Ballad (?) of an ex-goth

[jamesworkshop]

So i saw the "ex-japanophile" thread (for some reason thinking that it was some guy confessing that he liked schoolgirls in japan) and it made me think about my old middle school and high school years as a goth kid. Not a wannabe vampire kid, just a kid who dressed in all black, never said a word, listened to dark music, hung out with other people dressed like me who also liked to smoke pot and eat twinkies afterwards. I know there are different levels that people have made up, things that involve being a goth and all that, but thats who i was before i graduated 7 months early and left to explore the world. Any others out here in the escapist who have been in this type of experience or am i the only one willing to admit it?

Are you from the US or the UK

i r from teh u.s.

I ah ok I find the US and UK goth scene to be completly different because the UK doesn't really have Prep as a social clique I find UK goths to be more armchair intellectuals than a apparent concern to be considered different from the rest of Society.

 

[VeX1le]

wait a minute gay? tony? The ballad of gay tony? do i get a cookie? unless its just a coincidence

It was pretty obvious...
I'll give you half a cookie.

aww well its still a cookie

 

[shadowstriker86]

So i saw the "ex-japanophile" thread (for some reason thinking that it was some guy confessing that he liked schoolgirls in japan) and it made me think about my old middle school and high school years as a goth kid. Not a wannabe vampire kid, just a kid who dressed in all black, never said a word, listened to dark music, hung out with other people dressed like me who also liked to smoke pot and eat twinkies afterwards. I know there are different levels that people have made up, things that involve being a goth and all that, but thats who i was before i graduated 7 months early and left to explore the world. Any others out here in the escapist who have been in this type of experience or am i the only one willing to admit it?

Are you from the US or the UK

i r from teh u.s.

I ah ok I find the US and UK goth scene to be completly different because the UK doesn't really have Prep as a social clique I find UK goths to be more armchair intellectuals than a apparent concern to be considered different from the rest of Society.

ah i see....there was a movie that struck my mind that sounded like this-- Clockwork Orange?

 

[Booze Zombie]

I like nymphomaniac goth girls.
They're awesome.

 

[riskroWe]

Ahh goth...
The music can be okay if it's really extreme, most of the time it's stale and boring.
The ideologies in theory are fine, but in practice you get genuinely pathetic vegetarian/wicca nonsense.
They do receive some commendation for the corsets and fishnets though. It's been said, fashion is their strong point.

 

[Shadowed Intent]

Because goth culture is 100% superficial, anyone can be one. You just have to adopt any one of the "officially certified gothic appearances" and pretend to like the same music other goths do if you're out at a club or something (it helps if you actually like it, but if you can fake it, that will do). In real terms, anyone can be a "goth" just by dressing up on the weekend, it's actually not that different to cosplay and can be a lot of fun. Girls who are a bit self-conscious about their figure really like it in particular because they get to justify wearing corsets in public. This has its benefits.

Of course, people deep into a gothic subculture tend to have a really snobby attitude and therefore find the idea of "normals" infiltrating their group a bit abhorrent. Part of how goths as a social group operate is by insisting that other people "don't understand what Goth really is", which then allows them to include or exclude whoever they like based on arbitrary rules concerning music, fashion and appearance - items in goth culture which have social value and exist primarily as a mechanism for inclusion/exclusion. This is a social sleight-of-hand because Goth isn't really "about" anything once you dig beneath these social signifiers and that's one of the things that defines it. For example "real goth music" doesn't really exist on any sort of musical level. There is no functional, measurable musical difference between The Cure's "A Forest" period and a lot of other equally maudlin pop music that was being produced at around the same time, but the difference does exist aesthetically (hair, fashion), and also ethnomusicologically, because it is the "tribe of certified goth opinion" which decides what is "real goth music", as opposed to any objective standard which can be measured in musical terms. This can vary from region to region and also depending on who they think is trying to infiltrate the group. In the 80s pop music was close to what was considered goth at the time, so it was the pop fans who were excluded. Nowadays it's metalheads and emos that they don't like, because some metal and emocore is veering towards themes that were once exclusively the domain of goths - tell a group of goths that you like Evanescence or My Chemical Romance and watch their heads spin around like Linda Blair. You would actually get a better reaction from them if you say you like Madonna.

Yes there are exceptions to everything stated above, but I have observed everything that I have written about here first-hand.

Let me guess, you don't need any friends nor acceptance into any social groups at all because you are absolutely amazing?

Seriously, the elitism frothing forth from your post is most impressive.

 

[jamesworkshop]

So i saw the "ex-japanophile" thread (for some reason thinking that it was some guy confessing that he liked schoolgirls in japan) and it made me think about my old middle school and high school years as a goth kid. Not a wannabe vampire kid, just a kid who dressed in all black, never said a word, listened to dark music, hung out with other people dressed like me who also liked to smoke pot and eat twinkies afterwards. I know there are different levels that people have made up, things that involve being a goth and all that, but thats who i was before i graduated 7 months early and left to explore the world. Any others out here in the escapist who have been in this type of experience or am i the only one willing to admit it?

Are you from the US or the UK

i r from teh u.s.

I ah ok I find the US and UK goth scene to be completly different because the UK doesn't really have Prep as a social clique I find UK goths to be more armchair intellectuals than a apparent concern to be considered different from the rest of Society.

ah i see....there was a movie that struck my mind that sounded like this-- Clockwork Orange?

I don't think so Clockwork Orange didn't really have anything to do with Goths

One problem I see is Goth is not a set term and many different subcultures have a similar style Emo/punk/several brands of metal all share similar dress style

 

[axia777]

snip

Wow, how terribly judgmental of you.

I also forgot this band.

Lycia - Drifting - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpqMnDNOWAM

 

[similar.squirrel]

Think you got problems?I'm an ex-emo.

 

[axia777]

Think you got problems?I'm an ex-emo.

Why are either a problem? What is the problem of still being into the scene? I am 34, have a 10 year old daughter, and I am still into the goth/industrial scene. I just don't get this need to conform as people get older. So we get older. So what?(yes that is an inside joke, a cookie for who ever gets it)

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Goth is the only youth movement (well okay it used to be youth movement, some of them are pretty old now)

Believe it.
Goth doesn't have to be superficial, it's just an understanding that the world being a dark place is how it is.

Emo is understanding the world is a dark place and then saying "WHY ISN'T ABOUT ME?"

Obviously there are some exceptions but Goth isn't dead, it's just undead.

But, like everything else, we get our poseurs (probably more than our fair share) and our outcasts. It's like all tabletop gamers aren't anti-social, cheeto-stuffing, semi-autistic walking dictionaries; but they do have a lot more than fitness freaks.

The UK tends to gets more Goths because of the weather, but the V:TM/MET crowd are huge in places like San Fransisco, Indiana.

We're sort of used to getting fun poked at us and the occasional member knifed up by the Chavs, but it's how we feel.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I am 34, have a 10 year old daughter, and I am still into the goth/industrial scene.

*low 5's*

 

[Blow_Pop]

I know lots of goths. With only a few exceptions, a very narcissistic bunch. Goth is the only youth movement (well okay it used to be youth movement, some of them are pretty old now) that is 100% superficial. No statement, no purpose, just pure unadulterated "oh don't I look pretty dancing around to Skinny Puppy in my black clothing". I've flirted with the scene a little but the vapid superficiality at the core of it stops me getting deeply involved.

and if that's all you have come up with about being goth you're missing a lot.

ignorance at its best....

current goth thank you. I may not dress it but its not about the dress its more how it influences your life. IF I had the money though I WOULD dress it. That and my lack of sewing skills stops me.
but I'm also more of what they call a Rivethead because I'm more into the music than anything else. Always have been. Always will be.

-snip-

Spoiler

One problem I see is Goth is not a set term and many different subcultures have a similar style Emo/punk/several brands of metal all share similar dress style

Are we sure they aren't ravers in the picture?

 

[axia777]

I am 34, have a 10 year old daughter, and I am still into the goth/industrial scene.

*low 5's*

Old school. Makes me want to break out my old Christian Death albums. With Rozz of course. No Rozz, no CD.

 

[murlo360]

Wow, so many people seem to think they know what Goth is when they know very very little.

Then again, that really isn't anything new.

(oh and also, stereotyping and generalizations aren't cool kids)

yup. there is a fine line between goth and emo, and the kids who just dont care about squat and don't value life 1 bit,pshh silly bastards

 

[Torque669]

If you were a goth you'd be wearing Gothic Clothing. Not all black. Gothic is usually bright Reds as well as black and usually very Eccentric.

Also they listen to music like Evanescance and Within Temptation not System of a down.

You were being an emo. Not a Goth.

 

[murlo360]

I like nymphomaniac goth girls.
They're awesome.

I had a girlfriend like that,strongly and openly a nymphomaniac what a nightmare.

 

[murlo360]

I never was a goth, I was close though. I earned the title of "Beast" in highschool. I was always the quiet one, the calculating one, the one you didn't cross. If someone did happen to cross the line they got a warning blow, maybe a hard shove or punch to the gut. If they pressed further I used to open a can of whoop-ass on them. Then I became the raver I am today and mellowed out quite a bit.

sounds like a spitting image of me sure we are not twins

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

Nah, I was never Goth, and there weren't any Goths at the school I went to. A couple of Pseduo-Goths, a bunch of Emos, but no Goths.

Still, some people tried to label me as a Pseudo-Goth, based on the fact that I like to wear black, which somewhat annoyed me, since I'm just me.