Word: gothic
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Although the ballet is rife with the elaborate costumes, sets and special effects we have come to expect with Disneyesque productions, the inherent integrity of the dancing, Liszt's music and the gothic tale itself do not let the ballet become a sticky-sweet morality tale in the style of Beauty and the Beast. It is an odd mixture, to be sure--appealing more to those accustomed to home-videos of rhythmically-inclined crustaceans than those with box seats already lined up for next year's Firebird. And while Dracula proves to be an exciting show, it is just that...
...think much can be explained by the trench coats, not because they are long and black and what the kids call Gothic, but because they look alike; they conceal differences. People who are attracted to clans and cults seek to lose their individuality and discover power and pride in a group. As individuals, the killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were vulnerable, taunted by the other tribes in school--the cliques, the athletes--as geeks and nerds. "He just put a gun to my head," a girl reported. "And he started laughing and saying it was all because people were...
...other week, the disclaimer on the door of Inkubus Haberdashery, a Gothic fashion store in Miami's Coconut Grove district, would have seemed as out of place as the boutique itself. THE GOTHIC COMMUNITY IN NO WAY CONDONES THE USE OF VIOLENCE, it read. WE ARE APPALLED BY THE KILLINGS AND BY THE INFERENCE THAT THE MURDERERS BELONGED TO OUR CULTURE. Inside, owner Malaise Graves lamented the spotlight the Littleton killings had suddenly thrown on Goth culture. "I'm afraid this violent stereotyping of us is only going to get worse now," she sighed...
...current manifestation of Gothic culture began with the British punk scene in the early '80s. Bands like Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Joy Division created the atmospheric doom-rock sound. A clothing style evolved that was part Johnny Rotten, part Anne Rice and all black. Acolytes sometimes took an interest (purely academic) in subjects such as Satanism and blood drinking, which ensured this was one rebellion that would never enter the mainstream. In the '90s shock rockers like Manson appropriated the image and blurred the lines--until any shaggy-haired, trench-coat-wearing teen could be considered a Goth...
...sort Altman has been perping for decades, ensue. And though Neal, Charles S. Dutton (as Neal's best friend) and Liv Tyler (as the town's wild child) have charm to burn, the film mostly simmers. Like Camille's theatricals, the Anne Rapp script dawdles through predictable Southern Gothic plot twists that a real writer like Beth Henley would use to showcase memorably bent characters. Rapp's idea of character comedy is to have the movie's villain literally caught with her hand in the cookie jar. This little essay on greed and blurred bloodlines is another footnote...