The idea behind this game is simple: get as belligerently drunk as possible. Here are the rules:
1. Watch any of Kenneth Anger's films. 2. Drink every time an image draped in homoeroticism appears on the screen. 3. Drink double for every inch of penis that you see. 4. Get angry and break things. 5. Yell at strangers and tell them how wrong they are about everything. 6. Vomit. 6. Angrily call Gonzalo and make him cry. 6. Eat a bag of fried. 7. Call Gonzalo back and apologize. Tell him you didn't mean it. 8. Break some more things and then strike an inanimate object that you mistake for a real live person. 9. Explain to the cops that you were doing a school project. Call them pigs too. 10. Call Peg to bail you out of jail.
This drinking game is by far the best because it will get you the most drunk.
Basically the game goes like this:
Take a shot every time Martin Sheen is too talented to be in this movie.
Now I understand that this game may kill some of you, as taking shots every five seconds over the course of a two hour movie may be dangerous, but it can be modified to fit the drinking habits of a particular person:
Do you see Martin's lip quiver ever so subtly when enraged? Take a drink.
Do you see Martin's eyes wistfully looking off in the distance, searching the ether for his dead wife? Take a drink.
Does Martin make you feel the love he has for his son despite the fact that the boy has the acting talent of a gutted fish? Take a drink.
When Martin's new girlfriend writhes in terrified agony at the spiders hatching from her cheek, do you long Martin's soothing, dominant presence? Take a drink.
Basically, this game comes down to this: You should drink at times when Martin Sheen isn't on screen, you'll just enjoy the movie more.
Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.
Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.
Rumors of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings.
Purported victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure.
"You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you. We've had a number of attempted lynchings. ... You see them covered in marks after being beaten," Kinshasa's police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Police arrested the accused sorcerers and their victims in an effort to avoid the sort of bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 suspected penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs. The 27 men have since been released.
"I'm tempted to say it's one huge joke," Oleko said.
"But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To that I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it'," he said.
Some Kinshasa residents accuse a separatist sect from nearby Bas-Congo province of being behind the witchcraft in revenge for a recent government crackdown on its members.
"It's real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny," said 29-year-old Alain Kalala, who sells phone credits near a Kinshasa police station.
Hopping on the "How teenage witchcraft changed my life" bandwagon, I began dating a girl freshman year of high-school who was a self proclaimed wiccan, who began her dabbling after seeing "The Craft" in theaters. She, like the characters in the film, turned to wicca as an escape from her teenage troubles. Now, seeing that her mother was a completely unhinged self proclaimed Druid, my ex was of the more earthy crunchy variety of witch, with a large portion of Marion Zimmer Bradley thrown in (she believed wholeheartedly in the Rule of Three). This being said, it did not make her below stooping to the levels of the girls in The Craft. After being together for a year she reveals to me that she cast a kind of "love spell" to bring us together... now it was more a 'influence energies already present' as opposed to a Skeet Ulrich kind of spell, but still it weirded me out a little. By the end of high school she began to veer away from the ritualistic practice and began thinking of it as more of a philosophy... but she was still prone to pray to the goddess every once in a while. Unfortunately, she also turned out to be to be more like her mother than either of us had hoped and caught a case of the "Nancys" and after a messy year or so we broke up. But her spiritual beliefs still influence me today. Now, I have no idea as to where we come from, are going, or what we should be doing in the mean time spiritually speaking, but I find myself leaning more towards believing in an elemental interconnectedness-of-all-things that is a cornerstone of she believed in.
And now for something completely different...
For those of you who don't know, the "Angry Video Game Nerd" is, according to Wikipedia (oh, that's right) is, "the titular character and name of a series of Internet video farcical retrogaming video game reviews by James D. Rolfe. Here's his review of Mario 3, and the 1989 film "The Wizard"...in the end, he proves that Mario 3 and Nintendo is the devil and an 'entertaining' parody of "The Exorcist" ensues... enjoy... oh, he swears alot too...
Here is the Ninth Gate drinking game. This game has been designed to get you so drunk that if you were disappointed by the ending (as I know some of you were) that you wont be conscious to see it; or if you were disappointed by the weird CGI during the "sex at langella's death castle" scene (like I was) that you again, won't be conscious to see it. You will need beer and a liquor of your choice.
Here goes kiddies;
TAKE A SHOT ANYTIME...
Johnny Depp lights a cigarette The Baroness smacks into a wall after she's dead (you might need to watch this in slow motion to get an accurate count) You see the initials LCF
TAKE 2 SHOTS ANYTIME...
Someone mentions their impression of someone else's library (good or bad) Johnny Depp leaves his bag somewhere and the devil chick gives it to him You see Sisqo Jr. standing somewhere menacingly
CHUG YOUR BEER ANYTIME...
You see the devil chick's socks (for more than a split second) Frank Langella sounds like Christopher Lee on the phone Johnny Depp opens a fridge
NOTE: if anyone actually tries this and gets sick or hospitalized i'll totally have to change my name and move to canada- so drink responsibly. that being said, i'll probably try this.
1996- The Craft was released; I was a latchkey kid with access to HBO and two parents who worked. Despite my catholic upbringing and my parents' insistence that I be a good, upstanding member of society I was claimed by Satan. That's right, it happened as easily as if I'd been claimed by a kidnapper, pedophile or abortionist. My friends and I began to spend our afternoons in the backyard fiddling with the supernatural. We dyed our confirmation dresses black and pierced all the loose skin we could find. The fact is, we didn't understand what we were messing with. We were blinded by the glamorous portrayal of witchcraft in the movie, the outward beauty of the actresses and their ability to control the people who scorned them. It's a long story but four people ended up dead and my friend Sally is in a mental institution. She still sends me pentagrams and piercings for my birthday. (the gross part is that they're her piercings...and they're not being removed by a doctor if you get my drift.)We had to learn the hard way that magic, like anything else, has to be practiced in moderation. Heed this lesson well, Peg Aloi's Cinema and the Occult class, for I have shed blood to learn it's significance. -Shiva
A/N The truth is that there is a force in the Universe and it needs to be treated with respect. Those chicks in the movie are stupid in the way that all teenagers are stupid. They are ruled by their emotions and they lack perspective. My grandmother is an astrologer and a numerologist and I grew up (after the catholic thing-which is true) with an understanding of the forces in the universe and our place within them. (I'm not saying I'm an authority- I'm just saying I'm not gonna hex my bully's hair off her head.) My brother and I both believe ourselves to be healers and I've done experiments with honing energy but I understand that energy is only to be used for good intentions and that if you use it negatively it's only gonna slap you in the face later, I don't necessarily stick to any code or believe in the three times back to you thing but I believe that what goes around comes around. ...and now that my crazy has spilled out a bit, I'll say see you in class. -Claudia
For shots: try one of the classic 3 (make it double shots for the classic 666) – vodka, rum, or whiskey For a cocktail: try a Bloody Mary, gives delicious suggestions of gore and religion.
The Directions are extremely simple for those who are stupid drunks.
-Those playing as Kathy take a shot/sip every time the camera has a shot of her “scared” eyes -Those playing as Robert take a shot/sip every time Gregory Peck gives the “stern yet worried” eyes. -Those playing as Damien take a shot/sip every time the camera has a creepy shot of his “evil” eyes. -Those playing as the Priest should take a shot every time the camera shows his “crazed” eyes, immediately after shot perform the “father, son and holy spirit”.
Okay, so I thought I'd give us a little drinking game to make the hopelessly bleak Paradise Lost a little more palatable (or a little more bleak - alcohol being a depressant).
TAKE 1 DRINK WHEN:
Someone invokes God to rain vengeance down upon Jesse Misskelley Someone invokes God to punish Jason Baldwin in the pits of Hell Someone invokes God to torture Damien Echols with fire and brimstone Someone invokes God to help them forgive
TAKE 2 DRINKS WHEN:
Someone in the police department admits to losing a piece of evidence Someone in the police department mentions how agreeable Jesse Misskelley was during his interrogation Someone in the police department repeats a question asked to them with their eyebrows raised, their eyes wide, and their jaw slack like an eight year-old asked who kicked the dog Someone in the police department congratules themself on their police work
TAKE 3 DRINKS WHEN:
You think to yourself "John Mark Byers is fucking crazy." You think to yourself "I wonder if John Mark Byers murdered the...naaaaah!" You think to yourself "Good Lord. I wonder if John Mark Byers really did it. Maybe the documentarians are just painting him that way..." You think to yourself "Well, it's understandable that the three boys were convicted. Everyone in that room deserves a little slack - all of them being the children of in-bred Cthulhu fish people unaccustomed to the nature of logic and reality."
TAKE 4 DRINKS WHEN:
You are ready to die of alcohol poisoning and leave this horrific planet for good and join the Dark Lord himself.
One of my favorite movies is The Prophecy, starring Christopher Walken as Gabriel. Released in 1995, its one of the first movies I know that start referring to the Archangel Gabriel as the nemesis of man. The idea here is that Gabriel gets sick of man not taking full advantage of there free will and scorning God for it. After all thats happened with the war against heaven and hell, people seem to be knowingly choosing hell. Gabriel decides waiting for the apocalypse just doesn't cut it for him, and its time he quick starts it. The Archangel Gabriel has fallen from grace and is now here to destroy us. Beyond that though, the plot thickens. While this is causing another heavenly civil war similar to the fall of Lucifer, of those with Gabriel and those still loyal to man and God, there's also a third side. Lucifer (played amazingly by Viggo Mortensen) doesn't want Gabriel to win, "because two hells is one hell too many, and I can't have that." So, grudgingly, Lucifer helps man to overthrow Gabriel. One movie doing this, not a big deal. But Since that, multiple other movies have come out with somewhat similar ideas. Most accessible are the sequels of the prophecy, Constantine, and Dogma. Dogma is a little different seeing as the devil plays less of a role, although we do get a sense that he's not happy about what Gabriel is doing. Constantine on the other hand takes the plot straight forward.
I think the movie has interesting implication. Gabriel and Lucifer for a long time have been symbols. Gabriel is a symbol for Christianity, or perhaps organized religion in its whole for the western world, and Lucifer representing science. With that in mind, Gabriel is betraying man, sick and tired of us and just wants to end us. In that light, its saying organized religion has betrayed us, has led us astray and left us to die. With growing bedgrudgement against religion, its hard not to think thats what the creators were saying with The Prophecy . But there's a second statement surrounding Lucifer's character. Lucifer tell us he isn't helping us because he wants to, "Y'see, I'm not here to help you and the little bitch because I love you or because I care for you,"but because he simply can't allow there to be more out there than him. If Lucifer is science, what does that say about science? Science is amoral, it doesn't give a damn what happens to us or if we understand us. It won't be here for our emotions or lack of security, it simply is there. We can use it, and it can use us...but thats all we'll get, abuse back and forth.
I find the statement hidden in the movie something amazing to think about. While Lucifer and Gabriel are the most obvious thinks pointing to this idea, the two main humans are also battling their own ideas of faith and it further presses this idea. At the least, its just an awesome movie, and Viggo Mortensen gives perhaps the best performance of Lucifer ever. Definitely an amazing movie.
*What does this have to do about the Peg Aloi article we had to read? Nothing. BUT, this was going to be my final paper. That didn't work out. Instead my final paper became a response to the article, and as such I bumped this idea to a blog post instead, just in case I don't already have 5+ posts.
Teenage dabbling in witchcraft is something most of us would probably consider a harmless activity. Light some candles, burn some incense, pray to the Goddess. All in fun and games, unless you’re Willow Rosenburg. I’m an avid Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, and I’ve always thought of the case of Willow’s witchcraft to be a strange one. It started out fine; Willow was a more or less competent dabbler. The show never presented her fascination as bad or evil. Given the premise of the show, it would have been odd for them to do so. Which leads me to season 6 of Buffy. Inexplicably, witchcraft became a bizarre metaphor for drug abuse and addiction. I consider it to be right up there among the worst misplaces drug allegories on TV.(anyone else remember “I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so….. scared!”) What makes this case all the more strange is that the show is basically putting witchcraft in a bad light. It makes it seem that practicing witchcraft is dangerous. Willow, probably the show’s sweetest character, is transformed into a crazy evil villain, bent on destroying the world. Up until this point, the show had basically been promoting some forms of witchcraft. Willow’s magic managed to save the day using her powers. Now she’s addicted? The witchcraft in Buffy had a clearly feminist bent. The show itself was bent on female empowerment. Witchcraft itself seems to be far more female friendly than other types of accepted religions. It prominently worships female deities as equal to, or even superior to, male deities. All this has made it an attractive alternative for some of the feminist movement. Which makes this season 6 plotline more out of place. Not only does Willow go crazy, but it is only Xander, her male best friend, who can save them all. If you look at, it almost seems like an anti-feminist statement. Willow “overdoses” on empowering herself, and must be kept in check by the show’s resident man. This scene is similar to the scene in The Craft when Fairuza Balk goes crazy on power. If the practice of witchcraft really does represent a kind of female empowerment, then what kinds of messages are we sending by showing these dabblers going crazy because of their dabblings? Are these movies really an invitation to witchcraft, or a slam against empowerment? Perhaps I read too much into the situation, but it is something interesting to consider.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Faruiza Balk, depicted above, wasted out of her fucking cauldron.
The Craft Drinking Games
My game has three stages, because if I learned one thing from the movie, self-restrain is necessary and its never to good to get drunk (with power).
If you're a teenage dabbler, only drink when:
Skeet Ulrich says anything that makes him sound remotely smart (he is dreamy though... sigh). Marsha Brady isn't a total bitch. You remember that anyone in this movie besides Faruiza Balk has family members.
If you're an experienced member of a coven of four, you drink when:
A homeless man inexplicably appears and then dissapears with no explanation. Take a shot if the homeless man mutters incoherently about a snake (don't all homeless men mumble incoherently about their snakes?) Faruiza Balk's mom downs a drink, which is whenever she's on screen. You spot an upside down cross worn as jewelry.
If you're a natural witch, drink when:
People get what's comin' to 'em, but with magic. Someone transforms into someone else, Mission Impossible style but with magic. Poorly dated CGI effects happen (if it's a bad CGI effect and a transformation spell rolled into one, drink your whole bottle).
The End Now your drunk, and it's all thanks to Professor Aloi! And also magic.
Through the 90's, film and television's depictions of witches transformed a great deal of well worn perceptions. No longer were witches green-skinned, hair-moled, pointy-hated hags, but sexy, vibrant, young women. As Professor Aloi's essay makes clear, The Craft and several other popular texts created role models for young teenage girls. In many ways, the power fantasies inherent in superheroes for teenage males thrived in relation to witchcraft and teen girls. Giving a sense of empowerment to a demographic whose voice can many times be largely ignored, the witchcraft explosion served as a welcome tool in teenage development. Wiccan practice for many teens influenced by such texts as The Craft, or Charmed was probably in many cases a form of rebellion. It was stronger rebellion for girls growing up in conservative regions of the country. As stated by Christian writer, Steve Wohlberg, Witchcraft had gone mainstream (this is this guy's site http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/articles/details.cfm?art=20). Kids growing up in the nineties undoubtedly felt a close bond with their television witch counterparts, as evidenced by the intense fanbase of shows like Buffy and the ilk.
But now, for the most part, depictions of witches has all but dried up. As a generation grew up and went to college, a new set filled the highschools and the demographics. The shows changed from following the adventures of the overly burdened Buffy and Willow, to the exploits of rich and shallow teens of The O.C. Shows like The Hills and My Super Sweet Sixteen have marked a change in programming aimed at teenage girls. Could a change in values over a scant few years be the reason the witches are currently absent from television and film of late? I'm not really sure, and to be honest, this blog entry is more of "outloud thinking" than anything else.
The metaphor for female empowerment and witchcraft is strong indeed, and the media tapped into it to target a particular demgraphic. It seems like now, teenage girls have flocked less to the strong female role models of Willow and Tara and fed into the cell-phoniness of celebrities like Paris Hilton and the stars of The Hills. From witches to bitches, I guess. With the Harry Potter's books all wrapped up, and the last of the movies on the way, the popularity of wiccan and witchcraft may have waned, which is a shame, considering the fact that, despite Christian outcrying of occult depictions, these media works have had overall a positive impact on the teens that have connected to them.
Requirements: Hard alcohols and mixers of your choice. Suggested: Vodka, Gin, Rum, Tequila, Coke or Sprite, and Sweet and Sour Mix. The movie Masque of the Red Death. The ability to remember color coding. And of course, shot glasses and cups.
Pre-watching: However you want, color code each of the drinks with any of the 6 major colors.
Alright, start the movie! For every scene, find the [b]major[/b] colors in the scene...and mix the drink together, and drink!
If you are using mostly hard alcohols, everyone doing this every scene will equate to mass suicide, and as such you probably want 3 people minimum, and one person has to make the drink, one person has to drink said drink, and another person attempts to identify the major colors.
Not only are you getting drunk fast, you get to make new mixed drinks and try to remember them in the morning. You may want to choose your colors so that you know the last drink will finish anyone off, and my suggested drinks will make the last few scenes be nothing but AMF's.
The popular media that inspired young teens to be interested in Witchcraft or becoming Witches seemed to slowly go down the wayside besides the Harry Potter Books and films of course. The media had shows and movies such as "Bewitched", "Teen Witch", "HalloweenTown"," Sabrina, the Teenage Witch", "Charmed", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "The Craft", "Practical Magic", and shows that had an episode featuring a theme of Witchcraft has dwindled down and there is not anything like this for the new Hannah Monata generation. However, this is going to change very soon. The release of a remake of "Teen Witch" is in the works. Ashley Tisdale is going to be the new modern teen witch, Louise Miller. The movie is about Louise being an unpopular girl who finds out she is a witch and is taught by an elder woman how to possess her natural powers which in turns makes her the "coolest girl" at school. This movie when it was released in the late 80's was a huge success. Many girls who identified with being unpopular wanted to be Louise and inspired them to want to be Witches. If this film project makes it into production and releases, it could possibly be the beginning to a new era of hot tv shows and movies involving witches. The media knows this will be a hit because it will be an updated version of what has already worked in the past. There are a new generation of unpopular, nerdy, rebellious and outsider kids who will eat up movies like remake of "Teen Witch"
On its face, the Hughes Bros. film (link) may seem like a simple "whodunnit". The source material on which the film is based presents something much more sinister. "...From Hell" was originally a serialized graphic novel, written by Alan Moore. Both plots concern the Jack the Ripper murders and make the claim that they were actually a part of a city-wide Masonic conspiracy to cover up an illegitimate Catholic child by the son of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert Victor. The film concerns itself mostly with this plot and is probably why it was seen as such a disappointment to the fans of Alan Moore's work. Although hinted at in the film, the graphic novel goes much deeper into the motivations behind the killings. The theme of the story is male fear, male society, in this case, represented by the Masons.
"Jack", as this story posits, is the real-life royal physician Sir William Gull. In this fictionalized account, Gull had a spiritual awakening during a stroke in which he saw the Masonic God Jahbulon. This event drastically changes Gull's world view. He takes on the Ripper murders because he believes he is performing an occult ritual with "Victorian London as its Altar" as Moore has stated. A scene in the graphic novel has Gull recite his politics to his stagecoach. Gull claims that women and the unconscious mind, what he calls the "Dionysian Age", once ruled over men and reason, what he calls the "Apollonian Age". In his Masonic visions he sees women's suffrage on the rise and believes that by performing these occult murders, he will be able to "deliver the 20th century" to male "reasoned" society. Gull's actions are ironic as he is performing a magic ritual to preserve reason.
Moore never really lets on as to whether he believes Gull to be simply insane or "enlightened". While Gull undertakes the murders, Moore references different events going on at the same time that would have a profound affect on the next hundred years: New scientific leaps that would lead to the atomic bomb, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, and the conception of Adolf Hitler. Gull's Masonic brothers certainly think him insane by the end of the story, so much so that they lobotomize him. Through Gull's perspective, however, this allows him to transcend time and space itself, whereby performing the ritual, he is able to influence both past and future events. The final pages have a disembodied Gull going back in time to inspire William Blake's "The Ghost and the Flea" as well as traveling forward in time by influencing future serial killers like Peter Sutcliffe and Ian Brady (apparently to "deliver" the 21st century).
Professor Aloi's article on the rise of witchcraft among young women led me to believe that "From Hell" would be this "uprisings" antithesis; the male fear at what amounts to a new female empowerment movement.
That's only tangentially important - but the reading did mention The 700 Club, so I thought I'd stick that in there as context for those unfamiliar.
I'm not quite sure if this particular post is supposed to be a response to the reading or just inspired by it, but I'm going to lean toward the latter and just kind of riff off the lines "...for the teen Witchcraft movement, the chronicling of emerging trends and practices can really only be observed at a generational remove, until these teens are of an age where they can do their own research." (121 - PEG ALOI!!)
Since I am of the age to do my own research, and eventhough I was never really a part of the "teen Witchcraft movement," I have a bit to say here just from my own experiences.
I can remember in middle school there were the goths - as in every middle school in the 80's onward. As an outsider myself (though more of a nerdy, science-fiction, awkward nose-picker than a sleak, angsty/stoic Cure fan) I was friendly with the Goths, and I think Peg's comment that "from a philosophical standpoint it may be that a generation raised in a culturally-conservative, fear-ridden culture would naturally be drawn to a form of adolescent rebellion that would stand out starkly" (117 - should I really cite what you know that you wrote, Peg?) (Peg sez: dude, I barely remember my own name some days, so have at it.) is accurate. Being a Goth kind of made sense to me, I felt drawn to it, and I had a few conversations with the Goths regarding Christianity. But despite the initial draw, I was disturbed by what I found there.
Having been excommunicated from my Catholic church, but still retaining a good deal of guilt-centered residue, I was really taken aback by the vitriol my friends spouted. I distinctly remember my friend Marcus shouting "The Bible is a story meant to teach people things, it didn't really happen! God's not real!" Now, this is a completely harmless and inoffensive statement, but it disturbed me. Those guys listened to Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson! I listened to Trance music.
Anyways, the reason I bring this poorly written memory up is because I think I may have - in that moment - felt the fear and anxiety that the entire town of West Memphis felt all day everyday. That is to say, I was momentarily an absolute conduit for ideology. Despite the closeness or distance I had from the church, my individual identity was set aside momentarily and replaced by Catholic doctrine. In a way, I still contained believed in Catholicism, despite the fact that it kicked my family out. I used to feel as though my reaction to Marcus's vitriol was because I was simply "innocent," but now I realized that I was simply a tool (another band the Goths seemed to enjoy). As time went by, and my Catholicism was left at the curb, I emerged from the doctrine, and in high school I became a Drama Kid, which is as close as you can get to Goth without surrendering the tortured artistic pretensions.
I just finished reading Michelle Goldberg's "Kingdom Coming" The Rise of Christian Nationalism." In it, there's a section that discusses the Religious Right's belief regarding homosexuality - we all know it for the most part. What some don't know is that, since they believe that homosexuality is a choice, they believe that children can be conditioned out of it. This is known as Reparative Therapy. Places like Focus on the Family - a prominent source of religious talking heads for most cable news outlets looking to "balance" debates - is one of the primary proponents of such indoctrination. And what are the signs of emergent homosexuality in children? Goldberg quotes Focus on the Family's website: "tendency to cry easily, be less athletic, and dislike the roughhousing that other boys enjoy." Sounds familiar. Gay? Goth? Drama Kid? Emo (the 21st Century version of the Goth)? Damien Echols? The Trench Coat Mafia? Pagans? Abortionists? Feminists?
I bring this up because "Paradise Lost" had a profound effect on me. I'd seen miscarriage-of-justice documentaries like the "The Thin Blue Line" before, but I really saw myself in Damien Echols. Both he and I and everyone in our class and everyone Falwell mentions on The 700 Club probably fulfill Focus on the Family's non-Mook rubrick for Pavlovian reconditioning. As Peg points out in her piece we all read, the Goths, et al are a product of the very culture that condemns them - and sentences them to die by lethal injection.
Although I was well aware of it before seeing the film, "Paradise Lost" made it disturbingly clear that my friends (Marcus and the Goths) and myself could have been beside Echols in that courtroom. Not because we moved in similar circles (hell, we were in different states), but because the Religious Right is just so powerful...and crazy.
So TJ started up the black metal conversation on his last post and I've decided to carry the torch, so to speak. While the article discussed the media influence on teens into perusing the occult as having a more or less benign effect, the influence of black metal's model of Satanism has yielded, at least for more than a few individuals, particularly destructive results. By no means do I wish to argue that Occult influences generally have such an impact, as the Scandinavian spawned black metal scene appears to function more on gut-level rebellion than any sort of real centralized ethos (in its effect anyhow, in my opinion), it is worth noting that like the rise in interest in Wicca caused by such teen films as “The Craft,” this craze was sparked by charismatic media figures who caught the attention of particular teens who felt themselves marginalized.
In what is probably a vast oversimplification of how the scene evolved, I'm going to quickly pull a quick synopsis of its roots. There were popular bands dabbling with occult themes like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath, while additionally, other groups like Coven took it to a greater lengths. Based on my research on the topic,it is my opinion that this band could be the coolest shit ever. According to the book Lords of Chaos, the group planned a failed Satanic Woodstock while releasing one of the most successful anti-Vietnam records ever, a cover of “One Tin Soldier”(Moynihan and Soderlind 7-8). So, check it out. Nevertheless, numerous groups followed, emulating these themes, seeking to take them to greater extremes. Such include King Diamond and Venom, both using satanic imagery and ideas for very symbolic and with very goofy effects. Neither seemed particularly interested in the Occult beyond scaring folks, but that's not what mattered. So then what is next? Someone needed to take it to the new level. Using the violence and aggression found in thrash metal bands like Slayer, arose the group Mayhem. Though it would be unfair to call them the innovators of black metal, since that would ignore the contributions of bands like Bathory or Celtic Frost, they became a very important center point for the scene that would ensue.
These dudes started as a bunch of drunks who, apparently, were really into rustling the feathers of the no-so-strict Christian community around them. After the alleged cannibalization of sort-time lead singer Dead's corpse, as TJ pointed out, Euronymous became a much feared individual in metal community, despite his future murderer and band mate Varg “Grishnackh” Vikernes who felt him to be a bit a too soft. Varg, on the other hand, was more interested in burning churches and sparked a trend of similar arsons, many of which are suspected to have been committed by teenage fans seeking respect in the community Say Moynihan and Soderlind:
Black Metal bands like Venom intended their Satanic image as a joke, but the music they created was imported to Norway and picked up by teenagers who were inclined to take this form of showbiz Satanism at face value. Then the Norwegian bands upped the ante by creating a reality out of Venom's weird fantasy world—a reality which commanded international respect in a youth culture that venerates not only those who 'talk the talk,' but those who 'walk to walk' as well (355).
What, at its core, claims to be a call to arms in the destruction of Judeo-Christian teaching appears to be more of an outlet for impressionable kids to act out violent fantasies. As Euronymous is quoted, “I don't want to see people respecting me, I want they to hate and fear me.” This fear the scene created has given a lot of people within it a sense of power and has resulted in numerous high-profile murders and hundreds of graveyard and church desecrations, most of which committed by teenagers apparently in the name of black metal.
One of the more bizarre accounts I have ever heard of the extremes of black metal were of a group of South American teenagers who felt there music was only fit for the dead. As such, they only performed for dead. They made claims of exhuming grave yards to collect an audience for their performances in a black metal zine, but were met with skepticism. They, in response, mailed a human figure to its publisher. Though I can't for find any evidence to substantiate this, I don't really care. I would very much like to continue to believe that this is real.
Before I do anything, as a disclaimer let me just say that my backpack was stolen the other day. There wasn’t anything of real value in there so whoever took it, I hope you enjoy my beat up old gym sneakers. However, the article Peg provided for us was among the list of things taken and while I, good student that I am, read the whole thing beforehand and remember what it was about, I now don’t have it with me and am writing this response pretty much out of memory. So, be lenient with me.
Now, onto the response.
Growing up, there was a lot of things that could be said about me. Among them were the facts that I was, and still am on both counts, a Catholic and an unabashed lover of all things that go bump in the night and have a taste for warm human flesh…. and not necessarily in that order either.
Vampires, werewolves, the occasional swamp man (ten points to anyone who can tell me where that’s paraphrased from.), I’ve loved it all from first sight and no amount of churching or Catholic school was able to drag it out of me.
Of course, a good chunk of said childhood was spent fighting back the urge to roll my eyes every time my well-meaning parents speculated as to the potential damage being done to my fragile psyche by this continuous parade of ghouls and grisly dismemberments. It was a fight I often lost.
I tried to make it simple for them, “It’s just a TV show/movie,” I’d say. “It’s just what I enjoy watching, probably written into my DNA by the same Guy who decided I was gonna have a taste for Italian food and red Starbursts over pink. It doesn’t mean anything.” And the truth was it really didn’t and those (interminably long) arguments probably fostered my conviction that there’s very little truth to any of that “you are what you watch” claptrap. The fact that my parents even considered catering to the idea that my penchant for the occult signified some sort of lurking anything in my soul was ludicrous.
But now, I take a look through this article and find out that the Pagan team is just as willing to suppose that a healthy dose of “Buffy” can turn anyone into an aspiring Wiccan.
Now, before I get any deeper into this, I’ve got nothing against Paganism or any other religion. If it makes you happy and inspires you to be a little nicer to your fellow man then God or Buddha or Hecate bless ya.
But at the same time, like I still have to occasionally tell my folks, it’s just a TV show. A superbly put together show that I own on DVD, but a TV show nonetheless and I have to question the convictions of anyone who gets into anything based on the lead in for “Dawson’s Creek.”
In short, what I'm really wondering is, just how many teens who get into Wicca because they think Willow is cool is still are going to be into it ten or fifteen years down the road?
Of course, I admit that sometimes momentous things come from insubstantial beginnings and I’m sure that there are at least a few people who were led to something that really changed their lives for the better thanks to a 100 minute sit down with Neve Campbell and Robin Tunney. But all in all, my response to this article is pretty much the same response I have to those right wing evangelical groups screaming, often to their own choir, about how “Harry Potter” is luring a generation of children into Witchcraft.
Namely, I think they might be blowing things out of proportion just a little bit.
*EDIT: I didn’t see Eleanor’s article before I wrote mine but they are very different, and therefore both are necessary readz.
In Peg’s article, “A Charming Spell” she discusses the influence of pop culture witchcraft and Wicca on teenagers in the previous decade. The article really illustrated the interwoven aspects of political, popular, generational cultures to the trend and as it ended with the note of teenage girls emulating the characters in the Craft I decided to further the exploration.
Now I’ve never claimed to have an extensive knowledge on Wiccan, Goth, or Pagan culture but there in lies the essence of the point; these subcultures influencing the pop culture. So in the bridge between the two I decided to research the pop-culture gothic clothing mecca “Hot Topic”.
Hot Topic’s slogan is “everything’s about the music” but their franchises are well known for carrying lots of movie (Tim Burton, Lost Boys, Sweeny Todd, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.) and other media merchandise. The music they feature tends to be centered around rock and roll, punk, Goth and the heavy metal that are so infamously linked and associated with anyone wearing black…thus anyone capable of witchcraft or capital murder.
The company was formed in 1988 (first store opened in 1989) and while this somewhat predates the trend Peg talked about in her article, the company didn’t do so well those first few years and only after incorporating more cultural references and influences did the store really gain success. In terms of the mid nineties in 1996 the company doubled its amount of stores (up from 30 just the year before). Another interesting event of 1996, the release of The Craft.
While the store is heavily associated with, and embraced, by lovers of “alternative” culture (not necessarily witches, wiccans, or pagans) the store is interestingly enough heading in a new direction. Starting last year Hot Topic began and slow but steady remodeling of its stores. The remolding is aimed to make the stores “lighter and brighter” and thus more appealing to a broader range of clients and customers. Like any business this revamping is strictly business (sales have been on the decline for the past 3 years) yet for a store so intertwined with a niche community and culture it’s definitely another facet to consider. The MTV article I’ll post below seems to accredit, or at least suggest that the trend away from punk/goth music and the huge growth in more bubble-gum pop culture has an influence. I mean you can’t argue with the fact that in the past year or so the only reason Marilyn Manson has been in the headlines is because of his romantic escapades.
So if after viewing the Craft or taking this class, you are dying for a bit of pop-punk apparel, or just a cheap Invader Zim messenger bag head to your local Hot Topic before it becomes American Eagle’s biggest competitor.
Linkage!
www.Magicalomaha.com
http://www.silverlightsource.com/clothing.shtml
- sites with more “ritualistic” clothing for Wiccans and Pagans.
This section of Peg's article really caught my attention for obvious reasons that I'll explain in a moment. "Subculture groups like Goths (short for Gothic) stand out because of their modes of dress...It is performance of the 'leave me alone' variety. Identification with such a persona can be in some cases crucial to a young person's social survival....most high schools in America had at least a handful of students who liked to wear black and listen to the Cure."
I grew up in Northern Virginia in a fairly conservative county. When I was in 8th grade, I started getting in to this so-called "goth" stage. I dressed in black, wore my doc martins and put on black lipstick. My parents HATED it. They did all they could to stop me from doing it, but for me, it was a form of growing up and rebellion. I had my own style, my own friends, and I was too fucking old to listen to my stupid parents. One of my older friends was probably the cause of this--he was my idol for a very long time and he wore the chains and the black trench coat and had the butterfly knife that he so secretly showed me on the school bus on the way to school. I knew the connotations that came with wearing black and I knew other people referred to me as the "goth girl" but I enjoyed the attention.
I guess I didn't realize how STUPID people can be until two different events happened. First, the high school my friend attended had a bomb scare, and because he was wearing the chains and studded bracelets and fishnet shirt, he got called to the office to be questioned. The administration wanted to pin the bomb scare on him. Why? Because he wore black and chains. My friend doesn't have a cruel bone in his body...he just loved being different!
The second event was a bit more personal. Two friends and I had secretly started this comic book in a school notebook. Just for fun, of course. My good friend Lindsey was great at sketching, so we came up with a super hero group of girls (us) who went around eradicating the world of evil and stupidity. Unfortunately, evil and stupidity took the form of several teachers, administrators, and fellow students. One of my friends (they each swear it was the other) left the notebook in a 6th period science class.....it was found. And handed in. And before we knew it, we were being brought into the office, two of us wearing black and chains, and were accused of wanting to stage a Columbine-like shooting in our school.
Uhhh...no. I don't want to kill anyone...I just hated some of the people I had to see every day! So I found a healthy way to express my anger--art! Of course, that was unacceptable and I got three days of in-school suspension. My parents yelled for hours, saying the police were going to come and confiscate my computer, take me to trial, blah blah blah, all because of the media hype over Columbine.
I grew out of my "goth" phase shortly after entering 9th grade.
