What Did the Gothic Counterculture Have to Do With the Columbine High School Shootings?

The Effect of the Finger-Pointing

Combining those who consider themselves social outcasts, the gothic counterculture has made an impact on society since the early 1980s. In the days, weeks, and, now, years following the Columbine High School shootings, the identity of the gothic culture has been misrepresented and misconstrued in the media. As the two young killers were identified in the news as being part of the gothic culture, the culture immediately became the media's scapegoat. The blame in the media translated to a blame in society, leaving a lasting impact both on the minds of America's public and on the lives of those within the gothic culture. Through the finger-pointing and unverifiable connections produced by the media, America's general population turned its blame upon the gothic culture for the Columbine High School shootings, forever tarnishing the gothic persona by installing an ignorant framework of the gothic culture in the mind and in the eyes of Americans looking for the cause of such evil.