Dark aesthetics?

[WoundedIcon]

Being a young person who has been involved in some of the subcultures, I need to ask something… are the dark aesthetics involved in such cultures acceptable to Catholicism? Because it’s really giving me a headache, a part of me feels like I should change - I’ve listened to (mostly Christian) metal and I’ve been a Goth for a long while, and for the last few months I’ve been feeling like Christianity doesn’t really fit in there. But is that just a stereotype, does everything need to be clean and shiny? Do I have to dress clean cut and listen to poppy alt. rock to be a good Catholic? My personality has me on the fence because I really do swing both ways. I can be (and have been since a young age) kind of morbid, and I like that power and THE SKIES ARE TEARING OPEN FIRE’S FALLING EVERYONE RUN! sound of metal…and I have a hard time finding that kind of manliness and power in Catholicism. It… just feels girly. I’m just feeling roped in here, we don’t all have to be the same but good luck feeling anything but uncomfortable without it, ya know.

In other words… just because the common Church subculture says something is more Christian-y is it really? Maybe we have some Protestant puritanism running through our Catholic veins here in America? which would explain why America has been such a purveyor of Protestantization after VII… honestly the cultures have become kind of similar. I’m kind of traditional (ironically) so don’t take this as a kid moaning about how lame church is please. Although I prefer the OF (blasphemy of the highest traditional order! hang him!!!).

EDIT: Think of stuff like the Dies Irae, and the various classical compositions made for it.

 

[Equites_Christi]

Well you have to think, what do dark aesthetics express?

It is hard to imagine dark aesthetics conveying the intimate love of Christ, or the purity to which we are called, or God’s grace.

However, that is not to say they don’t have a place. Dark aesthetics can very well express the evil of sin, the barren feelings of a soul in mortal sin, illustrate the complaints of many of the psalms - persecution by others, perceived abandonment by God, the fleeting nature of material things, etc. These are all very valid artistic expressions, but it is good to keep in mind that dark aesthetics convey, well, dark things! Would we really want to focus all our attention on negative things when we, especially as Christians, have so many positive things as well?

If you can use those aesthetics to convey aspects of Catholic teaching, like above mentioned, then I say go ahead. But all negativity all the time is just stifling.

 

[I_Thirst]

Some ideas …

Read Death Metal Ain’t Got Nothing On Us.

Rethink your stance on “dark” and “negative” by reading the Dark Night of the Soul or the Cloud of Unknowing and by digging deeper into the mystery of apophatic theology. Your path may be Via Negativa.

Catholicism is not an expression of the clean & shiny & preppy suburban experience. The Crucifixion was not a preppy execution. Jesus Christ wasn’t born in a mansion, and he wasn’t buried in a mausolem. He dined with tax collectors, healed lepers and forgave prostitutes.

Don’t believe for a moment that your culture’s (or era’s or parish’s) sanitized expression of Catholicism is the only expression of the wealth and depth of Catholic aesthetics.