I saw that linked from a livejournal - it made me want to kill myself.
Then I realised that would make me ONE OF THEM!
Seriously, though, goth has come to be astonishingly misrepresented over the years. The word has become hijacked to the point where, if someone asks me if I am "one", I have no idea what to say, as my reply could mean any number of things to different people.
If by 'goth' you mean "Do you listen to the Sisters, Siouxsie et al? Do you maintain an aristocratic pallor? Have you crimped your hair within the past hour?"... then yeah, guilty on all counts.
If you mean "Do you listen to The Official Worst Bands In The World (i.e. Good Charlotte and s**t
)? Do you draw big eyeliner streaks down your face to 'express' the 'inner sadness' which is a result of the fact that, one time, you fancied this guy but he didn't like you back? Do you think baggy trousers are cool, and not in fact the greatest evil ever to befall humanity?" then no, I most certainly ain't a goth. The kind of people described in the article pretty much sum up all I despise in modern western culture and youth. Self-pity, miserablism in the face of comfort and plenty - I don't think that is what goth is about. The dressing up is, for me, about making an effort in a culture that has forgotten how to, presenting a strong image, not "I wear black on the outside 'cos black is how I feeeel on the inside". And in real gothic music, all the darkness and sadness is well placed and appropriate - it's fair enough if you are dealing with war or the Holocaust. There is a place for sadness in art, it's part of the human experience. But what these kids and bands don't seem to grasp is that their lives, if anything, would be most appropriately soundtracked by a chirpy Britney song, because they're just about as cushy as anyone's life has ever been. Yet still that bloody Amy Lee cries in every Evanescence video.
Being a victim of your own lack of mental and emotional fortitude is kewl, dontcha know.
"Goth" has become so convoluted - and it doesn't help that most intelligent people have been so embarrassed by those who have little understanding of the genuine spirit of the culture that they have 'renounced' it completely.
. It's such a taboo word to anyone with a few neurons to rub together , and yet these little idiot teenagers bandy it about. Sometimes I really feel it should be 'reclaimed' - but I think the problem is that most 'real' goths have long since given up on the labelling business, which is fair enough. But the word as an adjective should still be permitted to have a fairly standard meaning, and it's losing that. If these teenagers can have the accepted definition of 'goth' applied to them, what new word are we going to have to invent to describe music influenced by the old guard?
It strikes me as utterly bizarre that Lisa Gerrard and s**t now have the same word applied to them.
The culture now known as 'goth' has taken all the worst elements of grunge, nu- and black metal, and nicked the name because there's a little bit of black involved.
) seem a load of devil-worshipping metalheads.
