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With the number ofhorrorsequels and reboots featuring Hollywood’s hallmark goth protagonists launched in the last few years, you’d assume it has never been a better time for emos. Think again. Attempts to carry on the glory days of goth subculture and its emo offshoot have had a hard time producing iconic characters. A sad fact evidenced by the reactions toThe Crowremake, theTwilight Saga, and the Jared Leto iterations of the Joker and Morbius. This has to be an extra gut punch for Leto who moonlights as a musician in an emo band. Zoomers' parents had Eric Draven to look up. Who do today’s kids have? Well, we’ve tried scouring for a good response, but unless you want to turn to anime, finding a worthy edge-lord successor with spiked bangs is difficult to come by.
We wouldn’t be so foolish to dismiss the goth/emo lifestyle as a “phase.” For a perfect representation of an old-school goth, The Cure’s Robert Smith’s wardrobe is entirely black even into his sixties. He’s as authentic as they come. Unfortunately, Hollywood studios latched on and rode the trend until the wheels came off. True, goth and its little brother, emo, never really went away. As we speak, My Chemical Romance, Fallout Boy, and Avril Lavigne continue to tour the world in front of large crowds. The continued popularity of emo music and the profitability of the trappings associated with it is contrasted to the rather pathetic lineup of emo heroes we’ve seen on film in recent years, relegated to rehashes and comedic supporting roles.
Gen Xers were spoiled. If you are so fortunate to see a goth in entertainment now, it’s likely the punchline of a comedy routine. SeePortlandia’s when “Goths Go Shopping” for a case of how a trope went from high-concept movie material to sketch-show trope. Nothing so thoroughly destroyed goth/emo’s credibility as one single episode ofSouth Park, eliminating whatever viability black makeup and nihilism had. This came afterSaturday Night Liveruthlessly satirized goths into oblivion in the “Goth Talk” sketch starring the preposterously-named characters Circe Nightshade and Azrael Abyss. This is a fanbase that can’t catch a break when it comes to movies with badass emo leads. For modern viewers, “badass emo lead” is an oxymoron.
Who’s a Goth and Who’s an Emo?
Making a distinction between goth and emo can be challenging. For one thing, they both really love vampires. The easiest test to tell one from the other is to check their age and their social circle. If they wear black every day and can name at least one work by Edgar Allan Poe, they’re likely a goth. If they purchase black clothes pre-torn, they’re probably emo. Goths popped in the late ’70s, stemming from the musical trends in the UK punk movement.
The prototypical subject material wallowed in occult imagery, dark themes, and darker clothing, the first certified goth punk classic name-checkingDraculastar Bela Lugosi.The Hungerfrom 1983combined classic horrorwith a punk soundtrack, creating what was arguably the first goth movie, naturally about vampires. Similarly, the star ofThe Crowis an undead metal guitarist.The goth movement and the film world were always intimately connected, feeding off each other for material and an exploitable identity. The Kohl eyeliner and concert tees didn’t become mandatory until much later.
Goth gave birth to the emo movement, also started by music fans, long after the first batch of punk bands went pop.Emo was introspective and less about the occult genre and nerdy horror references, hence the name (emotional). While some emo-inspired figures did appear in movies and TV from time to time, it was usually only to appropriate their fashion.
2003’sUndergroundis a mainstream vampire movie more than a counter-culture movie, taking more cues fromBladethan a punk rock concert, despite the insistence by fans to the contrary. The classic goth hero/heroine was already becoming passé by this period. This explains why the more extreme emo look largely replaced the relatively muted, basic goth look.Emo ignores movies compared to their goth forebears, and in turn, is ignored by the media far more. You’re more likely to see an emo on social media doing a make-up tutorial than headlining a hit movie.
15 Great Action Movies With a Goth Aesthetic
The influence of gothic styles in cinema has been present for some time, and action movies have used them to great effect.
The Goth Golden Era (1983-2001)
Throughout the ’80s and ’90s there were goth characters aplenty, think Edward Scissorhands, Lydia Deetz (Beetlejuice), Eric Draven (The Crow), Donnie Darko, and the Ally Sheedy character fromThe Breakfast Club. Never mind how the latter character was ruined in the last ten minutes.The Addams Familysitcom arguably started the goth movement all the way back in the ’60s, a full three decades before the movie series revived the characters, and 60 years before the Netflix spin-offWednesday.
John Hughes had a talentfor writing characters, especially teens. Tim Burton understood what it meant to be an outsider stymied by society (Disney fired him). That might be the secret to why certain characters transcend their films and why specific movies click with audiences.The characters were original enough to be interesting and fleshed out adequately to avoid being merely a stock stereotype. Tough guys can be feminine and even vulnerable, as Michael Bibby & Lauren Goodlad break down in their bookGoth: Undead Subculture:
“…men are drawn to the subculture by its rich opportunities to display sensitivity, emotion, theatricality, and artiness–behaviors that, in today’s hypermasculine culture, are not only associated with women, but often invidiously relegated to them.”
We need to point out that sinceDonnie Darkois set in the late ’80s, the title character thus falls squarely into the goth categorization. By no coincidence,the popularity of the trend paralleled the relevance of Tim Burton’s directing career. But that’s an issue to explore for another day. Goth got too popular for its own good. The disheveled, dyed hair, glassy-eyed, Nietzsche-reading, black trenchcoat-bedecked image that identified the villains as scary outsiders in1987’s cult classic Near Darkno longer held the same connotations when every 11-year-old kid dressed up as Neo for Halloween afterThe Matrixcame out. Lydia Deetz fromBeetlejuicewould be labeled a “normie” if she dared walk into a rave today without a nose piercing and fishnet stockings.
How Tim Burton’s Love/Hate Relationship with Disney Shaped His Career
If Tim Burton’s experiences in the industry are any indication, you’re better off not meeting your heroes.
Why Hollywood Can’t Make Edgy Characters Anymore
Unfair as it may be,emos are often perceived as shallow trend chasers, dooming any actor who tries to borrow the aesthetic. The tendency to appropriate the emo or goth look is best exemplified (or parodied) by the oft-memed “emo Peter Parker” scene inSpider-Man 3. “Edgy” Peter Parker wasn’t supposed to be taken seriously, and though the film was not well-received, the unflattering version of Peter Parker reflected the perception of emos as melodramatic, angsty teens acting out. And that makes for a bad hero.
All the more hilarious as Peter Parker isn’t really emo at all in those scenes. He wears black and has the emo haircut, thus the label “emo” was attached, exemplifying howthe term was reduced to a nebulous insult for anyone trying too hard to be deep or hip. Abby Sciuto (played by Pauley Parrette) inNCISis a good example of a well-rounded character who happens to be a goth, but other than the surface-level features, she is no different from any other character. Robert Pattinson boldly pushedthe emo anglein theTwilightseries, but any value in that role is ultimately up to his acting abilities, not his make-up or wardrobe.
The hypocrisy of goths sneering at yuppies' conformity can no longer be ignored when the emo subculture has a mandated uniform, checklist of accepted bands, and default color scheme. All fashion (and cinematic) trends devour their own tail in the end, whether it be hipster, greaser, or disco chic.When goth characters succeed now, it’s as an homage or straight recreation of another person’s performance. Jenny Ortega’s Wednesday Addams doesn’t distinguish herself all that much from Christina Ricci’s in tone or delivery, itself a slight modification of the macabre character from the 1964 ABC comedy.
Characters created from whole cloth don’t fare as well in terms of impact and longevity. With all apologies to Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara, we doubt anyone is going to be cosplaying as Lisbeth Salander come 2050. A famous emo kid once wrote that the flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long. We assume he was a goth since he was obsessed with death and candles. In any case, he perfectly summed up the exquisite rise and embarrassing fall of the somber protagonist with black lipstick.
