R&D Gothic Discoveries

There exists no accepted definition of what the “gothic” is. However, as we use this term as an adjective to describe architecture, literature and even cinema, we all have at least an idea of what it means. In the first place, when we think about gothic, we have in mind:

Death
Darkness
Monsters
Excess
Etc.

At first, writing some terrifying stories was kind of a strange idea. Nonetheless, people ended up liking this kind of story telling; people enjoyed being scared and they still do as nowadays, this kind of practice has become an entertainment on an even larger scale than it already was. That is, there now exists an endless library of horror, suspense and fantastic movies, each containing some of the principal gothic elements.

What’s interesting is what gothic has become today… The American film industry, which mostly bases its productions on what the target audience wants to see, created many entertaining movies, for various age ranges. But let’s focus on two specific movies that have been created from gothic inspiration: Hotel Transylvania and Twilight. Oh yes.

Hotel Transylvania displays classic monsters from gothic literature, such as Frankenstein and Dracula, but also some zombies, momies, and many more! However, the animation movie targets a younger audience. Indeed, Hollywood transformed some gothic elements into something appealing for a younger public through this family movie; and they did it well since we must admit (or at least, I must admit) that the three Hotel Transylvania movies are awesome! Thus, even though it is far from creating fear of the viewers (it actually creates happiness and laughs), Hotel Transylvania can still be considered a work from gothic inspirations.

Now on a cheesier note… Twilight. What a classic for teenagers, even more for teenage girls. And yet, it is clearly inspired from gothic art. Indeed, vampires and werewolves are two types of monsters and thus, are linked to the gothic. Of course, there are other gothic elements displayed in the movies from the saga, such as darkness and curse, but those are the more obvious ones. Why was it such a success with teenagers? It is quite simple actually: love story. A love story is always a winner to attract the young female audience; it works every time. Moreover, I must add, there are some pretty amazing looking monsters… who could resist? We went from Dracula to Edward Cullen, could we say it’s an improvement? Who knows, some will agree, some others won’t. The most important thing is that the sexy vampire did produce the expected result on the business level, even though it did not in terms of horror and terror…

I agree that those two movies are most probably not the real gothic fans’ favorites, but still, for some others, they are enjoyable, and as they present some pretty strong gothic elements, there is no shame in mentioning them here, right?

By the way, are you a more Edward or Jacob type of person? 😉

DelphineC

Movies

Seize Your Moment

6 February 201919 February 2019 rovallee

Recently, I watched the new animation movie titled Coco. This gothic animation piece revolves around the theme of death, but especially the death of family members. I really appreciated this movie because, even through animation and humour, the producer was able to convey an important moral. This movie teaches the kids that they need to follow their dreams even if there are many obstacles that prevent them of doing so. Furthermore, the movie puts emphasis on the expression “seize your moment”, which teaches the kids to wait for the right moment, and when it comes to take advantage of it.

Also, through the adventures of Miguel, the main character of the movie, the author of the movie show the dilemma that some people might have concerning the realization of their dreams as opposed to the family values. For instance, at the beginning of the movie, Miguel wants to realize his dream and become a renowned musician; but because his entire family banned music from their lives, he cannot achieve it. During the whole film, we could see Miguel go through different obstacles that make him realize a lot of things, like the fact that he could both achieve his desire to become a musician as well as being good and helpful to his family.

The psychological evolution of the different characters involved in Miguel’s quest of music is an aspect that I really loved in this animation movie. In general, his whole family really changes psychologically during the course of the movie. At first, they are all “afraid” of music because they think it is the reason for the break up of their entire family, but then, they realize that music could have benefits for them. We could interpret this as a paradox because instead of being the source of all the problems of the family over multiple generations, music is actually what reconciliates the family.

Besides the moral and familial aspects of the film, I was able to observe some elements that correspond to gothic art and literature. First of all, the main theme is certainly death, which corresponds to one of the main gothic elements. Next, the elements of monster and terror are also found in this movie. For instance, I considered De la Cruz, the international singer, to be the monster in this story, since at the end, we learned that he was the cause of the family break up and that he had killed his own best friend. On the other hand, the aspect of horror is mostly represented when Miguel arrives in the afterlife and realizes that dead people are talking to him and that he is not in the real world anymore. Also, there are supernatural elements in this story, like the presence of different colorful animals with superpowers, like the giant panther with the wings. We generally don’t see this in our lives! 😉

For all these reasons, I think that the movie Coco is a surprisingly good movie. Even though it might seem only dedicated to a young audience, it also reaches an older audience. Even if it is meant to entertain the kids, this film still contains gothic elements that make it, in my opinion, a gothic animation movie. If you’ve never watched it, I sincerely suggest you do so.

P.S: I almost cried at the end of the movie. Another reason to take the time to watch it haha!

Rosalie

Books

The House of Night

3 February 201925 April 2019 delphinecote

Who does not like vampires? We must admit that they always are a good distraction; we pretty much never get tired of the stories or movies of which they are used as principal “creatures” to create some fear and suspense. However, there are two types of vampires; indeed, there is the terrifying one known as the one who sucks all the blood from human necks (in other words, the killer vampire), and there is the cheesy vampire known as the one who lives in harmony with humans. Which one do we prefer? Are we actually obligated to have a preference? I would say we do not, and that is the reason why I want to share this series of novels I discovered 3 years ago.

Written by Phyllis Christine Cast and Kristin Cast, the first volume of a series called the House of Night was published in March 2009 and was titled “Marked” (just so it is said, the last volume, “Lost” was published recently, in July 2018). The 18 volumes of this series (yes, indeed, 18 volumes!) contain all of what is necessary to entertain anyone who is interested in fantasy, love, magic, mystery, action and of course, vampires. I assure you, we can find them all in the same series! Isn’t it simply amazing?

You must wonder: Ok well, but what is this about? Overall, this is the story of Zoey Redbird, a 16-year old girl who is Marked to become a vampire and complete her Change, or die. The story mostly takes place in Tulsa, in the state of Oklahoma in the United States (yes, I know, another American fantasy, but I swear, it is a good one). The issue from which the story starts is that she does not have the same mark as other vampires do; indeed, she has been marked as special by the vampire Goddess Nyx and it is for you to discover why.

In brief, here are some reasons why you should take the time to read this series:

There are some vampires (this reason by itself is enough to convince you, right?).

Well, if you need some more…

2. There is a love triangle (oh yes, you’ve read well!).

3. There is suspense (sometimes, you just won’t be able to stop reading, I can testify).

4. There is death.

An extra one for you: you do not need to wait for the next episode to be released (you know what I’m referring to, don’t you?), once you finished one tome, you can start the next one right away!

Good luck and have fun in the vampire world!

DelphineC