The Art of Gothic - BBC documentary series review

This programme was incredibly interesting, and Andrew Graham-Dixon's enthusiasm on the topic of gothic is very engaging. Graham was not afraid to mock the silliness of the genre slightly, and rightly so. I found it informative and eye-opening; I did not realise how powerful and influential the gothic genre was on it's time, and even still today. Nor did I realise how early on gothic began, dating from the late 18^th century; and how it both influenced, and was influenced by, so many different things - from architecture and buildings, to paintings and books, to clothing and appearance. It did not focus on literary gothic too much, and more on the world of gothic itself, which gave a broader knowledge of the genre. This series was useful for my own research, too – going into detail about why people took opium, and the effects of it, and also information about the industrial revolution; furthermore, it acted as a visual aid to my former research of gothic – such as showing the viewer around famous buildings and analysing paintings in depth. It amazes me how gothic horror was loved so dearly, but almost as if it shouldn’t have been – young girls would be buried in gothic novels for hours, engrossed in the tales that really should have terrified them, especially at a time when science was not as strong as it is today – therefore the supernatural elements of the stories could possibly have been believed in. I was also amused by the discovery of faked gothic ‘manuscripts.’ The end of the series was particularly thought-provoking; the concept of gothic still surrounding us today, not only in our media, but in our minds – and even in our mobile phones. I rather enjoyed the concept that we are desperate to disconnect from the real world and indulge in a more artificial one via the medium of our phones.