Can the demonisation of Goth culture , by the media, lead to targeted hate crime?
In my essay I wish to explore the mass media manipulation of the portrayal of Goth’s and how the lack of understanding and tolerance has and still does lead to hate crimes targeted towards the goth community.
Sources of argument
| Source | Quote | Page | Publishing | Add. info |
| Gallagher, P. (2018), Goths, emos and heavy metal fans ‘at greater risk of self-harm and suicide, inews | “Victimisation, stigma and hate crime may explain the greater risk these individuals face,” said Dr Taylor. “A prime example of that is the aggression faced by Sophie Lancaster in 2007” | https://inews.co.uk/news/health/goths-emos-heavy-metal-fans-greater-risk-suicide-self-harm-141376 | -Hate crimes are more likely to be targeted towards people following subcultures such as goth | |
| “Murdered for being different”- BBC Iplayer | “the murder of 20-year-old Sophie Lancaster who in 2007 was kicked to death in a park by a gang” | https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0559fd8/murdered-for-being-different | Hate crime -Attacked for no other reason than looking different.-Sophie was tragically murdered by a group of young men purely because of her affiliation to Goth culture. | |
| Peterson, H. (2012), The mother who taught ‘goth loner’ son to shoot… then he killed her using own gun, Daily mail online | “Adam Lanza, a troubled 20-year-old loner with a history of autistic behavior, is the monster behind a horrific shooting at a Connecticut elementary school” | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2248645/Nancy-Lanza-Mother-murderer-Adam-Lanza-avid-gun-collector-taught-sons-use-firearms.html#ixzz2FQ8yifA7 | -Obvious degrading of the goth culture by mass media with no real evidence of Lanza following goth culture-Trying to associate goth culture with something vile as a mass shooting | |
| The blogging goth. (2012), Subculture responds to ‘Goth Loner’ accusation over Adam Lanza tragedy, The blogging goth | “Overall, it seems clear that the labelling of him as a goth is based on minimal evidence. More importantly, the issue of whether he identified as a goth, a gamer, a nerd or anything similar is almost certainly irrelevant to determining the cause of the horrible events that took place.”- Dr Hodkinson | https://theblogginggoth.com/2012/12/18/subculture-responds-to-goth-loner-accusation-over-adam-lanza-tragedy/comment-page-1/ | -The response by the members of the gothic subculture was outrage to be associated with such a crime. | |
| Newman, S. (2018),The Evolution of the Perceptions of the Goth Subculture, honours thesis, scholars archive | Even just in the first minuteof the episode, the narrator states that Natasha “doesn’t have much of a chance in life” due to her being a Goth, as well as her suffering from severebipolar disorder. | pg.25-6 | https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1029&context=student_scholarship | – The media is set on showing the gothic culture as undesirable |
| Newman, S. (2018),The Evolution of the Perceptions of the Goth Subculture, honours thesis, scholars archive | Not only do television shows demonize Goths, but news and mainstream media do aswell, especially in the 1990’s. They have even misidentified delinquents and murderers as Goth solely for how they dressed, further harming the public’s view on the subculture. One such example of this was the Columbine Shooting in1999. | Pg. 26 | https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1029&context=student_scholarship | Goths are demonised by the media and often used as scapegoats to bring reason to tragedy |
| Mtv News Staff. (1999), Columbine students debunk “Goth” ties to shooters as community moves on, MTV | “That’s something, kind of, the media has created, and that’s kind of aggravated me. This whole Trenchcoat Mafia thing’sbeen blown out of proportion. All it is is a group of kids who felt a little outcast and started wearing trench coats. It’s not a huge gang.” | http://www.mtv.com/news/1427258/columbine-students-debunk-goth-ties-to-shooters-as-community-moves-on/ | Even victims do not hold goths accountable and see it as media manipulation |
I have gathered many sources for argument points for my essay. There is evidence of media manipulation to tarnish and demonise the goth subculture, holding them accountable for crimes that are of no relevance to the culture. I want to further explore the idea of how this media tarnishing leads to misunderstanding and as a result has lead to targeted hate crimes towards people following the goth subculture such as the attack on Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend that resulted in her murder. There is no evidence of motive for the assault apart from the fact the victims followed the goth subculture.
Sophie Carter Art 