Goths are Dark.
Not Dangerous Whatever the two young men in Colorado might have imagined themselves to be, they weren't Goths. The morose community, much too diffuse to be called a movement, is at its heart quiet, introverted and pacifistic. "Goths are moony, romantic, fantasizing," says Johnny Angel, writer/actor/musician and author of a recent New Times magazine story titled "When Is Goth Going to Explode?" "They love to communicate over the Internet, but they are playful and fascinated by all things that are innocent and childlike." Goths span several continents and as many generations, including 14-year-olds who listen to early '80s new-wave music and 35-year-olds who study medieval French literature. They are known for dressing in dark, flowing clothing, listening to sonorous, depressing music, and affecting pale, luminous skin and heavy makeup for men and women. While they may seem flamboyant, most Goths are fairly shy, preferring to hang out with friends or go dancing in Goth clubs. An air of sullen ennui is much more Goth than any kind of violence. "Goths are the least violent people you could ever meet," Angel says. Goths take their name from the Gothic novels of the 18th and 19th centuries, with horror-tinged mysteries, violence, supernatural effects and a taste for the medieval. The Goths of today began to coalesce around the punk rock movement in the late '70s, which shifted into the pensive new wave of the early '80s. Groups such as Joy Division and New Order, with songs of sadness and loss, are still on the playlists at Goth clubs. Goths tend to be outcasts, not because they are violent or aggressive, but the opposite. "It was book-reading, nerdy kids, artists and writers, kids who were more interested in the psychological aspects of being alive," says Norman, a willowy young woman who goes by one name and works in a small stationery store in San Francisco. As for the boys' black raincoats, described by some as a Goth uniform, Norman breaks into a quiet smile. "Trench coats aren't elegant and refined enough to be Goth. Maybe a '40s tuxedo cutaway, but not a trench coat." Contributing: Elizabeth Snead
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