Gothic Reverbs

A look at how the Gothic writing of old has permeated into today's culture.

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Gross, Grotesque, 

Gothic?

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It’s fascinating to see how stories written centuries ago have been created reverberations that are still being felt in all types of mediums. The Gothic style of storytelling is so much more than just doom and gloom, the themes and tropes that were created by Gothic writers are influencing the writers of today. Especially the trope of Vampirism that’s somehow crept into other genres. Just look at Morbius: The Living Vampire, an old Spider-Man villain from the 1970s. He’s not a vampire in the traditional sense because he’s was just a scientist who got caught in a traditional comic book origin with chemicals and explosions. Now he can’t be exposed to sunlight, has enhanced strength and reflexes, hypnotism and needs blood to survive. Morbius is the perfect blend between Gothic Vampirism and Science-Fiction and the perfect example of a reverberation caused by Gothic Fiction.

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Calini is Batman. Specifically, the Batman from Batman: The Animated Series portrayed by Kevin Conroy, the greatest Batman, but enough fanboying. In the episode Perchance to Dream, Bruce Wayne wakes up in Wayne Manor, not just alone with Alfred and whatever poor orphan he’s chosen to be Robin that week, but to Martha and Thomas Wayne, alive and sans bullet holes. Bruce’s life is perfect, he has no burden to bear in the form of Batman, a lifetime of memories with his not-dead parents and he’s engaged to a Catwoman-less Selina Kyle. Calini grew up in an environment similar to this version of Bruce Wayne: rich, taught by the best to be the best, pretty, a typical rich kid life. However, there’s a defining moment for both men where their sense of reality is shattered. For Calini it’s when his dad pulls a Maury and reveals that in the case of Calini, he is not the father. For Bruce, it happens when he sees that there’s stronger, more efficient Batman running around Gotham. Obviously, this bothers Bruce because for as long as Bruce Wayne lives there can only be one Batman. Eventually, it’s revealed that Calini’s true father is nonother than Sceloni the evil monk, his torturer, kidnapper and soon-to-be murderer. In Bruce’s world, it’s revealed that it’s all been a dream when he attempts to read the papers and discovers that it’s all in gibberish because the human mind can’t read when sleeping. (Fun Fact: This episode is where I learned that!) Bruce jumps off a tower after confronting Batman and wakes up in a warehouse, tied up by the Mad Hatter. Batman puts two and two together and puts his fist and Mad Hatter’s face together. Turns out this was all a ploy by the Mad Hatter, as revenge for Batman thwarting his plans in an earlier episode because Continuity is important.

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Calini is also Jedi Master Luke Skywalker in a comparison so obvious I feel dumb I didn’t put the dots together earlier. Both have dads who killed their mom in a fit of rage, Anakin killed Padame while turning to the Dark Side of the Force, Sceloni killed his unnamed wife in a fit of jealous rage. Both men were also raised by other families, Calini was raised by the man who presumably found him in the ocean after Sceloni left Calini there. Leia was left with the affluent Organa family of Alderaan and became a Princess. Luke got left with his Uncle Owen (A name so regular it sounds out of place in Star Wars) to become a Moisture Farmer in Tatooine, left with the same last name as his insane supervillain dad, because Fuck Luke Skywalker I guess. Both fathers also turn to religion to cope with what they’ve done. Anakin becomes a devout Sith Lord and adopts the moniker of Darth Vader, Sceloni retreats to a monastery to become a monk. Also, both fathers wanted to kill their sons and held them captive until their true identities are revealed. But while Sceloni let Calini walk off scot free to chase the girl of his dream, Luke gets a severed hand for all his troubles. Both fathers also atone for their sins, Sceloni goes away to spend the rest of his life at the monastery, while Vader threw Space Hitler down a shaft to his death. (Talk about 1-upping)

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Mr. Hooper in The Minister’s Black Veil and Johnny Cash share more than just their affection for the Gothic color. Mr. Hooper vows to never remove his black veil until his village and parishioners are free of sin, just like in Man in Black Johnny Cash pledges to wear black until multiple injustices are fixed. Hooper wears his veil because it makes him a better pastor for his parishioners and refuses to remove it for any reason, even when his fiancée begs for him to remove it just once as an act of true love, but Hooper does not relent. Cash even wore his legendary black ensemble to an appearance on Sesame Street, proving that he was dedicated to wearing black until the world got progressive.

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One of the most prominent connections I made in my mind when reading and discussing Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat is that between the Narrator of the piece and to Kylo Ren of the new Star Wars trilogy. In The Black Cat, the Narrator states that he’s struggling with his morality. He says that drinking is what makes him evil, but as someone who drinks their fair share of the sauce, I don’t come home to turn my dog into a cyclops. So, his evil must be inherent.  He loves his cat and wife, they’re the good things in his life. First, he mutilates his cat, then when the cat shows fear towards the Narrator, he kills it in a gruesome manner. This does not satisfy his bloodlust and he kills his wife, his last anchor to his goodness. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren is the son of Han Solo and General Leia Organa (nee Princess Leia) and just like his Uncle Luke Skywalker and grandfather Anakin AKA Darth Vader, he struggles with his decision on which side of the Force to serve: The Light, to follow the way of a Jedi Knight, or the Dark, and become a Sith Lord. Luke was able to overcome his dark temptations and become a Jedi Knight but Grandpa Vader was not so lucky, becoming the BBQ Smokey flavored Darth Vader.  At an age where kids are thinking about becoming astronauts and superheroes, Kylo Ren, then named Ben Solo, decided to become a Sith Lord (I feel you Ben, at that age I had Stripping aspirations and dreams of being a Taxi Driver) and decided to burn down Uncle Luke’s Jedi Academy and kill all of his students, just like Vader did decades ago. But despite that, he still feels a pull to the Light but he’s determined to be a Sith and blows up a few planets, tortures people, and slaughters villages. Yet, he can’t shake the call to the Light, so when Han Solo decides to confront his wayward son his inner conflict reaches its apex. It’s time to make the inevitable choice. And just when Han thinks he’s reached through the sweet little Ben he lost years ago, Kylo stabs him in the chest with one of the sickest looking lightsabers ever made. Just like the Narrator killed his wife and cats to sever his connection to his goodness, Kylo killed his father in order to sever his connection to the Light Side of the Force. Plus, they’re both kinda whiny about it. The Narrator keeps whining about killing and mutilating his cat, although he shows no remorse for the wife. But Kylo throws a literal “bitch fit” (Quoting White Chicks, how’s that for highbrow?)  because he’s not living up to Grandpa Vader’s legacy, even though he redeemed himself at the end of his life. So, he’s not seeing the big picture.

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Besides being similar to an evil magic space wizard with daddy issues, the Narrator is also similar to Albuquerque’s very own Meth Kingpin, Heisenberg AKA Walter White. The Narrator keeps blaming external circumstances on his rampant behavior. He blames the mutilation of his cat on the booze like he’s Jamie Foxx. And in Breaking Bad, Heisenberg has a tendency to never accept responsibility for his actions. Heisenberg poisons a small child in order to keep Jesse, his partner in crime (literally) in line and by his side. Prior to that, Jesse had a girlfriend, Jane, who was manipulating Jesse into blackmailing Heisenberg into more money. One night after Jesse and Jane do a solid amount of Heroin, Jane starts to OD. Heisenberg sneaks into Jesse’s home to talk some sense into his former partner and finds Jesse sound asleep as Jane starts to choke on her own vomit. Heisenberg initially goes to help Jane but then hesitates, weighs his options, and decides to let her die and disappear into the night in order to come back and play the sympathetic father figure for Jesse. Heisenberg rationalizes the murder by blaming Jane for her own death. If she hadn’t intervened between Jesse then Heisenberg might have let Jane live. In Heisenberg’s mind, she pushed him to this. Also, both Heisenberg and the Narrator have this interesting quirk where if you show fear towards them, they snap with homicidal rage. Once the cat the Narrator mutilates starts showing fear towards him (because duh) the Narrator goes crazy and kills it and hangs it off a tree. Once Heisenberg’s wife, Skyler, becomes aware of her husband’s hobby as the ABQ’s dominant Meth Maker, she understandably becomes afraid for her family’s safety and of her husband. Walter sees the fear in Skyler and attempts to stab her when she wants to take the kids and run away. However, where Heisenberg failed, the Narrator succeeded. The Narrator kills his wife and hides her body in the wall. And he would’ve gotten away with it too if it weren’t for that meddling ego. That snap seems to come from their desire to be liked, mingling with their homicidal tendencies. Once they commit their act of evil and see the fear in the eyes of someone else they become confused, and that confusion to a sort of “How dare you be scared of me? I’ll give you something to be scared of!” reaction. And that confusion leads to anger and anger leads to stabbing.