051: The Rise of Happy Gothic

This month we are doing things a bit differently, and will be reviewing the book Post-Millennial Gothic: Comedy, Romance, and the Rise of Happy Gothic by Catherine Spooner. We will be discussing the impact Tim Burton, sparkly vampires, the creepy cute, Columbine, political discourse, Jillian Venters, and others have had on the cultural milieu of goth and the consumption of the Gothic in mainstream media. Our guests this month are Natalie and Trae! More Recommended books from this author: Contemporary Gothic Fashioning Gothic Bodies Chapter 1: 7:00 -Thesis, Introduction, methodology overview -Goth as a middle class culture of consumption Chapter 2: 53:15 -Tim Burton and his reshaping of modern Gothic Chapter3: 57:42 -The increased reliance of the visual in goth -The politicization of goth through Columbine and Sophie Lancaster Chapter 4: 1:22:44 Premise 1: In the post millennial era, vampires have sought to become the institution rather than the subversion, to become as human or amiable towards humans as possible rather than be the Other Premise 2: Goths and vampires have shared a historically propinquitous relationship, often informing or appropriating one another Conclusion: As vampires have grown more polite and reinforced the "happy gothic" so too have goths sought to remake their image in a similar fashion Chapter 5: 1:37:37 -The modern goth girl and the "whimsical macabre" Chapter 6: 1:47:05 -Camp and it's influence on goth and the assimilative monster Chapter 7: 2:02:06 -Goth/Gothic masculinities and humerus monsters Chapter 8: 2:19:36 -Whitby Gothic Weekend and the Gothic-carnivalesque Conclusions 2:30:25