industry for his authenticity in the way he has a little intrigue in all of his action. However, this façade of an authentic artist is far from the truth. White is really a rock caricature and it really doesn’t fit him. He has consistently gravitated towards bullshit throughout his career with color-coding attire when performing, inventing a brother-sister relationship with his-then wife- Meg White and finding ridiculous ways to package his music. Through all of this posturing it’s clear that White is just as concerned about image and aesthetic as someone like Lady Gaga. These clues show how an artists who is known for many bluesy American music that bucks trends has been able to remain popular for over ten years. White works to construct mystery around his persona. He uses mystery to attract attention to himself, which is really the opposite of mysterious. If you really want to know who is mysterious, look to Jack White’s former partner, Meg White. Meg White is innately mysterious as Jack White’s now estranged former band mate. It seems that Jack is still hung up on her leaving and he spoke pretty publically about the pair stating that Meg was “one of those people who won’t high-five me when I get the touchdown.” A few years ago, Jack White expressed similar feelings to The New York Times Magazine telling them that Meg was indifferent to performing or recording and that she was really in control of what happened to them artistically. However, Meg White left the band in 2011, the same year that Jack’s second wife, Karen Elson left him. He first solo album was released in 2012 and named Blunderbuss and is filled with mentions of distant females and breakups. In the year’s that followed though, it seems that Jack White was more upset about Meg White leaving him professionally than his own personal loss. He said of Meg White and what she brought to the performance of the band that “all the not-talking didn’t matter, because onstage? Nothing I do will top that.” It seems that Jack White may be stunted until he can figure out how to get over losing Meg White.
