OK, I’ll admit it, I’ve been a KISS fan since I was 8 years old. There, I said it. KISS actually changed my life –if it hadn’t been for KISS I never would’ve picked up a guitar and enjoyed the semi-pro rock star days of my late 80’s early 90’s youth. And by all accounts, if not for KISS, you probably wouldn’t be reading the Rational Male since a lot of what my earliest proto-Game experience came from was my youthful indulgences on stage, in the clubs and the social proof that came along with that.
Gene Simmons was never really my favorite of the band (I was much more into Ace), so I didn’t develop an appreciation for his apex Alphaness until KISS had become a music business, show and merchandising juggernaut. In the same vein as the Alpha Buddah, Corey Worthington, Gene is the walking embodiment of the zen-like Alpha essence. Unlike Corey however, Gene possess not only an awareness of his Alpha state, but also a self-affirmed confidence, control and focus in directing that Alpha essence.
So it was an interesting match up when I first listened to this interview of him by Terry Gross of NPR for her show Fresh Air. I’ll let the interview tell the story, but if you are at all familiar with Terry Gross you know she’s a practiced interviewer, a staunch feminist, but not a lesbian (don’t let the look fool you).
A lot of people may think Gene is full of shit. I know he may be just selling stuff, but the way he handles Gross makes for some very entertaining manosphere reading (the audio is available on YouTube if you prefer), and makes me think he’s cooler than I had thought before. It’s a long interview. She calls him “obnoxious” a couple of times, and I’ve never heard her use that word on her show EVER. I think he did get to her, and she just couldn’t deal.
Both Gene and Terry are communicating in their native gender languages, Gene’s being OVERT and Terry’s being COVERT. She starts the interview with a subtle jab at Gene wearing makeup and it being a way of hiding himself. She knows damn well from a previous interview that Gene is a Man who’s well aware of his own value, so she starts with the standard feminized assumption that his bravado is a mask too. Gene’s smart enough to read this and calls her on her shit test. He could’ve pulled some over the top gansta bullshit in offense, but that would only verify Terry’s covert shot at him.
However, rather than let her get to him he counters her and fluidly neg hits her. Gene knows damn well he’d never bang a woman like Terry, yet this is is default response. Notice his comments about her tend to be backhanded compliments. They’re both playing poker; she bluffs, Gene sees her and raises, etc.
Properly conditioned chumps will assume Gene’s an ass hole because he overtly gets the better of her. Our default is always to side with the female, she’s always the victim, but look a little deeper and you’ll see how she deftly shit tests him. Her questions seem innoccuous enough, but remember the context of this interview – each of them knows how the other plays.
I think too many men in this era mistake masculine confidence for arrogance, because they fear that displaying it will risk them being rejected by a woman. They’ve been conditioned to make this association.
No School Like the Old School
This interview is fantastic because it’s a clash between how masculinity was (Gene) and how the feminine imperative expects masculinity to be now (Terry). Just for the record, this is actually the 2nd time Terry has interviewed Gene. I’ll try to find the 1st interview, because it’s equally entertaining. Gene comes off as arrogant, but this is really the result of Terry expecting an aging rock star to have matured somewhat. The problem is Gene was mature long before his time and has been a successful entrepreneur and a positively masculine male for ages. It’s Terry’s masculine expectations and constant exposure to the “new”, declawed, less threatening, masculinity over the past 30 years.
Gene sounds boastful or even rude, but bear in mind, he’s not trying to get a rise from Terry, that’s just how he is. He’s the last of a dying breed – a Man who’s unashamed, and comfortable being a Man. Banging 4,600 women might seem like he should enter some hall of fame, but even if it’s half this number, he’s undoubtedly lived life on his own terms. Terry on the other hand cannot let her hair down (literally) and clings to the New Woman model, expecting Gene to somehow break character and fall in line for her. She’s dissapointed he wont, but the fact is he is for real. So it becomes this clash of old school masculinity vs. new woman expectations of what’s been defined for Terry as what should be masculinity. And after all this, remember, she sought Gene out for this second interview years after the first. If she’d been genuinely offended by Gene’s demeanor I doubt she’d have gone back for seconds. My bet is she’ll be back for 3rds.
My brother introduced me to KISS (along with Judas Priest and Iron Maiden) at a very young age. Back when you could buy an LP for .50 cents… the good ol days. Later in life my brother idolized him for his ability to rack up women while maintaining his regular playmate on the side and her accepting it. She accepted being in a harem. Gene is unflappable. He never loses the frame, always maintains calm composure and never reacts.. only responds. He’s a calculating s.o.b. My brother worshiped Gene. “Be like Gene” he’d say. “Gene would not approve” he’d lament.… Read more »
You a Kiss fan? So am I. Gene Simmons is the man!
“You know why I’m pulling your leg…because I can’t touch it from here.”
EPIC!!
Best BDay gift ever was seeing Kiss in 6th grade 1980. Judas Priest was the opening act. First time Gene was raised by cables in the air and sang God of Thunder. Paul was always my favorite, but I loved how Gene treated the dudes on the 1st or 2nd season of The Apprentice. It’s a case study of how to display male dominance in a non-ghetto fashion.
This is OT, but what on earth would possess a woman to get that haircut and those glasses? It’s not like should would be beautiful with long hair and contact lenses, but still. Damn. There’s no reason to enhance your ugliness.
A,
She’s empowered, and not by her looks. At least thats what she thinks.
Kiss, my first concert. I was lucky enough to see them when they were touring wearing their makeup again, too.
Kiss is the worst band of the last forty years and that shameless self promoting jew is the worst example of manhood you could’ve come up with. Overreaching is supposed to be a lamentable necessity due to modern women’s despicable baseness, not something to be delighted about. It’s a good example of game though, that’s undeniable. It also goes to show that taking game to it’s logical extreme hollows you out and turns you into a caricature. But it’s not surprising that a self important ass with an overinflated ego would champion this kind of rat as an example to… Read more »
This is OT, but what on earth would possess a woman to get that haircut and those glasses? It’s called ‘handicapping’. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_principle#Directed_at_members_of_the_same_species She knows she is such a fine specimen of wymynhood that she need not primp, and can actually reduce her attractiveness as a signal to menfolkses that she does not need to make herself attractive in order to attract them, as they surely are attracted, thus proving how attractive she is. “I am empowered wymyn in spite of this ugly haircut and those glasses; hence I am fitter and more attractive than others.” Oh, wow, that was actually… Read more »
My man! Gene played her like a fiddle (or violin for y’all north of the Mason-Dixon Line). I bet after that interview was over, she had to excuse herself from wherever she taped it from, and go home and change panties. His philosophy, and his demeanor was pitch perfect Alpha. The rest of you can moon over when you saw KISS- and where- but as for me, the lesson here was how a guy 3000 miles away from the woman he was talking to could make her hamster go into overdrive. Excellent analysis, Rollo.
I just watched the 3 videos, part 1,2,3 – that is the funniest shit ever, I really don’t think she was expecting him to be so blatantly honest, I loved it, the art of being direct and to smile while doing it 🙂
People ask for honesty all the time but when you give it to them, they look at you like you’re crazy, “excuse me sir but I think you’re talking to us with your inner monologue, could you please switch back over to your outer monologue so that we can tolerate what you are saying?”
Kids In Satan’s Service!
Part 3 the last 2:30…red pill wisdom to the max.
What’s great about this is Simmons owns what’s true and flattens what’s false. Does it matter that he wore makeup but not fishnet stockings? But because it’s Gene’s world, he’s putting his foot down: “Fire your researcher.” Yeah I wore makeup and here’s why. I’d never wear fishnet stockings. He owns the truth and he makes his own rules.
This is a bit of a tangent, but it would be interesting to explore if/how Gene’s heritage and culture had something to do with his development into a natural alpha. Though he was raised largely in the US, he was born in Israel to 1st-generation Israelis (immigrant survivors of the Holocaust) and lived there as a boy throughout most of the 1950s. Israeli women whom I’ve met and dated have all commented on how most other men just don’t measure up in comparison. The idea is that life amidst constant violence (or at least the possibility of such) has hardened… Read more »
I read the interview in the link you provided and I look forward to listening to it later. Yeah, this is a brilliant example of feminist imperative condtioning running full speed into a solid wall of man-frame. That was indeed an unrelenting shit-test. I couldn’t believe she had the tenacity to keep it going the entire time. Gene’s restraint here is admirable. There was a time not too long ago when I would have laughed Gene off as the asshole, but it really is Terry Gross who comes off as sad and pathetic here. Darn red pill just turns everything… Read more »
at 7:55 “Why is it shtick?” Exactly. It’s called being a real man. It’s called having alpha sincerity and not cowering to the feminist agenda that a man should be ashamed for having a cock.
part 2 6:20 “no, but neither is what you”. gene simmons is kicking her ass.
Gene’s being alpha here, but to be frank, he’s also being what Gross said: a drag. There’s no law that says that the most alpha guy makes the best interview, since in that cast every slung tribal chief from the jungle would be worth listening to on NPR. Gene’s being alpha and he’s also being boring. And honestly, beyond a certain point, women want to *feel* a guy’s confidence and virility rather than it being delivered in a lecture. They want to be drilled by your cock, not by your speeches. I would also add that Gene’s pride about his… Read more »
I saw Kiss a month or so ago. Great show. After seeing that show I understand what he said about “its the Brand, not the Band”. Seeing Paul smash his guitar at the end of the show was like being in a Colosseum.
Just for the record, I think Terry Gross is an otherwise phenomenal interviewer. I’ve heard her interview political figures, authors, musicians, actors, religious people, etc. and she really knows how to get the most out of people. This is why the Simmons interview is such a significant event relative to the feminine imperative and gender relations in general. If you look at Terry’s wikipedia page, this interview is the first controversy listed. Her intent in the interview wasn’t about extracting anything insightful about Gene, but rather to take him down a notch. I’d say that certainly backfired on her, but… Read more »
part 3 8:50 “and i’d like to think that the boring lady who is talking to me right now is a lot sexier and interesting” at a party. hell yeah GS.
@rollo “That’s how fucking important it was to her; she would push all she’s built, all she has a talent for, aside to plant the flag of the feminine imperative on an apex Alpha.” well said. yeah all she wanted to do was embarrass him by talking about the makeup, fishnets, 4600 lays, his mom’s opinion of him, his jewish heritage — she was just trying to humiliate him, unmask him, expose him, and frame him as a stupid, ridiculous old dinosaur. instead, *she* is the one who came off as an uptight, angry, joyless, out of touch academic. she… Read more »
@wilf
“it really is Terry Gross who comes off as sad and pathetic here.”
yeah.
@rollo
“he’s undoubtedly lived life on his own terms.”
great analysis. great post.
“excuse me sir but I think you’re talking to us with your inner monologue, could you please switch back over to your outer monologue so that we can tolerate what you are saying?” He he. And to be socialized within polite society is to have the outer monologue comfortable to women. That’s what defines civility – how comfortable the ladies are with it. “Watch your mouth. There are ladies present!” So even the guys style is not to your liking, there is a refreshing air of masculine frankness about him. He’s not trying to be civil, and that in itself… Read more »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Gross
“Gross has won praise over the years for her low-key and friendly interview style”
haha only if the interviewee plays by her rules.
if he doesn’t, she gets all judgemental and indirectly hostile.
“Gross wrote in the introduction to ‘All I Did Was Ask’ that she is sometimes asked whether she is a lesbian, due to the number of Fresh Air guests from the entertainment industry.”
how about due to the fact that she looks like a lesbian.
Actually my degrees are in fine art and behavioral psych, but that’ll only make you more apoplectic
Lol, yeah, you’re a serious thinker (TM)!
4:40 “my job is to create a comfort zone where the guest will feel safe”
what a hypocrite.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/406904/january-25-2012/terry-gross
There’s an old Terry Gross interview with Burt Reynolds where she just cat-claws him for turning into such a macho stereotype. You could almost hear her thinking “damn, you were so good looking, why couldn’t you take your career seriously?”
Hehe, at times the interview sounded like me and a middle-aged (or even only of my age) slob battling it out yesterday at a checkout counter. After reading Mark Minter’s first epic comment on the prev. post in a bus shortly beforehand, I was primed for a slight dig at this nice lady who after having paid returned to the counter (there had been one more customer between us) to have some more lottery tickets to be checked for any winnings as she “forgot to check” those the first time. As the checking got prolonged I dryly reminded that there… Read more »
If anything this commentary applies with lots more force to their first encounter, when they were really taking each other’s measure. For one brief moment in that first show Gene’s facade cracks ever so slightly when he senses she’s genuinely upset, chuckling uncomfortably after asking her “C’mon, you’re having fun here, aren’t you?” But that interview was so popular – generating so much reaction pro and con it’s been rerun a few times – that this had to happen again. This time each knows exactly what the other is going to do, they stick to their assigned roles, like kabuki.… Read more »
It’s good to be king.
Film at 11.
I’ll just be devils advocate here. I like a lot of what he said and I agree, her first question was to take him down a notch. Pretty lame and telegraphed. But I don’t think you have to brag about how much money you make and how many women you bag to be alpha. In fact, some would think that the very fact that he was bragging about that was an indication of his smallness. However, the unreasonable confidence toward the end of the interview should be heard by all men. And, also his feeling everything in this short life… Read more »
Fun interview. I dislike aspects of Gene & KISS but he & they do rock and put on a GREAT show.
Does anyone know when this Gene Simmons interview took place?
That was a good listen, good find Rollo.
Man, she shit tested the fuck out of him and he never waivered or broke frame.
I heard it as honesty and thankfulness. Bragging? In the ear of the beholder.
Classic audio. Have forwarded link to friends.
I’m gaining a new fantasy of completely overwhelming a femcunt with masculinity and curing her of the disease.
The more you experience the world, the more you realize how worthless women are in any area except childbearing.
Being rich and famous may help gain this experience but it is not a prerequisite. Many regular guys are experienced but you don’t hear about them.
Once you have this experience (wisdom), talking to a woman is like talking to a child.
@dillon “talking to a woman is like talking to a child.” that’s exactly the right attitude to take.
Hmm.. Very interesting, and I could feel tension there. He seems to have the same apex illusion a lot of alpha males (and women) have, but that’s expected. And I’m not sure if alcohol makes him gag for real, but it’s a good thing (whether it’s real or he’s faking it), as no woman can later say she was too drunk to consent and screw him over.
Overall, he seems to have a “seize the day” philosophy, like in “Dead Poets Society”, which is good to have.
http://youtu.be/qQtmGcdSDAI
Two blue pill entertainers who sound on the cusp (or in need of) the red pill are Adam Levine and Pat Monahan. It would be a coup to get them turned onto RM as they are influencial enough to affect the mainstream.
calling you out phaggot. anyway you can prove the shit you’re talking about, something from research or studies. or better yet – show me how you apply what you’re writing from your mom’s basement. everyone’s getting trolled hard.
Not a lesbian? My ass. I have an ex who mutated into the exact same kind of short haired, granny glasses wearing androgynous beast. She is now married to a man (her second marriage, I was the rebound in between) but she seems to like chicks just about as much as she likes dudes. We would always compare notes on hot chicks we would see on the street and apparently we even had the same taste in women. “Straight” women don’t do that shit to themselves. Unless they are in denial, that is. Looks like this Terry chick is married… Read more »
I like KISS, but boy is Gene Simmons ugly…
http://thecaptainpower.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-has-dating-changed-since-1990s.html
There is another important lesson that can be learned from Gene Simmons and Kiss:
If you want to be make good money, become a great musician. If you want to become astronomically wealthy, learn how to build an interesting brand and give your fans an exciting show.
What confuses me about her short hair & granny glasses look is the bright red lipstick that she wears with it. I can’t remember which evo. bio/psych book I read it in but a pervading theory is that when early humans went from quadrupeds to bipeds, males weren’t on eye level with female vulva’s so the vulva’s stopped being a sexual display organ (as they still are with baboons). Thus the lips on human faces gradually evolved to be plumper and pinker because randy males selected females with lips that subliminally reminded them of engorged labia. Then for the last… Read more »
Epic fail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
I didn’t realized the pic of the one with glasses was terry gross. I thought it was some 8 year old.
[…] Rational Male – Up The Alpha, Terry ‘s Gene […]
To make sure you fully understand what Rollo is saying in this post, be sure and follow the link “a Man who’s well aware of his own value” which takes you to the Rollo post, “The Threat”
http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/the-threat/
The bad thing about this post is that I had no idea Terry Gross was that homely and I probably will never enjoy “Fresh Air” the same ever again. She is pretty fucking plain looking.
I just listened to the whole interview and I also read this comment from youtube about Gene: ‘if everyone acted like gene life would be hell’. I disagree with this statement vehemently. Throughtout the interview, Gene simply expressed his true opinions in a dignified, confident manner. Why is this a bad thing? I simply don’t understand this. I would say that if everyone acted like gene life would be a hell of a lot better. He acts in a direct overt method of communication befiting a person conformtable with his self and not worring about how his opinion would step… Read more »
Too bad his attitude didn’t transfer over to his feminine son.
1) I use some Gene quotes to frame my open relationships with women. The dude is speaking gold. 2) alpha guys are often hard to interview because interviews are usually bullshit and interviewers are usually putting on their own schtick (like gene said “why are you suddenly talking to me like that?”) Try watching an interview with Marlon Brando sometime haha they’re super hard to get thru and so awkward and painful. But it’s a result of what I just said. there’s a great one where he tells the interviewer that the interviewer is an actor just like he is,… Read more »
Is he an alpha man because he’s a rockartist and fucked lots of woman or reverse? He admits it himself that is why you become a musician…. for the chicks.
There is gold in this interview… pure, pure gold !!
>> Kiss’s popularity is an indicative of when American culture fell in the toilet and started to swirl around the bowl.
I’m not any fan of rock music – but if that’s the way you feel about America…. don’t letthe door kick your ass on the way out.
I couldn’t have agreed more.