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This is the place, all right
by Maranda (saboneta@aol.com)
on Oct 17, 2001 - 01:00 PM
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This is certainly the place to get some intelligent, knowledgeable feedback. I recently wrote a human interest-type article on Goth, and while I did immerse myself briefly in my local Goth scene, these people were helpful and willing to talk to me.
If I learned anything really important about Goth culture, it is that Goth is about respecting and appreciating those parts of oneself and one's world that the mainstream culture tries the hardest to deny. This was, for me, the essence of Goth. Once I understood that, I understood a lot of things.
You say your character is trying to copy her sister's lifestyle. If the sister felt ostracized and rejected because she was a Goth, and your main character decided to honor her by keeping alive the one thing the mundane world disliked the most about her, that would be very Goth. Perhaps she could start out painting her eyes black and wearing velvet and vinyl, and eventually realize that the simple decision to honor her sister's Gothic identity is the most Gothic thing of all.
Or, her sister's death could provide the catalyst for her to begin thinking about the great mysterious cycle of death and life, and develop a greater appreciation for that cycle. The adolescent romps in the graveyard could give way to a real appreciation of the dead; their lives, their stories, and their memorials, since those memorials remind us that our own time is limited.
Just some ideas. I'll shut up now.
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