Crash Course in Gothabilly style and Pin Up Revival

So we've been watching Mad Men in class and viewing and discussing the importance of clothing, how it represents who we are and what we feel about ourselves. The clothing of the late 1950's early 1960's had a lot going for it:

From pretty little sweet-heart necked teacup dresses, cinched at a woman's natural waist, rather than what has become our "low waist" or basically where our hips end, to the sassy sundresses, pencil skirts, garter belts and hose that pin up models often wore (or were fantasized about while imagining them wearing) to  the  dress:

The point was that the clothing emphasized a woman's natural curves, as well as simultaneously hiding them for the most part. Clothing of the '50's and '60's stressed the cultural ideal, that a woman was a woman above all else, and that her body was only revealed (like her thoughts) in a socially acceptable way. She was seen while being invisible, in that she was viewed only in the way she wanted to be by society.

The modern (small, but growing) movement of Gothabilly mixes the cute kitsch of '50's and '60's dresses and hairstyles with today's expressionism, tattoos, leather, darker make up, and more skin. I think this is representative of cherishing the idealized icons of the old (Classic pinups, a time where realistic women's bodies were the height of sexual attraction, pre-Twiggy), while speaking out against the constraints women of that era were subjected to. A throwback to the pin ups of that time with the added bonus of tattoos and leather, corsets, pencil skirts, cherry motifs, (that do not just belong to Katy Perry), accompanied with a fondness for vintage cars and motorcycles.

Oh hey there it's me!

Ultimately I think this is my generation's answer (even if it is rooted in the 1980's via the music group The Cramps) to the women of Mad Men --- we're saying yes, we hear you, even though you didn't speak what you wanted to say. We're still like you in image, but we thank you for suffering in silence so we don't have to, and for letting us keep your clothes. We're speaking of our own social anxieties, in that we want to reclaim the style and aesthetics of our parents and grandparents, but without the societal conservative manner, so we make what was once a style of subjugation our own by adding tattoos and more makeup; a different context. We want to be unique and beautiful snowflakes while still being part of an exclusive club... so maybe we really aren't so different than our fore(mothers?) after all?

Gothabilly = in a nutshell is more Bettie Page than Betty Grable.

Questionable Content

I almost feel like I'm cheating when I say I like comics. Because, I do, but I don't read them. Well, not in the sense that our native Comic Culture Forum does; these guys should (and probably someday will) have PhD's on the subject. Their knowledge of comics is as thorough as Tom Bingham's knowledge of the origins of music.

When I say I like comics, I mean I was introduced to them through the superhero movies of my time (and through Wonder Woman and Gargoyles when I was really little) and fell in love. Hellboy was the first comic themed movie I ever saw and it really drew me in. I loved the artistic immersion of the film, the way it was over the top and yet completely believable, because it was a world on its own in all its much borrowed Lovecraftian Nazi beat'em'up glory.

 Then came the Batman films, where The Dark Knight and mostly Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker made "comic" movies something to be reckoned with. I enjoyed the X-Men movies, but not nearly as much as First Class, which is about a billion times better. Watchmen really disturbed me, in how the heroes were not any better, and often worse, than the villains themselves. That film and the comic it is based on is a great example of postmodernism; heroes who are more vile than the villains? Superman, I'm so over you.

300 was one of the most visually visceral movies I've ever seen, it is absolutely gorgeous to look at. It's stylized to look like the graphic novel, and you really do get the sense of higher quality print paper, highly stylized, and more refined subject matter when you watch the film adaptation (even if you are the sole girl in a party of 14 men watching the movie).

But the films leading up to and including May's gargantuan blockbuster Avengers Assemble (or known in the US simply as Marvel's The Avengers) just kind of kicked off my interest fullspeed. I love the whole universe, and I especially love how Marvel (and Joss Whedon) have taken caricatures and made them relevant to real life modern issues.

I see Iron Man as the "new" American identity; suave entrepreneur who has everything and is smart enough to protect his assets and mock/question a f/lailing government while remaining a needed commodity for world peace (or world weaponization). I see Captain America as the "old" American identity, representative of the underdog communal charm of the 1940's, a propagandized force of good and keeping everyone's best interests at the forefront.  Bruce Banner/the Hulk is the modernization of Shelley's Frankenstein monster, and a nod at the danger that accompanies modern medicine. Black Widow, though blatantly styled in a sexist manner (both keeping in tradition and a nod to the fanboy --- I've honestly come to be rather fond of the stereotypical portrayal of women in comic universes --- at least in the physical department) is a strong, thoroughly capable woman, a figure needed by all Y chromosome carriers. The Thor and Loki dynamic could be viewed in multiple ways; again, the struggles of an underdog in a bigger mans shadow, or a look at the dangers of neglect in childhood raised by televisions.

Maybe I'm reaching a bit, but I think what is most wonderful about comic culture is how identifiable its characters and stories are, both in fictionalized worlds and their modern reality counterparts. You don't necessarily need to read the entire backlog of comic lore to jump in and get attached.

I've been looking for a gateway into reading a "legitimate" comic for a long time, and the backlog of Marvel and DC is too intimidating to attempt, much like trying to watch Dr. Who from the very beginning when really all you like is Torchwood anyway. Sandman is the first "real" comic I'm reading, and I thoroughly enjoy it so far. It takes a bit of getting used to as far as adjusting the left to right reading standard goes, but I really am glad that this was assigned as a text.

My illegitimate webcomic reading: http://questionablecontent.net/

Ultimately I love how comics are representative of the pop culture and concern of their time, and the identities their authors wanted to see in themselves.