A Diamond Cage: I Got You Babe

[keirsey]

“Before there was Brittany and Madonna, there was Cher.” -- Gene Simmons (of KISS)

With a career lasting over 40 years and showing no signs of abating, Cher is an enduring pop culture icon and one of the most popular and biggest-selling artists in music history.

So how did this shy but ambitious teenager, a high school dropout, once one of Warren Beatty’s uncountable hook-ups, become The Diva of Rock? --- How – It was combination of: Sonny Bono, her unique deep contralto voice, her exotic beauty, and her Composer Artisan personality.

For better or worse, I never plan my life. I focus on today. I love spontaneity. That is what has put me in some strange and wonderful places in my life. -- Cher

She wasn’t interested in singing; she wanted to be an actress. But when she, at 17, drifted into Sonny Bono’s life – Sonny knew what to do. He could recognize singing talent and had a driving need to write songs – and most importantly -- he knew how to Promote: he was a Promoter Artisan. Wiggling himself into the Los Angeles music scene, he had paid his dues as a gofer and backup singer for Phil Spector’s record company. He knew Cherilyn Sarkissian was his ticket. He saw her talent when she and everybody else didn’t.

This dyad of a Promoter Artisan and a Composer Artisan, in this case, created a enduring phenomena that was part of American pop culture.


Sonny Bono had been hustling his songs in LA music scene for a couple of years, and soon was pushing his girlfriend to sing, having her start as a session and backup singer for Spector’s “wall of sound” recordings. Continuing with his songwriting, Sonny finally wrote the smash hit, I Got You Babe, which launched Sonny & Cher into the stratosphere of fame in Rock music in the early 60’s. Cher shined as a unique voice, which everybody loved and instantly recognized. Sonny created more hit songs. The Beat Goes On.

They were big -- very big – huge -- for a couple of years, but fame is fleeting in the entertainment industry. After some disasters in movie productions that Sonny initiated, there was a point where they were broke again, making Sonny to scramble to just keep up appearances. Sonny had to reinvent Sonny & Cher by creating a themselves as a comedy team: in effect a old time vaudeville team. He, the straight man, and her, the smart-aleck funny barb-throwing comedienne. Sonny was in charge of everything, Cher followed along. They honed their shtick in Las Vegas.

Their success was even bigger this time. CBS noticed and picked up their act, and Sonny created and ran the Sonny & Cher TV variety show. Cher went along as usual.

But Sonny was busy, working hard to keep on top -- he was everywhere – working all the time. Working while on vacation. By the third year of the Sonny & Cher show, Cher had had it. She felt like a prisoner. Sonny was telling her what to do, all the time. This had not changed since she wandered into Sonny’s life, but she was not having fun anymore. She was in a diamond cage.

Artisans do not like to be controlled, if they are not having fun. To quote Please Understand Me II, “To be happy and productive they [Composers] must choose free, variable actions and be rewarded for doing them.” Cher rebelled against Sonny’s control. They separated and the show was shattered. No longer in her cage, she felt free and happy. She married Greg Allman, a petal-to-the-metal, drug addicted rock star two days after her divorce. She had a child with Allman, but she divorced two years later because Allman was so impulsive and unreliable, even Cher couldn’t handle it. As Stephen Montgomery put it in People Patterns – “… If pressured, however, Artisans will sometimes simply walk from a relationship, asserting their freedom with few regrets.”

Sonny could not recover professionally from the split, his fame could not keep him in the entertainment business. He struggled for awhile, but eventually he switched to politics, being successful in that, until his tragic death.

Cher continued to be very successful, using her unique and distinctive singing voice and her outfits that pushed the envelop of social acceptability of the culture, but her fans loved. And she developed her acting talent, winning the Best Actress Oscar. She has been wandering through male relationships, ever since, never really settling down. When Sonny died in 1998, she realized what she missed and gave an unforgettable eulogy, noting that she wouldn’t have become “Cher” without him. She said of Sonny as “the most unforgettable character I've ever met.” Luckily, she probably has a few bits of diamonds from that shattered diamond cage.

[keirsey]

I have been using the dyad metaphor for many years as an interesting way to do analysis of human action and understanding temperament. The Disneys are another example I have blogged about on PersonalityZone, previously. In Brains and Careers, with the underlying basis of Temperament, tries to look more at Role Playing, which helps in this analysis process. Regarding non-temperament factors (gender, culture, and social evolution) there are numerous books, that give good insight to this ever increasing complex area of human action. Let me do the thing I do best, recommend a few of the books I have read in the general subject. Group dynamics is another important aspect, that is why I have always recommended The Nurture Assumption as an important book to read. The depressing and horrible book that is one of the most important books on my list is Why Criminals Kill, by Richard Rhoades. Rhoades recounts Lonnie Athens work on “violentization” a special form of socialization, a key aspect in forming the Self. That work needs generalization and overlaying of Temperament, but even that missing it is a great, if not very depressing look at the world. Other works to name a few: Mind of the Market by Michael Shermer, The Descent of Woman, by Elaine Morgan, The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond, The User Illusion, by Tor Norretrander.

[Goodrum]

Thanks for that very interesting list of books, I will hunt them down, sound good to me.

[jsx1000ny]

When you give reading recommendations, should readers take that as your endorsement that the book's view is more or less correct on the subject?

I've already read two books of the books you've recommended: Nurture Assumption and Why Criminals Kill.

I'm wary about taking them as "correct." One reason is because the two above have been controversial, as you know.

For instance, as to Nurture Assumption, people like T. Berry Brazelton, the well-known Harvard academic and pediatrician, is on record calling it "a silly book." Brazelton says nurture obviously has an important role in establishing the "secure attachment" of well-adjusted children.

As to Why Criminals Kill, there is a body of very politically incorrect thought that argues traits like hostility, anger, and a predisposition towards violence, the genetic component has a large role.

[keirsey]

In recommending books, I do think that the books I recommend have something really important to say. On the other hand, all books have flaws -- are incomplete in their understanding of human action, or more properly have “missing parts”. Nevertheless, the two books that you read, Nurture Assumption and Why Criminals Kill have several things important to say. Clearly, if you read those two, or the others I recommend, they don’t have a good sense of Temperament, which is shame – but understandable. Only my father’s books have a good understanding of Temperament.

Harris’ book Nurture Assumption, emphasizes THAT BOTH “inborn” (characteristics –she doesn’t know temperament) and “environment” (social context) matter. I love Brazelton, a modern day Dr. Spock, but to call the Nurture Assumption as “silly” obviously misses her point. Yes, her book was controversial, but my father’s books are also ignored -- mostly by academic psychologists. Her analysis of social groups and that peer groups matter in the development of the individual is groundbreaking. Her trashing of much of the psychological research is justified – it is mostly junk.

Yes, Rhodes’ book, is also controversial. And yes it is mostly about violence – it is not a pleasant book to read. I would not say that it says that violent behavior is "largely" genetic, but it does deny that violent behavior is purely social. Here is what is lacking -- Athens, like Harris, doesn't know Temperament. He and Harris have a simple, but essentially correct view, "inborn" -- "genetic" -- in my father terms "Temperament" does matter. The Blank Slate metaphor is WRONG. Badly wrong. Skinner and Watson did us a great disservice.

Moreover, Lonnie Athens’ concept “The Self as a Soliloquy” is extremely important. As my father would say “self talk” – we all talk to ourselves constantly, more than we do to other people. What we “say”—our dialog with ourselves to ourselves is important. The process of “Violentization” is a particular form of “socialization” gives us (or let say this, it gave me) a clearer view of the development of the individual. One has to generalize to socialization -- "a more normal form of development of the individual," because it is not in the book. There needs to be a lot of work to be done in this regard. The understanding of Temperament is not in the book – a shame. Nevertheless, Rhodes book, adds the history of Lonnie Athens ideas and why – looking at Lonnie Athens (himself), Athens’ father, mother, grandfather, brother from a Temperament point of view should make things clear. Their temperaments are clear. It is true that maybe I got a great deal out of it, and maybe others can’t, because I know my father’s ideas about madness and I know about Artisan’s forms of madness (like Athens’ father).

Lastly, The Descent of Woman, by Elaine Morgan is another – non-mainstream book. The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis is NOT accepted by those bone people (academic anthropologists) – why -- kind of puzzles me. But I, am not, a rabid feminist as Morgan portrays herself – but her logic and evidence is pretty much impeccable. And understanding the evolutionary aspects of mankind, particularly social behavior is one of the keys to understanding human action.

By the by, I have a tad few books that I read, and could recommend more.

When I have some money – I buy books. If I have any money left, I buy food and clothes. --Erasmus

[The Grey Badger]

The Aquatic Ape theory makes so much sense to me I marvel that the bone people have dismissed it. I can see the evidence for the aquatic adaptation in my own body! And that of the people around me. Plus - what is the one form of recreation everyone is willing to pay money for? Not cross-country racing through the grasslands. No. But going to the swimming pool. Even the poorest municipalities try to have one.

There's another Morgan book which actually pinpoints the time and place a bunch of chimps were stranded on an island that slowly dried out, and then walked back to the African mainland. To my dismay, I'm not finding it on my shelves right now. (Someone rearranged my stuff several months ago.) But you can google for it.

Pat

[jsx1000ny]

David -

Interesting. I'm going to reread Nurture and Why Criminals Kill with your thoughts in mind.

I'm a younger man, and my experience is that, intellectually, it can get bewildering as a younger man to try to form a general foundation of "what is true," with so much information, and contradictory information, contradictory evidence out there.

Some writers are outright ignored. You mention your father. In the same vein, I recently read Kretschmer and Dewey, and these were small revelations. Somehow, both were completely ignored by my professors in college. And this was a formal education that I paid tens of thousands of dollars for in student loans!

[keirsey]

it can get bewildering as a younger man to try to form a general foundation of "what is true," with so much information, and contradictory information, contradictory evidence out there.

My formal training was Information and Computer Science, but my father and I have been "arguing" (as Architect Rationals are wont to do) about everything. I have recently educated myself on String Theory and Quantum Gravity, among a few other things. With a formal class in Mathematical Logic and teaching the theories of computation, my understanding of "Truth" is rather sophisticated, such that I can appreciate -- Vilfredo Pareto's quote -- "Give me a fruitful error any time, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truth for yourself."

[keirsey]

The reason for no Rational Pygmalion Project book is complicated and not particularly explanable other than Steve Montgomery has not written it and it doesn't seem that he will ever get to it anytime soon.

[The Grey Badger]

The reason for no Rational Pygmalion Project book is complicated and not particularly explanable other than Steve Montgomery has not written it and it doesn't seem that he will ever get to it anytime soon.

Thanks for the information. I have so wanted to read it, but I guess I'll have to give it up. I wonder - is it because he really couldn't get into the characters or really liked them?