The world mistakes plainness for blasphemy. John Lennon said things plainly, maybe too plainly. The Beatles said they were “bigger than Jesus,” which was not asserting divinity, just interpreting sickness. There is a tendency for people to kneel before their own inventions. He was talking sociology but the crowds heard sacrilege. That’s how it goes as far as the truth is concerned, delivered without euphemism. No different when he used the forbidden word in a song addressing sexism. The point to name the ugliness but many preferred clutching their pearls, declaring themselves scandalized. People cherish the mirror so long as it lies.

And so to Bill Maher and Katie Porter. She erupts at her assistant for stepping into her frame, “get out of my fucking shot” she said. And Maher, who dislikes her, confesses he might have done the same. For an instant, both are united by the god of performance. “My shot,” she cries and there it is, the sacred circle of self, violated. Lennon before a microphone, a congresswoman before a camera. The act of speaking truth, or what one thinks the truth, disturbs the arrangement of illusions. The crowd applauds authenticity until it recognizes itself in the mirror. Then, the frightened villagers reach for the stones.