To Hakkespetter

Interlude : Rant

Ever since I was a teenager. I have often idolized musicians, and considered them as perfect human beings. 

Perfect life. Perfect marriage. Perfect relationships. Perfect children. Perfect house. Perfect everything.

And then as I grew up, reality struck me as usual. It's not as good as I thought.

The artists I have followed - had a significant impact in my life and I have looked up to them quite often. They did not have a perfect life. But strangely enough, that did not diminish my admiration for them.

And that happened between me and Morten Harket.

As I joined the fandom in 2017 , I was exposed to numerous stereotypes and assumptions about the band members. It became more about their personal lives rather than their contribution to music.

What really startled me was general assumptions about Morten. While some of them were accurate, some of them were quite questionable.

Morten was sometimes compared with the other band members with almost every other aspects we aren't supposed to nose around - His social life.

While Magne and Pal were idolized for having a perfect marriage. (Which I'm genuinely happy for )  -- Morten was left behind as he had a divorce and a few break ups. There were also a lot of comments from YouTube and other social media platforms which were filled with comments that were painful for me to read.

He was labled with words such as "womanizer" , "difficult person" and even "unfaithful" which is absolutely not true. In reality -- Guess what? Morten is just as imperfect as we are.

And what really stuns me is the way some people look at him as a less of a human being for just experiencing struggles and unusual hurdles.

I've even noticed how some people drifted away from Morten, the more they began to know him. However, it was the opposite for me. And strangely I don't know why it went that way.

Like Morten said in several interviews pertaining to the attention recieved from his fans - he felt he was being capitalized because of his stunning looks and it has got nothing to do with him personally. He was pressurized to have a perfect image which would support his career. One mistake and it would become a huge scandal back in the 80s.

When he had to end a relationship with Patrice Burke due to undisclosed reasons, things went downhill for him as she revealed uncredited, potentially sensitive information about their relationship. Basically, she committed a breach of privacy and fabricated his narrative on Tabloid media.

Can one possibility imagine the amount of mental pressure a person has to face.. every single fucking day? To be perfect on screen.

He may have enjoyed a certain amount of attention but what really mattered was his mental health . It wasn't given an appropriate amount of attention.

Morten was compelled to bear with it.

The way people perceived his marriage and his future relationships was strangely diverse. Some were sad that the relationships did not last, others began to generalize his character based on that factor - which lead them to say things like " he may be handsome, but he should keep his **** in his place and not wander around" , he's strongly religious and he got divorced? What a hypocrite. He may be a good person to hang out with but he sucks relationships unlike Mags and Pal. "

Comments on the music video of "I'm The One" (featuring a transgender woman dressing up for her day) were also spiralled with comments some of which were frowning on the possibility of him being "bisexual" .

Well, I can only consider that if he comes out as bisexual. Because, his sexual preferences are none of our businesses except for him.

while some appreciated the concept of the video. 

According to Morten in one of his interviews "The song is about finding out who you are and that it’s OK to make mistakes in life. A human is a complex being and has to make compromises when interacting with other people. But only if you are honest with yourself and take conscious decisions”

The moment he said that. I began to love him more.

He made me realise how important it is to accept our flaws.  We all had imperfect lives, but that shouldn't put us down when me are walking. And if we do have difficulties in doing so - seek help.

There is no shame in acceptable, learning. It's the process of becoming a better, wiser person everyday. -- Morten did exactly that.

He had relationship difficulties in the past. He may have divorced. But interestingly, people are in good touch with him , including his former partners and his children. All of them (Morten included) are happy with their respective lives.

In the end, Morten understands himself better than the rest of us.

I think we need to stop assuming things about him, unless we hear it from his mouth. He has been through enough scrutiny from the media in the past and that kinda explains why he's inactive in social media.

Just because he had kids from three women or had failed relationships in comparison to Mags and Pal -- doesn't make him less of a human being. (First of all, let us not compare him with others)

Morten has entered into my life , making me realise the imperfections of life and gave me the confidence to look up to little, beautiful things. He saved my life several times during the pandemic.

I mean, when he sings this line from "Heaven Cast" :-

I'm thankful for the still of night
I'm thankful for the morning light
Thankful you are here, thankful I was there
Thankful that was you and I

These are the words I would want to hear, whenever I feel depressed, anxious and sometimes suicidal.

Thank you, and I love you forever Morten ❤️

We all are flawed human beings anyway and we might as well admit it - understand yourself , accept your flaws , apologize and try to be a better person everyday