Tortured artist
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The tortured artist is a stock character and real-life stereotype who is in constant torment due to frustrations with art and other people. Tortured artists feel alienated and misunderstood due to the perceived ignorance or neglect of others who do not understand them and the things they feel are important. They sometimes smoke, experience sexual frustration and recurring heartbreak, and generally appear overwhelmed by their own emotions and inner conflicts. They are often mocked in popular culture for "thinking too much," being quixotic, or coming across as pretentiously adverse to happiness and fun. Other stereotypical traits vary between extremes - from being narcissistic and extroverted to being self-loathing and introverted. Tortured artists are often self-destructive in behavior and are generally associated with mental health issues such as substance abuse, personality disorders, or depression. Tortured artists are often prone to self-mutilation and have a high rate of suicide.
[edit] Examples
- Dante Alighieri
- Syd Barrett
- Jeremiah Clarke
- Kurt Cobain
- Billy Corgan
- Ian Curtis
- Jonathan Davis
- Dead (musician)
- Pete Doherty
- Nick Drake
- Richey Edwards
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Judy Garland
- Vincent Van Gogh
- Ernest Hemingway
- Brian Jones
- Daniel Johnston
- Franz Kafka
- Frida Kahlo
- John Lennon
- Courtney Love
- H. P. Lovecraft
- Marilyn Monroe
- Tameka Norris
- Sylvia Plath
- Michael Jackson
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Robert Schumann
- Elliott Smith
- Robert Smith
- Layne Staley
- Shannon Hoon
- Peter Steele
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Hunter S. Thompson
- John Kennedy Toole
- David Foster Wallace
- Oscar Wilde
- Brian Wilson
- Amy Winehouse
- Virginia Woolf
