An Overview Of Goth Culture

Twenty-five-year-old Kimveer Gill wrote about his fascination with guns and extremely violent video games, including Super Columbine Massacre, based on the deadly rampage in Colorado in 1999.

Gill posted his grim and violent thoughts and pictures of himself posing with weapons on vampirefreaks.com, a website that’s been linked to two other high-profile Canadian murder cases, including a triple murder in Medicine Hat, Alta. and the Johnathan murder trial in Toronto.

Despite the violent links to this U.S.-based goth culture website, those who operate the web address claim Gill’s actions do not in any way reflect the attitudes and actions of the goth community.

“… we do not condone or influence this type of behavior in any way. just because someone goes around shooting people and happens to be a member of vampirefreaks, doesn’t mean that this website has influenced him to do such a horrible thing,” site owner Jethro Berelson said in a Sept. 14 post on the site.

“the goth scene is a very friendly, nurturing, non violent community and we are very supportive of our users and do not condone any illegal activities. we have an excellent team of administrators who moderate this site, and a useful system which allows all users to report illegal and suspicious activity.

“i do think this event is a tragedy but i feel that this site is wrongly being associated with the shooting … i just want to ask our members to really try to set a good example to the world, to show that we really are caring, responsible, non-violent people.”

So what exactly is goth culture and what does it stand for? Here’s a brief overview of the modern movement born out of the punk scene of the late 1970s:

Goth culture is most recognizable its through style and music. Those who embrace the philosophy tend to wear dark coloured or black clothing often with touches of Victorian, Edwardian, or Medieval influences, may have body piercings and heavy, dark makeup.

Music is also a major part of the culture, but there are a number of other things that help define what it is to be goth, according to the website religioustolerance.org, including:

• Its unique art, literature (Anne Rice, Oscar Wilde, Dostoevsky, Mary Shelley) and music (see below)
• Wearing symbols, including the Christian cross; an Egyptian ankh or Eye of Ra; a Wiccan pentacle
• Passive, non-violent and tolerant attitudes
• Feelings of being withdrawn from the rest of society
• Fascination with death. But in contrast many Goths observe the beauty in the world and express optimism for the future
• Role playing games, other intellectual or creatively challenging activities

Music

Music was the driving force behind the modern goth movement. According to a Sept 15th article from the British publication The Independent, goth music was a “working class youth culture that grew out of punk as a response to Thatcherism.”

Some of the bands that heavily influenced the goth movement include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, KMFDM.

Goth music includes a number of sub genres including dark metal, dark techno, 80s dark wave, medieval, and 90s grunge.

The goth sound tends to be underground so there are only a few internationally recognized artists who could be considered goth, including Nine Inch Nails and Love and Rockets.

The Wave Gotik Treffen is considered to be the biggest gothic music festival in the world. It happens every year in Leipzig, Germany. The first major concert happened in 1992.

Fetish Fashion

Fetish wear is often worn by people in the goth scene simply for fashion and not for an actual sexual fetish. Some attire may include leather, latex and PVC, corsets, collars and chains.

History and Background

The words goth or gothic have had a few different meanings in the past including:

• The name of the Germanic Visigoth tribes that overthrew the Roman Empire. From this source a goth came to be known as a barbarian or an uncivilized person.
• A style of architecture in Western Europe from the 12th to 16th centuries.
• A style of horror/mystery literature

Courtesy religioustolerance.org

The opening of the Batcave in London helped to strengthen the modern goth movement in the early 1980s.

Gothic Style Movies

The Crow
Beetlejuice
Edward Scissorhands
Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Nosferatu
Interview With The Vampire