Goths: Then and Now

this is slightly tangental - i've often laughed in bewilderment at how another popular music/fashion melding has come to change, and even in a far shorter amount of time span of about 20 years - "emo."

emo i "grew up" with:
bands? Rites of Spring, Frail, Embrace, etc
fashion? nerd glasses, backpacks, sweaters, library card
attitude? destroy capitalism, create and distribute poetry & art zines, scream your heart out about love, life struggles, the state of the world

emo nowadays:
bands? um... i honestly don't know... My Chemical Romance? anything that makes me want to punch myself in the face, i suppose.
fashion? basically, what i would call "goth lite."
attitude? make expensive MTV videos and get the girls.

"There is a level of cowardice lower than that of the conformist: the fashionable non-conformist." -Ayn Rand

The 3rd century Goths were way cooler.

I'm so Goth I sacked Rome!

I'm so non goth I Romed my sack. :P

And someone needs to shoot that silly bastard on the right. Grow up loooooser.

Yup. Just fashion, and that's according to a long-time old-school goth friend of mine. Goth used to mean something.. for about 5 minutes and then the production managers got up from the meeting table to make some money.

Actually it's the French that wanted to call Gothic architecture "in the French style," they thought they invented it. It didn't really begin to be called "Gothic architecture" until after it had gone out of style, back in the day "Goth" meant barbarian or plebian, something "Gothic" was barbaric. And the old styles of architecture certainly seemed barbaric in comparison to the new Classical Revival styles coming in from Italy by the time the Renaissance rolled around.

@Matt: There's a place in my heart for My Chemical Romance, but then again I'm neither emo nor goth.

Lordy lordy, I didn't read that last bit before I posted. I repeated something that had already been mentioned.

I love MCR and my hair is purple but lord. Never had the money, the patience or...I don't know what happened. I guess I grew up?
*gasp*

what would a 3rd century goth think if he saw a goth of today :D

Do they have a philosophy?

Hilarity Ensues

Come on, there's a little emo in everybody. At the end of the day, we all go home, put on some Saves The Day and cry ourselves to sleep.

If they want to look like death, why not just die?

HAHA! omg. the whole concept is funny. Gothic people nowadays are such posers. Everyone gets depressed so shut up.
and i love MCR.

I want to die, but I want to dress up first.

yeah i used to be a HUGE goth in high school because i wanted to prove to everyone that i didn't care what they thought of me. i ended up realizing that i was only proving how much their opinions did matter to me and now i'm just a pothead trying to figure it out.

Funny piece, though I don't doubt the Byzantines conquered the Goths: the latter sacked Rome and founded what became known as the "Holy Roman Empire" in the early middle ages, which was, of course, neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.

"Gothic" was indeed a term of derision for a long time in Western Europe. This changed starting in the 18th century with what we call the "gothic/medieval revival" when some British writers began to appreciate the grandeur of their native architecture as opposed to foreign classical models. The late 18th century also saw the birth of the reviled and admired "gothic novel".

Why modern goths are called goths is still beyond me.

I LOVE when people who have no idea what the fuck they are talking about, try to give a half assed intellectual study of a genre they know nothing about.
Goths are not as conceited as you say we are, god forbid if we dont wear polo shirts and khakis like everyone else. Could it be that even though we use the name goth, we could actually be nice people? Could it be that we see things you dont? Could it be that we know more about beauty than you do?

So i say, why dont you Shut the Fuck up, and learn more about something before you bash it.

Nice people?? This sounds real nice dont you think!! LOL

To who made this cartoon, the star around his neck is a PENTAGRAM, NOT A PENTACLE. GET IT RIGHT.

I can tell ya the whole goth thing is just intended to be a mass market way for the more intelligent to make money from the less enlightened people who look pathetic. It was intended and the pagan symbolism just like their barbarian goth ancestors, give it all away... They celebrate death and... well, it is a tongue in cheek joke on them. Paganism=darkness=death

Oh-the joy of finding this site. I am a Goth. Not the "no one understands me, I don't give a damn what people think, so I'm gonna be a rebel!" Goth, but an actual, friggin' GOTH. I'm 60% Swedish (not every Goth left the places they came from-Sweden, Poland, Ukraine, etc.), and don't appreciate these little shites runnin around playin dress up, and slandering my ancestor's good name. We Destroyed the Eastern Roman Empire's army and killed their fucking Emperor! We fucking sacked Rome-the first people to even come close to Rome since Hannibal and his Carthaginians, bitch! We created the client kingdoms that kept Italy from tearing itself apart! Quit whining that your parents don't love you and grow a pair! Why the hell did you even pick our name? Why not Vandals? Scythians? Roxolani? Alemanni? Lombards? Franks? Bulgars? Burgundians? Hell, call yourselves what you dress up like- Losers. Pathetic, annoying, losers, who-after highschool-are in for a rude awakening...Oh, the things you'll learn-such as; Life's a bitch, deal with it, Moving on. People suck-that's their problem. The government is a corrupt totalitarian system, yadda yadda, etc, hippie slander-whatever, growing a pair, moving on...Glad I could help.