For a few individuals, notoriety is not a curse, but a gift. Notoriety is a cruel mistress. Some are broken under her stiletto heel, while others seem to thrive. And there's no way to know where you reside on that scale until Fate's Dominatrix straps on her skin-tight leather outfit, ties you to a chair, slaps that weird leather mask with the zipper for the mouth on your head, and pulls out her whip. When that happens, only two things are certain: 1) in this game, there is no safety word, and 2) your life will be irrevocably changed from that point forward, for better or worse.
Despite a general broadening of horizons, widespread desensitization to concepts traditionally constructed as provocative, and technological and social advancements allowing for more open discourse, true artistic notoriety is still far from being an endangered species. This is due in large part to two basic human urges: 1) the urge to take offence at almost anything and 2) the urge to rebel against authority or to construct our identity as opposed to the mainstream and so remain "unique."
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