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Fitting In

Imagine my horror when, after seeing "shock-rocker" Marilyn Manson on TRL, I realised I had far too much in common with him. No, I'm not a maniacal, demonic, sexual demi-god spouting my offbeat views on life, death, God, drugs, and society to anyone who'll listen, or even a modern day antichrist. But, I am a former high school Goth, one of those kids who wore lots of black eye paint and a shaved head, and walked around with a "talk to me and suffer my wrath"-type vibe. And, while I usually don't listen to his music, I find Manson's cover of Soft Cell's 1981 hit "Tainted Love" (itself a cover of Gloria Jones's song from the '60s) irresistible.

Manson recorded the song for the soundtrack to Not Another Teen Movie, a film attempting to parody the stereotypes of teen cliques as portrayed in movies spanning three decades, from Grease to Sixteen Candles to American Pie. But Not Another Teen Movie's attempts fall short. While it features a few decent tricks (the appearance of Molly Ringwald, the Breakfast Club scene, Eric Jungmann doing a dead-on Ducky Dale), mostly it is a vile and nonsensical stink-pile of rip-offs (I'm looking at you, Randy Quaid).

Many of these rip-offs come directly from films written by John Hughes in the mid-'80s, focusing on high school cliques (the cool kids ostracizing the uncool kids), and their effects on students. The high school cliques problem wasn't new when Hughes did it, and it isn't now. These days, however, disenfranchised students seem more inclined to take each other out Commando-style, rather than simply don dark clothes, grow their hair long, and join a band. Marilyn Manson knows what I mean, but instead of critiquing the systemic problem, in the video for "Tainted Love," he and director Atwell mount their own little high school parody, which does much the same thing that Not Another Teen Movie does: mock the jocks.

The opening of the video sees Manson (decked out in rap star garb) and his truculent gang crash a kegger, and make the party their own. An Ozzy Osbourne look-alike takes over the turntables, the Goths start break-dancing, and red vinyl-clad strippers begin to perform. Wearing stereotypical high school attire (letter jackets and the latest fashions), the "beautiful people" eye their new dark friends with disdain. The video extends the visual gags of Not Another Teen Movie, employing high school caricatures -- jocks, geeks, wallflowers, and perfect bodies -- all played by the film's actors.

As the Goths parade about in makeup and big boots, they appear so outrageously different that they plainly deserve our respect. Not equal respect, more respect. They're getting up to all manner of cool shit, while the high school kids are all the same. For many people (at least those with whom I once caused a ruckus every Saturday night at Denny's), the Goth lifestyle is a matter of secondary deviance, only exaggerating the marginalisation forced on them by high school's cruel, clique-ish monotony.

This happens to our resident wallflower, played by Chyler Leigh (the film's star). An obvious nerd at the beginning of the video, complete with glasses, a ponytail, and overalls, Leigh's character is so overcome with a desire to fit in (or is it Manson's magnetism?) that she heads to the bathroom for a Goth makeover. Meanwhile, the walking cartoon of a bitchy cheerleader (the brilliantly cartoonish Jaime Pressly) is visibly sickened by the Manson gang. Her male counterparts, the jocks, are similarly unoriginal -- all they seem to want to do is high-five each other.

Ironically, these stereotypes are now even more derided than Goths, who have gained in popularity over the last decade or so, with thanks, somewhat, to Manson. As a result, he is finding it a lot harder to upset people these days. This might be why he's inserting himself into a teen party, in order to look out of place (he is a bit old for high school, but then again, so are the film's actors). Or maybe it's why, in the video's closing scenes, he sits in a pink bedroom with pink walls, atop a pink bed, complete with bunny rabbit pillows. But Manson can't stop with this bizarre too-sweetness: the bunnies turn into half-naked women, seductively bouncing about on the bed. Because Manson's look and attitude are less disparaged than they used to be, it seems that the pretty people are a lot easier to deride.