While the origins of goth have been heavily debated and researched, little attention seems to have been paid to the factors that have affected gothic culture in more recent years.One of my first memories of goth entering the mainstream was the release of The Crow. We’re all familiar with the horribly applied face paint of Crow fans, but no matter what your current opinion of the movie or its fans, you must admit that it put a big, bright spotlight on what had been hiding in the shadows for a good while.
Then there was the Craft. Despite the innacurate picture the movie drew of goth, with it’s psychopathic, trailer trash, wiccan Nancy, it resulted in little girls everywhere timidly walking in to their local occult bookstore to buy candles and books. Everyone’s seen it, I remember it getting nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight, and it egged on the growing trendiness of goth.And then, the moment most goths wish they could erase – a south Florida metal band called Marilyn Manson released their cover of “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics, and we all know what happened after that. I don’t want to give you nightmares, but remember when his face was on every magazine cover imaginable? His band spawned countless devotees, and all of a sudden parents had yet another trend to be afraid of. Unfortunatly, it got worse. There was Columbine, and the Trenchcoat Mafia, and all that bs. It’s still fucking things up for us – on the news a few weeks ago, there was a story about a girl who got caught with a people to kill list and the parent they interviewed mentioned that she wore black lipstick and all black as if that summed it up about who she was. And last spring, I was at a street fair with a big group of my friends, and we were stopped by police and questioned because my friend was wearing a trench coat. The paranoia won’t die down for years….If anyone else remembers other significant events that affected the image or popularity of goth, I’d be interested to hear about it.