What It Means To Be Goth (Without The Bullshit) (2710 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: -0.37 on 64 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Lucifer Sam (View user info) at 2005-02-07 14:39:42 EST
One day, while I had nothing better to do, I was going through Maddox's webpage, because, no fooling, he's a fucking genius. I came across his article titled "Gothics Blow" and was intrigued, because I am gothic. As I read it, I realized he was right - most of them are ruining the image of the goth.
With all the "gothics" out there that Maddox rightfully criticizes in his article, I'm wouldn't be surprised if you just stopped taking me seriously. To use the cliché, these ass-hats really do give the term goth a bad name.
Maddox says "there probably isn't a universally accepted definition of a gothic because the entire movement or lifestyle (or lack thereof) revolves around just that: aesthetics." I cannot disagree. I recall an instance where Maddox referred to an article at Goth.net - an article meant to explain what goth means - in which the author, a goth nicknamed Prez, himself admits to not knowing what the hell his self-declared label meant: "[goth] has so many facets it defies any definitive explanation."
What?!
This guy wrote an article that cannot explain what it promises to explain. The idea of a published essay which cannot convey the concept it was written to explain is still impossible for me to grasp. Maddox is right...this whole gothic movement is in a Dark Age of its own right. Everyone is flailing about like a retard-and-a-half, not knowing what they think or what they are.
It is extremely depressing that the truth of being gothic has been jaded by the cheap, instant Hot Topic culture of today (side note: Hot Topic stuff looks neat, but is of very shitty quality), the culture that doesn't know why they call themselves goth. I even remember the very beginning of my transition into goth a few years back. I reasoned, what better place to learn about becoming gothic than a gothic IRC server to learn how? I was sadly mistaken in my judgment, however, when I had this conversational gem:
Me: So what is goth, anyway?
Goth: Did you read that article by Prez?
Me: Yeah, but it didn't explain anything.
Goth: If you can't understand that wonderful work, I can't help you.
Oh my god. He didn't know anything.
I won't beat around the bush; my essay is going to explain what it means to be gothic. No goth can proclaim himself as such without coming to the conclusions I have in this essay.
The Gothic period was a time of people obsessed with the sublime - in other words, that which is not physically beautiful, but is profound and needs deep thought to be understood. For example, imagine two staircases: one is a new staircase, never before stepped on, wrought with sparkling marble; the other, an old staircase, cut from granite and so worn the stone is faded where men have walked. To which staircase does the goth gravitate? The answer is the old one.
The concept is this: while the new staircase may be a wondrous sight to behold, there is not much more to do than behold it. The old staircase, however, has seen many feet in its day; it has more character, more stories to tell. Willy Nelson's old guitar is a sore sight - there are holes worn into the soundboard from use, but its age has seen far more variety than the plastic newness of a brand new guitar. The old staircase and the old guitar are sublime - rather than prove physically beautiful, like the new staircase and the new guitar, they offer more intellectual fodder. The true goths of today are, as those of the Gothic period centuries before, obsessed with the sublime.
I think that it would be better if one had to qualify to be gothic. First, the applicant would have to come to the same conclusions I did, after hours of thought, and only after they've proven themselves worthy would they be awarded with a card certifying that they are bona fide gothic. Probably wouldn't be so easy to sell then, would it, Hot Topic?
User Reviews
Submitted by Walker (user info) at 2005-11-26 09:43:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Its OK, really... As long as you're not some stuck-up senseless prat that thinks that he's superior to other people just because he can get deep about stuff. Perhaps you recall that other Maddox article, in which he argues with a goth that states that his 'kind' is comprised of people that are more interesting than the average stranger.
Not entirely true...
What about EMOs?
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2005-11-26 08:58:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by FartSmeller (user info) at 2005-10-26 17:00:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by sebcharrot (user info) at 2005-08-14 08:02:27 (#)
Ranking: -2
I think it's pretty funny that young goths are now saying they follow "the sublime". How many old people do you approach (and I mean NON-threateningly) to converse with? How much wisdom have you garnered from the older generations? Because after all, under your own meaning of the word "sublime", they are sublime. I don't see many goths helping old people in the street nowadays... but maybe they're just not REAL goths.
Yeah, that must be it.
And what does all this spewing on about "the sublime" have to do with the fact that you wear white face paint, black lipstick, eyeshadow, that you stick spikes anywhere you can on your person, and that your clothes are baggier than Lance Armstrong's scrotum?
If all the Goth movement was about was welcoming "the sublime" then you wouldn't have to dress like a cunt. In fact, it wouldn't be a "movement" at all, it would just be a point of view. You don't have to dress up like a corpse to love "the sublime". In fact, rather the opposite.
Submitted by trent_nz (user info) at 2005-10-26 16:41:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by The_Cyst_Master (user info) at 2005-10-12 13:19:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
mmmmm
Submitted by MrSparkle847 (user info) at 2005-08-14 08:32:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Tredmond (user info) at 2005-08-14 07:31:22 (#)
Ranking: -1
-1 Because you're a goth.
___________________
As I said in the Pink Floyd comment, I HAVE GIVEN UP ON GOTH A LONG TIME AGO. Please do not simply gaze over comments like that one; you might miss something.
Besides that, though, let's move on and let this post die miserably. Again.
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2005-08-14 08:27:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
you didn't deserve to have this ressurected. +1 for your pains.
Submitted by Phallic_Cymbals (user info) at 2005-08-14 08:16:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by knucklesnelson (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:52:41 (#)
Ranking: -2
go put some eyeliner on.
_______________________________________
Then remove it with a shotgun.
Submitted by sebcharrot (user info) at 2005-08-14 08:02:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I think it's pretty funny that young goths are now saying they follow "the sublime". How many old people do you approach (and I mean NON-threateningly) to converse with? How much wisdom have you garnered from the older generations? Because after all, under your own meaning of the word "sublime", they are sublime. I don't see many goths helping old people in the street nowadays... but maybe they're just not REAL goths.
Yeah, that must be it.
And what does all this spewing on about "the sublime" have to do with the fact that you wear white face paint, black lipstick, eyeshadow, that you stick spikes anywhere you can on your person, and that your clothes are baggier than Lance Armstrong's scrotum?
If all the Goth movement was about was welcoming "the sublime" then you wouldn't have to dress like a cunt. In fact, it wouldn't be a "movement" at all, it would just be a point of view. You don't have to dress up like a corpse to love "the sublime". In fact, rather the opposite.
Submitted by Tredmond (user info) at 2005-08-14 07:31:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
+1 for the Pink Floyd title.
-1 Because you're a goth.
-1 Because you never really explained what it means to be goth either.
I'd take screamfeeder's advice if I were you.
Submitted by williamson (user info) at 2005-08-14 07:24:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
In that case discount that remark about your name...
But honestly, what are you doing being a goth?
Submitted by MrSparkle847 (user info) at 2005-08-14 07:19:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by williamson (user info) at 2005-08-14 06:18:46 (#)
Ranking: -2
Look at your username... Lucifer Sam... what a fucking toss.
___________________
I actually gave up on this style a long time ago. Besides that, though, the handle Lucifer Sam doesn't have anything to do with Lucifer (as far as I know). Lucifer Sam is the name of an early Pink Floyd song by Syd Barrett, and what I named my guitar:
Lucifer Sam, siam cat.
Always sitting by your side
Always by your side.
That cat's something I can't explain.
Jennifer Gentle you're a witch.
You're the left side
He's the right side.
Oh, no!
That cat's something I can't explain.
Lucifer go to sea.
Be a hip cat, be a ship's cat.
Somewhere, anywhere.
That cat's something I can't explain.
At night prowling sifting sand.
Hiding around on the ground.
He'll be found when you're around.
That cat's something I can't explain.
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2005-08-14 06:42:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
As somebody said earlier, if you want to stop focussing on cheap, skin deep looks, you don't have to start trying to make yourself look worse. If the clique is defined by its apparent indifference to image, it makes you wonder why you can recognise them on the street.
Submitted by williamson (user info) at 2005-08-14 06:18:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Listen, shut up.
We all have differing opinions in art and beauty. But for fuck's sake; what the hell are you doing being a goth? Look at your username... Lucifer Sam... what a fucking toss.
You're not special for wearing black. You're not special for disliking plasticity. You're just a tosser who can't control his 14 year old emo hormones. It's not "untrue goths" making a bad name of you "real goths", it's you fucking dickheads giving a bad name to the youth.
Unless you're actually rather old and adult. In which case BWAHAHAHAHAHA
Submitted by lordofduct (user info) at 2005-08-14 05:52:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Oh and the bauhaus suck my asshole.
me in highschool
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/lordofduct/Pictures/DuctPants.jpg
Submitted by lordofduct (user info) at 2005-08-14 05:48:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Bro, why don't you just admit it. You do it, cause the clothes look cool. Some of the outfits are rather decent IMO and really look hot on the right chics. And just as every style you have the ugly sons a bitches who come in and wear the same shit and make a mockery of it.
I was what you might of called "freak" or "goth" in highschool back in 96'. I wore stupid shit like bright green golf pants and red "I <3 Boys" shirts. I made a pair of duct tape pants. I thought it was funny and cool looking. I liked it, plain and freakin' simple. I wasn't "dark" I wasn't antisocial (I'd befriend just about anyone). No I just liked the clothes and went with it. Main reason I liked em' was cause it was so damn cheap. Cruise down to the local Good Will grab some crap slacks probably worn by some old guy before he died, grab that 80's "Billy Idol" shirt and tuck it then over that have the thin sports coat you found and tear it up some. leave spending 2 dollars and all the goth girls wanna suck your cock! IT WORKED GREAT!
Submitted by olivia_tremor_control (user info) at 2005-03-28 11:54:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
bauhaus invented goth. i love bauhaus. but i hate marylin manson and hot topic.
Submitted by boneface (user info) at 2005-03-19 09:17:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
This is the first time I have ever heard a rational attempt to explain goth.
Submitted by mrwolf (user info) at 2005-02-08 10:38:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Don't label yourself.
I have a mowhawk, I play guitar in a band, I am wearing a waistcoat and cowboy boots with towny trousers on. Does that make me a punk rock, yuppie cowboy towny?
Seriously be what you want, wear what you want, hang out with who you want.
stop labelling yourself.
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2005-02-08 09:50:52 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by athena (user info) at 2005-02-08 09:35:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
so the fact that they dress so dark and
look horrible is to force you to look to
the inside
I think this essay was well thought out and
deep.
Submitted by Ed_0150 (user info) at 2005-02-07 21:53:24 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by TheSpook (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:45:00 (#)
Ranking: -2
You should try being yourself.
Either that, or killing yourself. I could care less.
------------------
You are really a sad mother fucker
Submitted by MrSparkle847 (user info) at 2005-02-07 21:21:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
No worries, mate :)
Submitted by shadowofthedivine (user info) at 2005-02-07 21:10:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Shit.
sorry if I sounded arrogant in the last bit, missed the
ENTIRE first paragraph
apologies
Submitted by shadowofthedivine (user info) at 2005-02-07 19:36:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Question?
If gothics are interested in the sublime, not what can be
deduced by image, why do most that you see gravitate towards
the same look?
I would enjoy a debate over this subject
(or any, I like to argue)
Submitted by Banga3386 (user info) at 2005-02-07 19:32:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I like what you had to say but you didn't explain all that much either. You had a great analogy to start off with but that was the end, there should be more to your explaination, much like Prez's.
Banga
Submitted by screamfeeder (user info) at 2005-02-07 19:18:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Damnit you fuckers.
He was one of MINE!
Filthy Thieves!!!
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2005-02-07 18:21:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
On second thought, I'm going to back up AAE too. Clearly you've got a lot of livin' and a lot of learnin' ahead of you yet, but you don't seem to be a complete idiot, unlike most high schoolers that get lost on the information superhighway and find themselves here.
Digest the bashing. Most of it is rational. Think on it, learn from it, grow and keep writing.
Submitted by scrumdown (user info) at 2005-02-07 18:00:57 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
"...imagine two staircases: one is a new staircase, never before stepped on, wrought with sparkling marble; the other, an old staircase, cut from granite and so worn the stone is faded where men have walked. To which staircase does the goth gravitate? The answer is the old one."
-------
The neo-conservative, right-wing, angry white male pushes the Goth down the staircase then bashes Willie's back taxes out of said Goth with Willies old guitar.
Fucking hippies and fucking Goths.
I'm not going to -2 this 'cause we were all chumps when we were younger too. It's not really your fault, it's just called being a teenager. Now grow up, wipe the mascara from your eyes, trade in your Manson for some Dropkick Murphey's, your platform vinyl boots for all leather jump boots, and join the Marines. They will give you something to cry about. And shit to blow up. And there is no better answer to teen agnst then blowing shit up. Followed by severakl years of heavy drinking.
Oh, and I think Goth chicks are hot too.
Submitted by MrSparkle847 (user info) at 2005-02-07 17:54:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Mmm...fried chicken...
*Homer-style drooling*
Submitted by kai070169 (user info) at 2005-02-07 17:53:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I got it. I agree.
I find hedonism plays a big part in a dark lifestyle as well.
Submitted by Shagabah_Jones (user info) at 2005-02-07 17:27:31 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Do you wear a cape and scrafice fried chicken to satan too?
Submitted by screamfeeder (user info) at 2005-02-07 17:10:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Pffft.
Don't listen to AAE, listen to me.
Submitted by AlwaysAnEagle (user info) at 2005-02-07 17:01:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Plus two for dedicating ANY thought to what you decide to do with yourself, rather than blindly following any given demographic. I sort of agree with the folks saying your description doesn't really cut it down to a pure definition on gothicism and only gothicism, but I also think that if you have determined that gothic life is laced and driven with an examination of the sublime then rock on. There aren't a whole hell of a lot of people who take time to find beauty in all things. BUT. You also don't need to dress a certain way or listen to certain music or do certain things to look for the sublime. You can do it in a giant banana suit if you want.
From a writing stand point, descriptive and argumentative writing is not your thing. But I do get the sense that you would be an excellent fiction or narrative writer, so I hope you'll come back and post something like that.
Submitted by sketch9 (user info) at 2005-02-07 16:37:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
rock on arches! marble arches! marble fucking arches with that pointy keystone!
and those fucking gargoyles! and gables! plenty of fucking gables!
I LOVE GOTH SHIT.
Submitted by screamfeeder (user info) at 2005-02-07 16:16:38 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by MrSparkle847 (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:54:43 (#)
Ranking: 2
Tell me...why are you so pissed at me? How do I offend? I must know; that anyone hates me because I conveyed my point of view clearly and with minimal bashing anyone is very amusing.
------------------------------------
First of all, be fucking lucky my ass is bored enough to give you some goddamn advice shitheel.
Second, don't +2 your own shit. That just earns 20 more -2's.
Third, we don't give a rats ass if you convey your point with the clarity of a Long Forgotten God. If it does not a) amuse or b) enlighten, then we don't give a shit.
Fourth, you're a fucking goth, that enough should warrant a slew of -2's.
Fifth, Maddox may be entertaining, but he is NOT a genius and most of his shit gets tired and boring, especially after some fucking troglodyte reminds us about it for the umpteenth time.
Sixth, Shut the fuck up.
Seventh, your writing is so fucking horrible I had to stab a Sonic Straw through my temple to rid it from my brain.
Eighth, trial by fire you fucking gutter trash.
Submitted by HZRD (user info) at 2005-02-07 16:13:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
that made no fucking sense. when i hung out with goths for a brief time in 8th grade and another brief time in high school (both for some poon), they personified their "movement" as something that defied normal culture (especially the confines of traditional Christian religion), and that they were outcasts because they thought freely and people just couldn't handle it. that shit kind of makes sense, even now (although they were full of it).
Point: if the above mentioned were the case, i would have no problem with goths or this short essay but it's not and your uniforms and uniform taste in music prove it. wearing fishnets, white pancake makeup, black nail polish and eyeliner doesn't make you a free thinker searching for the "sublime" as you put it. Neither does listening to Skinny Puppy, reading Anne Rice novels, or smoking on the corner at high school. you're normal: there are hundreds of thousands of people who think they are unqiue just like you, wishing they could be vampires or just dead because the suffering of the world is too much for them, reading Lenore and Squee! comic books, watching The Crow, carrying coffin purses and bitching about Christianity. you're bored, and probably a white suburbanite, just like 90% of them. -two for that.
Counterpoint: goth chicks are hot, goth art and architecture are cool, and industial rock is the shit (sometimes). yea for KMFDM, the Notre Dame in France, and my senior high school ex-girlfriend. (thank you ms. matsui my first threesome [girl-girl-guy, you dick], my first movie theater bj, my first sexual experience and my introduction to industrial music - i can still smell the pancake makeup and hair dye). +two for all that shit.
Summary: we all go through a stupid period. i was a skater punk who dyed his hair all the colors of the rainbow and loved amphetamines (not Crystal Meth... but speed isn't any better, really) in middle and high school. (i'm glad there's not too many pictures of me through that period). i just hope Lucifer Sam isn't over the age of 18 for him and his dick's sake.
Submitted by MrSparkle847 (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:54:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Tell me...why are you so pissed at me? How do I offend? I must know; that anyone hates me because I conveyed my point of view clearly and with minimal bashing anyone is very amusing.
Submitted by screamfeeder (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:44:48 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Some haiku for you
sitting in my room
marilyn manson is cool
i am so angry
a rebel, you say?
i think you are a dumbass
go get bent douchebag
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:40:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
The true goths of today are, as those of the Gothic period centuries before, obsessed with the sublime.
____
Actually, Goths of old are obcessed with rampaging and pillaging!
Who can forget what the Visigoths did to Rome in 479 AD? That makes today's 'goth' movement look like nothin more than a weak Morrissey lyric...
Submitted by thaumaturge (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:32:35 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
GOTH IS FASHION.
That's all. Otherwise, you could label anyone who takes something profound a "goth".
Do you need to listen to a particular type of music or wear a certain style to prove that you enjoy the profound? Fuck that. Punks wear spikes and chains, Goths wear black, hip-hop culture has the unbended brim of an off-colour sports team and stupid-looking untied shoes... what you look like has absolutley nothing to do with one's affinity to works of intellect or that of the "profound".
Stop being a label and enjoy whatever it is you enjoy on your own terms. IF you can't do this, you are an MTV genre at best.
Submitted by polymorph505 (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:29:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Gothic art/architecture kicks ass, but that's because real goths made it, not baby-bat wanna be vampires that spend 3 hours in the bathroom "getting ready" so they can sit in their living rooms watching Blade and fawning over Marilyn Manson. Fucking trendy buttjousters.
Submitted by Death_Metal_Dude (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:29:00 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
I hope a buffalo shits on your eye
Submitted by G-prime (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:23:43 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
I used to dress like a goth and hang out with goth people. Then I stopped being a shit-head and I saw that they were huge tools, and I was an ass for following them. I was something like 14 at the time. Now every time I see a goth I mind-strangle them. That means imagine strangling, not some shitty ass goth occult piece of shit incantation. Stupid goths... Unless you mean the architechtural style, which is ok...
Submitted by Fartman (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:20:04 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Sorry Charlie, three paragraphs does NOT qualify as an essay. Further, if Maddox is a genius, then I'm Aunt Jemima.
And I don't see any goddamned pancakes around here.
Submitted by TheSunGod (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:13:10 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
i'm only giving this a -1 because i believe in the whole "rate the post, not the author" thing. the post makes sense, but goes almost nowhere. however- if i DID rate by the life-worthiness of the author, you would die from the sheer -2ness of it. why do you have to decide what kind of person you are based on another person's definition of a certain subset of euro/american culture? why do you care if others who profess to belong to this subculture are doing it the way you think they should? is this prez guy the ultimate deciding factor in what is goth or not? (hey- fun website idea for lifeless depressed miscreants: www.amigothornot.com) does prez, or yourself, or the gothic national convention decide on how you have to look/act/dress/contemplate suicide if you want to be goth?
do what you think you should do for yourself. surround yourself with people you like. enjoy life as much as possible. and then die. twice (just for me, pleeeeease?).
Submitted by roxyboo (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:08:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
here is a 1 and here is why:
I feel kinda bad for you. I am not gothic, emo, skater, yuppie, or any other visually definable group. Unless you can spot the most tempermental douchebag out of a group of seemingly normal douchebags then you probably couldn't spot me at all.
The reason that I feel bad for you is that maybe you really are the truest goth in the world, maybe you are the most introspective, intellectual, or contemplative of all the black clad gothic people in the US. If that is the case then you are unlucky enough to be in a group that has become trendy and has become inundated with morons who claim to stray from societal norms for one or more grandiose reasons.
Unfortunately for you, you can't make much more of a testament to your gothness than those morons can to theirs considering the totally subjective nature of gothitude. So as with most other trendy statements or lifestyles you will be subjected to a stereotype.
That is to say, you will pick the old staircase and I will take the escalator and say to myself "There goes another one of those fucking goth chumps up that old piece of shit staircase."
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:07:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Anyway, my two cents would be this: Neither the worn staircase or Willy Nelson's guitar ever tried to make themselves appear less beautiful than they were. "Gothic" as you describe it has nothing to do with the aesthetics of a PERSON, otherwise you would all be trying to have the leathery, sun-worn appearance of women who have spent their lives sowing seeds in the fields. You'd strive for wrinkles and laugh lines and crows feet. THAT is how people age. THOSE are the marks of time and history on a human body. Dressing like a vampire doesn't explain it. It is artifice and false appearances.
--------------------------------
exactly. well said.
so i looked up sublime, and apparently it means something about being better than people. being fascinated with the "sublime" seems kind of aloof.
what you wrote describes any artist, old guy in a rundown tavern, and college student. everyone loves old shit like that...
***is everyone who goes to a museum a goth? by your definition, yes.
don't label yourself.
Submitted by MANICMOTHER (user info) at 2005-02-07 15:02:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
For example, imagine two staircases: one is a new staircase, never before stepped on, wrought with sparkling marble; the other, an old staircase, cut from granite and so worn the stone is faded where men have walked. To which staircase does the goth gravitate? The answer is the old one.
-----------
That's great buddy, thank you for clearing up my thoughts on the matter. The Goths all follow the leader. They espouse the nonconformist life style while forming a socital sub-culture based on denial of accepted social morals, and the belief that by being different they are somehow better. What a load of horseshit. Your idiotic little cult is no different than any of the other sub-cultures out there today. What's more insane about it is the fact that by ALL being sad little nonconformists, they are conforming. I never quite got that one.
Submitted by Wallstreet (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:57:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I can tell you put some thought into this.
I am hungover and will give you a +2 because you are getting crucified on this.
FIND BART AND WIN A PRIZE!!
http://www.ubersite.com/m/58849
Submitted by CookieLass (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:56:15 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
you... you spent HOURS of thought figuring out what it means to be goth? You wasted hours of life thinking about what your CLOTHES mean?
Kill yourself.
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:55:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
You know what's sad?
I can tell you really tried, really applied yourself on this.
That's not the sad part though.
The sad part is that you thought that even by trying to sincerely make a point (and you really only tried to make one) you would get anyone to listen.
This is going to go down in flames. You've wasted yourself.
That's just, its just so, tragic.
But maybe that's what you were looking for.
Anyway, my two cents would be this: Neither the worn staircase or Willy Nelson's guitar ever tried to make themselves appear less beautiful than they were. "Gothic" as you describe it has nothing to do with the aesthetics of a PERSON, otherwise you would all be trying to have the leathery, sun-worn appearance of women who have spent their lives sowing seeds in the fields. You'd strive for wrinkles and laugh lines and crows feet. THAT is how people age. THOSE are the marks of time and history on a human body. Dressing like a vampire doesn't explain it. It is artifice and false appearances.
So, anyway, that's my take. Ta-ta.
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:54:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
3 short paragraphs qualifies as an essay? Why not call it your treatise? Or your manifesto? Creed? (Not that shitty band, shut the fuck up)
Oh, maybe you didn't have enough time in study hall to finish it? Had to go tinkle and smoke a clove cigarette? Wax poetic about how your (dyed) black hair reflects the darkness your soul feels and then tell yourself that you are harnessing your inner beauty by making yourself outwardly ugly?
"No one can call themselves 'goth' unless they believe as I do." Fuck off. No one should call themselves goth because it is a sign that you'll never move out of your folks' basement.
Pwned, motherfucker.
Submitted by indoninja (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:53:17 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Maybe you could climb to the top of that old stair case, and I don't know, kind of just fall off face first. That would be great.
Submitted by knucklesnelson (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:52:41 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
go put some eyeliner on
Submitted by Vomit (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:51:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by jack11058 (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:47:38 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by xenon (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:44:04 (#)
Ranking: 0
ummmm, ok, so you didn't explain gothic either...great
Submitted by wtf_is_going_on (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:49:28 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
You didn't explain what gothic was.
Now I'll NEVER know!
Thanx alot.
I don't think you are really goth, because
you didn't even make a point to the whole goth thing.
You just don't make sense.
Submitted by jack11058 (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:47:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by xenon (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:44:04 (#)
Ranking: 0
ummmm, ok, so you didn't explain gothic either...great
Submitted by Timmah (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:47:28 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
I'm only giving this -1 because you seriously seem to believe what you're saying.
Submitted by Rawrg (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:46:21 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
This article started out well but went absolutely nowhere. Image is nothing, obey your thirst.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:45:57 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
title
Submitted by TheSpook (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:45:00 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
You should try being yourself.
Either that, or killing yourself. I could care less.
Submitted by xenon (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:44:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
ummmm, ok, so you didn't explain gothic either...great
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2005-02-07 14:42:10 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
what the hell man if they are comin at you , means they want somthin ,more better you look after them and care for them ,than they get on the street uh?