The album's plot is a "parable"[29] that takes place in a thinly-veiled satire of modern America called 'Holy Wood', which Manson has described as "very much like Disney World [...] I thought of how interesting it would be if we created an entire city that was an amusement park, and the thing we were being amused by was violence and sex and everything that people really want to see."[2][52] Its literary foil is 'Death Valley', which is used as "a metaphor for the outcast and the imperfect of the world."[29][53][34]
The central character is its ill-fated protagonist "Adam Kadmon",[1][27][54] an idealized abstract figure borrowed from the Kabbalah in which he is described as the "Primal Man" or, in the similar Sufic and Alevi philosophy, "Perfect or Complete Man"—the very archetype for humanity.[27] He undertakes a journey, similar to the protagonist in German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra as well as Biblical parables, out of Death Valley and into Holy Wood.[53] Idealistic naïveté entreats him to attempt a subversive revolution through music.[53]
He becomes disenchanted, however, as his revolution is consumed by Holy Wood's ideology of 'Guns, God and Government' and co-opted into their culture of death and fame where celebrity-worship, violence and scapegoatism are held as the moral values of a religion rooted in martyrdom.[29][2][1][54][23] In this religion, dead celebrities are venerated into saints and John F. 'Jack' Kennedy is idolized as the transfigured 'Lamb of God' and modern-day Christ.[29][53][34][55][56][54][3]
This religion is called 'Celebritarianism'[54] and is a deliberate parallel of Christianity to critique both the 'Dead Rock Star' martyr/celebrity phenomenon in American celebrity culture and the role that the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ plays as its very blueprint.[55][29][23][2][57][31][3] The worldwide Guns, God and Government Tour that supported the album expanded on this with the tour's logo—a rifle and handguns arranged to resemble the Christian cross.[58]
The title, "Eat Me, Drink Me", represents a multidimensional group of themes, all of which are relevant to Celebritarianism.[16] There are prevalent concepts in the album: Eucharist, also known as the time of "Thanksgiving", in which Jesus gave his disciples the instruction to eat of his flesh and drink of his blood. This is precisely where the concept of Manson's Celebritarianism originates from; that is, in the view presented by Manson of Christ being the first celebrity and the crucifix being the first piece of merchandise, Celebritarianism is the worship of death and celebrity and is thereby, as the word itself implies, the consuming and devouring of celebrity as taken example from the symbology of the Eucharist.[16]
Notoriously adopted in popular culture by Jefferson Airplane as the rallying cry for the psychedelic generation of the 60's, as most are familiar with it, the following passages of Lewis Carroll's creation, Alice in Wonderland are of notable importance as the title Eat Me, Drink Me is quite literally taken verbatim from the instructions written on the cake and bottle respectively, along with Manson's numerous connections to Carroll via his production of Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll, and Manson's fixation on both Carroll, and his intangible literary creation, Alice, created from the author's own fixation with his child friend Alice Liddell.[16]
Armin Meiwes and Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes, met together after Brandes had responded to an online post by Armin Meiwes, in which Meiwes wrote, "Looking for a well built 18 to 30 year old to be slaughtered".
Brandes and Meiwes met, dismembered Brandes' penis, and consumed it together. It is reported that afterwards Brandes voluntarily consented to his own death, and was killed by Meiwes, who then ate his remains. Originally sentenced to an 8½ year sentence for manslaughter, Meiwes was later charged with murder, and resentenced, this time to life imprisonment.[16]
Directly preceding the album's release followed with numerous connections made to vampires, including the signature goth anthem, "If I Was Your Vampire", and the song "Putting Holes in Happiness" described as "a romantic-misogynistic-cannibal-gothic-vampire ballad.", one can also examine the title of the album, Eat Me, Drink Me, from a vampiristic perspective, in which the flesh is punctured and sustenance is drawn from the blood of the host, quite literally the life source of their being.[16]
In the album, Manson takes on two roles, being a substance addicted glam rocker and a gender ambiguous Alien called Omēga (pronounced oh-mee-gah) who, much like David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, falls down to earth, is captured, placed with a band called The Mechanical Animals and turned into a rock star product. He has become numb to the world, either lost or high in outer space or the Hollywood Hills, through excessive drug use as a coping mechanism with his life as a product of his corporate masters. Manson's other role is that of Alpha who is based on himself and his experiences around the conclusion of the Antichrist Superstar tour/era. Acting as Omēga's foil, Alpha's emotions have only begun seeping back. Vulnerable and trying to relearn how to use them properly, he despairs about how little emotion other people feel, observing them to be "mechanical animals". Both are looking to come back into the world - looking among the mechanical animals for the thing they need to make themselves whole. They call it Coma White, unsure if she is real or simply a drug induced hallucination.[3] Subsequently, seven of the fourteen songs are from the perspective, lyrically and musically, of Omēga and his fictional band The Mechanical Animals, while the other seven are by Alpha (Marilyn Manson). The Omēga songs are typically those most nihilistic and superficial lyrically, such as "The Dope Show", "User Friendly" and "New Model No. 15". The album artwork features a dual liner note book, in which one half has lyrics for the Omēga songs, and when flipped over, has those for the Alpha songs.
The three part storyline begins with the Crowleyean statement "When you are suffering, know that I have betrayed you". The backdrop is set to a landscape of 'victims' (the 'weak'; Nietzsche's 'slaves' in his Master-Slave morality) oppressed by "The Beautiful People" (the 'masters'), a kratocratic plutarchy whose power is, in a double entendre with phallic and religious connotation, "relative to the size of their steeple" and whose authority is Social Darwinism taken to the extreme—they are "justified" by the existence of the weak. Among that populace is an abused and insignificant wretch, the protagonist, called "The Worm",[4] who develop aspirations to become one of the elite. However, he is rejected in as simple terms and after wallowing for a time in sorrow and self-pity concludes to exercise his will to power and seize authority with his own hands. The record proceeds to detail his rise to prominence presented in the metaphor of a worm to angel metamorphosis.
In his rise to power, he fashions himself into a charismatic demagogue and hierophant, the "Little Horn", to proselytize self-determination and self-realization and to usher in a new metanarrative in place of the hitherto reigning ideal. In spite of this, the Little Horn is self-punishing, with self-doubt still lingering from his dejected former self. The people respond to his revolution with adoration and blandishment. Thus, though he is successful in his aims, he is soon disillusioned and begins to despise those very adoring and sycophantic disciples when he comes to the realization that they are not interested in being saved and quite content to remain weak, imitative and oppressed. It's under this intolerable failure that he begins the final stage of his development. Dying in the manner of a caterpillar, the Little Horn rebirths himself under intense pressure, emptying his cocoon of the self-loathing, guilt and abuse that marked the Worm in harrowing fashion, to "get his wings".
Having transcended his lesser nature, all he has left is his bitterness and disenchantment. He has shed his ability to feel empathy for anyone and repurposes his newfound stature and confidence in becoming the penultimate culture war iconoclast, a Nietzschean Übermensch calling himself the "Antichrist Superstar" (or alternatively, "The Disintegrator"), having finally concluded that what the people truly want is what he sought to dispose of. They no longer deserve salvation. In this manner he adopts as his personal insignia the epithet "When you are suffering, know that I have betrayed you" as he lets his scathing vitriol spiral into nihilism and misanthropy, railing against and destroying everything. Spent and disconsolate, the "Minute of Decay" intimates that "I'm on my way down now, I'd like to take you with me. I'm on my way down" as he embarks on a final scorched earth campaign of apocalypse, delivering the condemnation, "your world is an ashtray, we burn and coil like cigarettes [...] it's the nature of the leeches, the virgins [to feel] cheated, you've only spent a second of your life" and contracting the world like the pupil of an eye into the size of a bullethole, "one shot and your world gets smaller". He begins to destroy everyone and everything including himself and his revolution, declaring, "pray your life was just a dream, the cut that never heals [...] the world in my hands, there's no one left to hear you scream [...] no one left for you". As he abrogates everything into nothingness, he begins to understand that "when all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed".[5]
In September 1996, former bassist Gidget Gein negotiated a settlement with Manson where he would receive $17,500 in cash, 20 percent of any royalties paid for recordings and for any songs he had a hand in writing and his share of any other royalties or fees the group earned while he was a member. Furthermore, the settlement allowed him to market himself as a former member of Marilyn Manson. This settlement was not honored, however.[40]
Former guitarist and founding member Scott Putesky (aka Daisy Berkowitz) filed a $15 million lawsuit in a Fort Lauderdale court against the singer, the band and the band's attorney, David Codikow in January 1998 after his forcible departure from the group in the Spring of 1996. Berkowitz claimed he was cheated by the band out of "thousands of dollars in royalties, publishing rights, and performance fees." He also filed an attorney malpractice suit against Codikow, alleging that "Codikow represented Warner's interests more than the band's and that he gave Warner disproportionate control over the band's name, recordings, merchandising, and touring proceeds."[41] By October of that year, the suit had been settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.[42]
In November 30, 1998, a few days after the band accumulated "[a] total [of] more than $25,000" in backstage and hotel room damages during the Poughkeepsie, New York stop of their Mechanical Animals Tour,[43] SPIN editor Craig Marks filed a $24 million lawsuit against Manson and his bodyguards for allegedly assaulting his person and threatening to kill his family. According to Mark's interview with the New York Post, the issue stemmed from Manson's displeasure with the magazine's decision to renege on a promised cover story of the band for their January 1998 cover. According to Marks, the last-minute change was made because Manson's record wasn't "performing." The Post described the editor as "bruised and battered." Manson for his part issued a statement saying, "I had a conversation with Craig Marks expressing I was tired of Spin's immature business behavior and the series of deals they had broken with me. I told him that I didn't care what he prints or whether or not I'm on the cover. I simply no longer wanted to work with him or his magazine that obviously has a lack of respect for musicians and their fans." On February 19, 1999, Manson counter-sued Marks for libel, slander and defamation. The singer was seeking $40 million in reparation, claiming that Marks' statements were false and "were made ... with actual malice, hatred and personal ill will." According to the counter-suit, Marks' allegations have "greatly damaged and injured [Manson's] reputation and standing in the music profession, in the music and entertainment industries, in his community and in the general public, and has been subjected to great shame, humiliation and indignity."[44] As for the Poughkeepsie incident, Manson apologized and offered to make financial restitution.[45][46]
In a civil battery suit, David Diaz, a security officer from a concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 27, 2000, sued for $75,000 in a Minneapolis federal court.[47][48] The federal court jury found in Manson's favor.[49]
In a civil suit presented by Oakland County, Michigan, Manson was charged with sexual misconduct against another security officer, Joshua Keasler, during a concert in Clarkston, Michigan, on July 30, 2001. Oakland County originally filed assault and battery and criminal sexual misconduct charges,[50] but the judge reduced the latter charge to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.[51] Manson pleaded no contest to the reduced charges, paid a $4,000 fine,[52] and later settled the lawsuit under undisclosed terms.[53]
On April 3, 2002, Maria St. John filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Manson of providing her adult daughter, Jennifer Syme, with cocaine and instructing her to drive while under the influence.[54] After attending a party at Manson's house, Syme was given a lift home;[55] Manson claims she was taken home by a designated driver.[54] After she got home she got behind the wheel of her own vehicle and was killed instantly when she crashed it into three parked cars. Manson is reported to have said there were no drugs or alcohol at the party. St. John's lawyer questioned "[if] there were no drinks, no drugs, why would she need a designated driver?"[54] The suit alleged Syme was returning to the party at Manson's request. The case, BC271111, was dismissed on May 29, 2003.[56]
On August 2, 2007, former band member Stephen "Pogo/Madonna Wayne Gacy" Bier filed a lawsuit against Manson for unpaid "partnership proceeds," seeking $20 million in back pay. Several details from the lawsuit leaked to the press.[57][58] In November 2007, additional papers were filed saying that Manson purchased a child's skeleton and masks made of human skin. He also allegedly bought stuffed animals, such as a grizzly bear and two baboons and a collection of Nazi memorabilia.[59] In December 2007, Manson countersued, claiming that Bier failed to fulfill his duties as a bandmember to play for recordings and to promote the band.[60] On December 28, 2009, the suit was settled with an agreement which saw Bier's attorneys being paid a total of $380,000, of which Manson's insurance company paid $175,000, while the remainder was paid by Bier's former business managers, according to Manson's lawyer Howard King.[61]