Heart of Gold

Courtney Love

By Priscilla Becker

This article appeared in the April 12, 2004 edition of The Nation.

March 25, 2004

Courtney Love's new record is called America's Sweetheart. Take that. It's a name that has been used facetiously by the press to describe her. By wearing it as a badge of pride, she seeks to assume the name and at the same time spit it back--the modern way of sapping all the power from a hurtful phrase.

This is just the type of aggressive solipsism we've come to expect from her.

It seems a little late for this sort of irony, however. The title is meant to provoke a reaction--the MO of Love's career--a little controversy, some notice. Unlikely, since we've heard this kind of cry for attention from her time and again. In the event of a stir, however, it will be a reflexive one. Because the only real response to this title is to cringe.

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About Priscilla Becker

Priscilla Becker is a musician and writer whose book of poems, Internal West, won the Paris Review's book prize and was published in 2001 by Zoo Press. She teaches poetry, fiction and drama at Columbia and writes record reviews for Tracks magazine. more...
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