Sunday, October 29, 2006

Death is Dead

Last week as I walked through the narrow streets of Edinburgh, I was astounded by the ‘black’ people I saw. And no, I don’t mean skin colour but the overly made-up, ominous faces of Goths.
Very common at present I guess. But it is merely because of the ‘cool’ and the sense of rebellion associated with the Gothic culture that attracts the majority of young people.
Having met such people in the past, I’ve been very disappointed by their lack of knowledge that they are supposed to possess about their own culture. None of them are particularly into nor really understand 18th century poetry and seem to have disdainfully missed out on Romanticism as a movement.
Creativity? It is sadly limited to the clichéd comics of menacing monsters reminiscent of the characters of the Lord of the Rings. Not even a drop of inclination towards a more diverse view of philosophy and substance.
Individualism? They are constantly in groups. All look absolutely the same and the black make-up and multitude of piercings does not exactly make them individualistic but rather barely the next ‘trendy’ followers of something that is unknowingly beyond their comprehension.
Anarchistic beliefs? Either very slight or deceivingly strong. They are closed within their own circle. They play in bands trying to emulate hardcore metal but are doomed by their lack of musicality or worthwhile lyrics. They are in the shadows of overly-exposed celebrity culture which is ignorant of their tendencies towards punk.
Either you are an anarchist or just another punk wannabe who is faced by the 20 or so years of banal, historical forgetfulness.
Critique of western consumerism? No desire to implement their beliefs because of two things: 1) The simplicity of their thinking and lack of understanding of history as well as politics 2) Unwillingness to act on each other’s behalf and indifference towards any sort of change.

Obviously, it’s bound to fail whatever they are after, especially when the greater number of school shootings across America is attributed to the Gothic influence on them.
It is uncertain whether their appearance is aimed to shock, repulse or simply serve as a means of distinction between them and the general public.

Being a Goth is not wrong or even morally-challenging. It is a matter of personal preference which I simply cannot bring myself to agree upon.
The Gothic style of appearance is dismally forgettable and that’s why it cannot shock or even make the slightest bit of difference.
The ideology behind it makes sense to some extent because it encourages creativity and pronounces a certain awareness of the artificiality of western culture but in reality, it is only vaguely understood to the point of it turning into another periodical sublimation of the mundane and irrelevant and onto being… even more mundane and irrelevant.

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