It is tragic and wrong that John Lennon's life was cut short at the age of 40. It is difficult to believe it's been 40 years since that terrible event took place. It is completely understandable to mourn the death of a remarkable, talented man.
At the same time, I'm disturbed by the tendency to speak of John as though he were a saint or a martyr. For one thing, he would have found such talk ridiculous and mocked at it. For another, he was a deeply flawed, broken, complex man. To properly remember him, we have to acknowledge both his achievements and his failures.
John wrote beautiful, introspective songs that were both personal and relatable, both with the Beatles and in his solo career-- everything from wrenching acknowledgements of personal insecurity like "Help!" to tender love ballads like "Woman." He had a one-of-a-kind sense of humor, sometimes acerbic and sometimes nonsensical, which reflected in his stage persona, interviews, writing, and some of his songs such as "I Am the Walrus." He protested war and promoted peace at every chance. And he was undoubtedly a good father to his son Sean, tenderly caring for him every day until his death.
However, John had an undeniable dark and ugly side to him, some of which no doubt arose from the traumas of his childhood. He physically abused his first wife Cynthia on at least one occasion, was repeatedly unfaithful to her, and finally cut both her and his son Julian out of his life. I find John's treatment of Julian especially troubling and difficult since he himself had experienced parental abandonment and should have realized how much pain he was causing for his son. John used pot and LSD heavily, probably the most out of the Beatles, and also abused heroin for a time. He could be bitter, cruel, and nasty, lashing out at others. And while he claimed Yoko Ono was the love of his life, his everything, he was also unfaithful to her.
So as we should with every great figure of the past, let's remember John as he was-- a broken, brilliant, funny, flawed, passionate, creative human being.
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