StarrySkies

I've been a bit hesitant to read through John's interviews in the 70s as he says a lot of awful stuff but there's a lot in here that's actually really telling, especially around Linda and the Eastman's.

For instance, John mainly blaming the split on the Klein Vs Eastman situation:

It's interesting to note that while he freely insults the Eastman's as a whole, his description of Linda is a lot less straight forward. Saying above that he got on well with Linda while insulting her looks in literally the next paragraph:

Yoko is actually at times quite nice about Linda, which may have a genuine component (the scenes in Get back show that they did seem to get on and talk to each other). However Yoko may also be keen to emphasise how there isn't bad blood between her and Linda due to rumours of fights between the women splitting up the Beatles (I can't believe sometimes how much society used to hate women, my sympathies to all 60s women)

I think it's important to note that while Yoko did play a part in frictions between the Beatles and that they had valid reasons for not wanting her there 24/7, Yoko was still recieving a lot of hate and targeted misogyny at this time. Both of these things can be true and exist at the same time.

It's also very funny to me in an interview where they complain about Paul's treatment of Yoko, John and Yoko are talking about Linda like this:

Like actually shut up. Linda was the first female photographer who's photograph got on the front page of Rolling Stones magazine, before she even got with Paul may I add. She also got into photograph the beatles for their Sgt pepper shoot on her own merit due to Brian seeing and liking her portfolio. This is so incredibly insulting.

John is obviously a sexist, resentful asshole, going through a break up with Paul, etc,etc, but analysing Yoko is a bit more complicated. I think Yoko probably suffers from what we might now call a 'not like other girls' mentality. Linda is 'nice', she might even like Linda. However Yoko spends a lot of time in the audio version of the interview talking about her art and defending herself as a female artist while in the same interview trivialising Linda's own art and photos.

It seems telling I think, that Yoko is highlighting Linda cooking while pregnant creating a more typical housewife image. This is what Linda typically gets reduced to which of course there is nothing wrong with. Linda just happens to like cooking and children while ALSO being a talented professional photographer. Which is the part that always seems to be erased from the narrative. Groupie my ass.

I think Yoko probably has had to defend herself as an artist a lot in her life and does this by separating herself from the roles women get put into. Which may have resulted in internalising a lot of the misogyny experienced and applying this onto other women. I think this is important to highlight when talking about Linda and Yoko, and how comparing them in order to defend one or the other is NOT helpful and in fact furthers the problem.

Also John jumping in here to say how they stayed in that house, how they lived with Paul for a time and yoko having to remind him that this was before Linda...... Yeah.

This has been talked about before but outside of John going on about losing interest in the band complaining about Paul taking over, etc. These quotes about how it was Paul's 'family thing' that always got between them and how in a few years Paul will 'wake up' makes me so sad. John going from saying Paul will come back after 2 years in his letters to him, to then going up to 5 years which he put down to Paul having children, to quotes from John's tarot reader about him questioning why Paul and Linda's marriage had lasted so long.

As much as John swears that he lost interest in Paul, that he was the one that wanted the split. These quotes imply that John was fully expecting Paul to come back to him.

To 'always to return to me' and all that.