by Mr. Jay L.

Created on: May 06, 2008   Last Updated: June 17, 2011

Theatricality is the core of how many people in the Gothic subculture project themselves. It is an attempt by an individual to assume a manner of self-presentation that projects an ideal of individuality; this visible persona, once adopted, is then used to both draw attention to the individual as well as distance from the common, mass-market consumptive individual. Becoming a Goth is also an attempt by the individual to explore alternative perspectives and ideologies in an effort to not feel like little more than a number on a population census.

In what way do I support this theory? Through the simple expediency of having lived both in the heart of the subculture as well as flitting through its periphery. I slowly became enmeshed in the subculture in the late 1980s, when it was originally referred to as Death Rock; even though I was a child, I felt the resonance in the older teens and young adults laboring and living under the threats of a collapsing U.S. economy, nuclear war, and Communist invasion. I understood the disillusionment that led to a fatalistic view of the world and shared it, even as I embraced the punk and post-punk ideal of individuality.

After I graduated from high school in 1994 I plunged headlong into the culture. I experienced many varieties of the subculture in the Los Angeles and Orange County, California, areas; upon entering the military and traveling around the U.S., I sought out and explored an even greater variety.

What I found was a broad variety of ideals in what could only be termed as sub-subcultures. Yet theatricality was the common thread that bound them all together.

Let me describe some of the ones I have seen...

The Los Angeles Goth - This is just a broad stereotype applied to a large geographic area; by no means is it all inclusive even though it is the most frequently encountered. These Goths look much like Marilyn Manson in many ways - even though Marilyn Manson is not generally accepted as being a Gothic band. They have the wild hairdos, PVC and pleather clothing, torn fishnets, black nail polish, and occult symbolism that the media loves to show.

These are the Goths who are into the shock value of their appearance, and they love to have people stop and stare. There seems to be a smug superiority to these people; coming from one of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., with the added bonus of being the home of Hollywood, Los Angeles Goths seem to think that there definition of the Gothic movement should be the standard,

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