Perhaps a better way of attempting to explain the whole thing, is by stating what I believe is *not* gothic...
Marilyn Manson: He portrays what most people think is the epitome of goth. All he REALLY portrays is hate and anger, which is not what I believe gothic is. He is one of the major contributors to the new "Gothic Trend" (this is the trend in which kids believe that what goth is all about is, hate, anger, black clothing, plenty of make-up, and any way in which they can greatly upset their parents). Since parents are seeing their children becoming "goth", they then decide that it's bad. Also...he's not very tallented...and tends to borrow heavily from much better artists... ^_^
Hate: I suppose I can see how people would think that goths are filled with hate because of the visuals, but I have yet to meet a goth who hasn't had a wonderful sense of humor. Most goths have just as much hate in them as anyone else, but they always find ways to laugh most things off.
[Errr...I dunno what I was thinking when I first wrote this...But not ALL goths have a sense of humor...although most have enough to NOT take themselves so seriously!]
Indiference: Some people believe that all goths are just out to get in trouble, and don't care about education at all, which I believe is not true. Most of the goths I know are very intelligent and spend a good portion of their time reading, writting, etc...or slashing their wrists and drinking their blood (j/k)
Scaring People: Contrary to common belief, goths don't dress the way that they do to simply scare others! (Anyway, goth isn't about a certain style of clothing or a certain color (or lack thereof) but it's more about a way of thinking and acting).
"I wear black on the outside, because black is how I feel on the inside"
Vampires: I can't emphasize this enough...V a m p i r e s D o n ' t E x i s t. Yes...it's fun to play those RPG or whatever...and walk around with fangs on...and wear sunglases during the day with your cape on...but there is no such thing as a VAMPIRE.
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The way I like to think of it is...it's individuality (although a lot of goths are simply cookie cutter goths and don't have much originality. Goth is just sorta the other alternative...it's different...it's fun...people think it's weird...they ask you questions (they usually piss you off)...but hey...it's ok...it's not really serious!
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For me, goth isn't a thing that should be taken too seriously. It truly is an interesting subculture, and the few goths that I've met have intrested me greatly, but it shouldn't be something that consumes someone entirely!
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Another thing about goth is this romanticism of death (which may have died along with the '80s). Some, (even some goths) believe the whole thing to be riduculous, and for others, it's their life! I must say that I agree with Robert on this one when he said:
"Anyone who's experience death first-hand can tell you there's nothing romantic about it."
But, it's still kinda fun to pretend that there is!
: : : A Thousand Tears : : : 
