Is Rei Ayanami goth/punk?
Richard Qunt
personality traits and appearance characteristic of both the goth and punk
movements.
Her passive-aggressive demeanor, the fashionable apathy she shows towards
others and her obsession with death (specifically her own) remind me very
strongly of the 'teen goth ethos'. Her pale white skin and red eyes also
remind me of the white makeup and 'demonic' contact lenses commonly worn by
goths in clubs (or at least the ones I've been to).
OTOH, Rei's 'I don't care what you think of me' attitude and desire to march
to the beat of her own drum is pure punk attitude, IMO. Her idiosyncratic
dress-sense (school uniform is no longer about conforming to the standard
and destruction of individuality when you wear it ALL the time - it then
becomes a statement), frank sexuality and wild, brightly-colored, slightly
androgynous hair somewhat support this assertion.
I'm not sure if anyone will agree with me here, but I find myself wondering
if Anno/GAINAX purposefully intended this for Rei's character in the
beginning - before the whole Yui/cloning/soul of Lilith thing was even
thought of.
I'd be interested to hear your opinions on this matter, especially those of
any goths, punks or avid fans of Reichan who might be reading this.
Amani
news:c5n67s$ggb$1...@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk...
> From watching Evangelion, it becomes apparent to me that Rei displays
> personality traits and appearance characteristic of both the goth and punk
> movements.
>
> Her passive-aggressive demeanor, the fashionable apathy she shows towards
> others and her obsession with death (specifically her own) remind me very
> strongly of the 'teen goth ethos'. Her pale white skin and red eyes also
> remind me of the white makeup and 'demonic' contact lenses commonly worn
by
> goths in clubs (or at least the ones I've been to).
>
> OTOH, Rei's 'I don't care what you think of me' attitude and desire to
march
> to the beat of her own drum is pure punk attitude, IMO. Her idiosyncratic
> dress-sense (school uniform is no longer about conforming to the standard
> and destruction of individuality when you wear it ALL the time - it then
> becomes a statement), frank sexuality and wild, brightly-colored, slightly
> androgynous hair somewhat support this assertion.
I think you're totally misplacing Rei's personality. There's absolutely know
marching to beat of her own drum--she's marching to the beat of Gendou's.
It's not caring what others think about her or making a statement, it's
about not understanding living and social behavior and not knowing or caring
about the general trend of wearing other clothes besides a uniform outside
of school. She's not trying to make any statement. She's just trying to deal
with existing until her purpose is exacted by Gendou.
I would think her unnatural appearance (which I'm positive is natural) could
be more clearly linked to being the antithesis of Asuka--red hair with blue
eyes versus blue hair with red eyes. Especially considering this is anime,
where brightly colored hair and eyes are the norm, it seems a stretch to
then attempt to connect her physical appearance with the goth or punk
movements.
Rei's apathetic attitude is the product of a very unnatural existance,
created and living solely for Gendou's purposes. She has not had parents
(besides Gendou's rather strange position as a surrogate father) or friends.
She's never been introduced to or versed in society and has never learned to
care about it, much less care enough to make a statement AGAINST it.
----------
Taryn : http://taryn.shirataki.net
Drinian
> From watching Evangelion, it becomes apparent to me that Rei displays
> personality traits and appearance characteristic of both the goth and punk
> movements.
It seems to me that goth and punk are two very different things. See the
great bands of the *real* punk movement of the late 70s.
> Her passive-aggressive demeanor, the fashionable apathy she shows towards
> others and her obsession with death (specifically her own) remind me very
> strongly of the 'teen goth ethos'. Her pale white skin and red eyes also
> remind me of the white makeup and 'demonic' contact lenses commonly worn
> by goths in clubs (or at least the ones I've been to).
I wouldn't think of her as apathetic, nor fashionable. And she certainly
can't choose her own natural unnaturalness. And she doesn't strike me as
the sort to go to clubs.
> OTOH, Rei's 'I don't care what you think of me' attitude and desire to
> march to the beat of her own drum is pure punk attitude, IMO. Her
> idiosyncratic dress-sense (school uniform is no longer about conforming to
> the standard and destruction of individuality when you wear it ALL the
> time - it then becomes a statement), frank sexuality and wild,
> brightly-colored, slightly androgynous hair somewhat support this
> assertion.
Let's replace the name 'Rei' in this paragraph with Avril Lavigne. It then
makes at least some sense, if you're into really poor Canadian pop music.
In any case, how much is Rei seen outside of school/work in the series?
> I'm not sure if anyone will agree with me here, but I find myself
> wondering if Anno/GAINAX purposefully intended this for Rei's character in
> the beginning - before the whole Yui/cloning/soul of Lilith thing was even
> thought of.
The signs are there from ep 1 that the entire series had been very well
planned-out, so I don't think that's a possibility. I assume Sadamoto had a
rough script before he began character design.
> I'd be interested to hear your opinions on this matter, especially those
> of any goths, punks or avid fans of Reichan who might be reading this.
None of the three (unless you count being a Talking Heads fan as punk).
Sorry.
--
Drinian: http://slashdot.org/~sailracer6/journal/
Drinian
> In article <c5neid$3qgb0$1...@ID-210864.news.uni-berlin.de>,
> Drinian <sailr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>Richard Qunt wrote:
>
> Please do not feed the trolls.
>
> Unless you think "Dick Cunt" is a popular name, anyway.
When else can I have the opportunity to make such haughty, supercilious
comments?
--
Drinian: http://slashdot.org/~sailracer6/journal/
Ethan Hammond
>
> Let's replace the name 'Rei' in this paragraph with Avril Lavigne. It then
> makes at least some sense, if you're into really poor Canadian pop music.
And not only is the music bad, but she has a stunt double skate for her
in her music videos.
--
All Purpose Cultural Randomness
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/apcr/index.html
tgif
Children (asuka, rei and shinji) all have mental troubles.
these troubles look like autistic symptoms...
Frank White
says...
>
>She is not gothic, she is nearly autistic... many people say that the
>Children (asuka, rei and shinji) all have mental troubles.
>these troubles look like autistic symptoms...
(spoilers for NGE)
Actually, Rei's probelm is that she has an AC type soul (Lillith)
stuck in a DC type body (Yui clone), and the mismatch - especially
since she don't know about it - confuses her.
And yes, all the major characters in Evangelion seem to have
major MAJOR mental problems. The fate of the world, in the
hands of people who really need to be in therapy...
:(
FW