{"id":1876016,"date":"2026-04-10T14:17:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1876016"},"modified":"2026-04-10T14:17:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:17:00","slug":"its-just-the-aesthetic-the-drama-and-the-allure-of-violent-subcultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1876016","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s just the aesthetic\u2019: The Drama and the allure of violent subcultures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-0-1682-1121\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443220.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/film-tv\/article\/70069\/1\/why-transgression-attractive-the-drama-goth-zendaya-robert-pattinson-columbine\" data-article-id=\"70069\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.43\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Drama\" class=\"img\" height=\"1174\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443220.jpg\" width=\"1682\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy A24<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-04-10T14:17:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"10 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"10\">10,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - film-tv\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/opinion\">Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/opinion\">Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>\u2018It\u2019s just the aesthetic\u2019: The Drama and the allure of <span class=\"nowrap\">violent subcultures<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>In Kristoffer Borgli\u2019s new film, Zendaya\u2019s character makes an admission that gets to the darkest parts of our culture. But what led her there in the <span class=\"nowrap\">first place?<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-04-10T14:17:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"10 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"10\">10,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-04-10T14:17:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"10 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"10\">10,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/ThomWaite\">Thom Waite<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><em>Warning: this article contains major spoilers for The Drama<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><span>In season one of the animated TV show <\/span><em><span>Smiling Friends<\/span><\/em><span>, there\u2019s an episode that follows an anthropomorphic shrimp on a quest to win back his ex-girlfriend. This involves going into a clothing store to swap his outfit for something an \u201cactual adult\u201d would wear, but it doesn\u2019t pan out. When he emerges from the changing room wearing a leather trenchcoat, thick glasses, and a black metal t-shirt, another character named Charlie tells him: \u201cYou look like you\u2019re about to tell your friend not to come to school tomorrow, man.\u201d Equally, Shrimp looks like he might have just walked off a Vetements catwalk <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/31884\/1\/behind-vetements-rule-breaking-take-on-couture\">circa 2017<\/a>, or from backstage at an Anne Imhof performance. The joke lands because the aesthetic stereotype of the school shooter \u2013 dating back to the Columbine high school massacre in 1999 \u2013 is so instantly recognisable, filtered through years of fashion collections, art projects, music subcultures, and films.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In Kristoffer Borgli\u2019s 2026 film <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70060\/1\/fucked-boyfriend-brother-readers-confess-their-worst-mistakes-the-drama\"><em><span>The Drama<\/span><\/em><\/a><span>, another Charlie (played by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/robert-pattinson\">Robert Pattinson<\/a>) gradually comes to terms with his fianc\u00e9e\u2019s admission that, as a teenager, she planned but didn\u2019t carry out a school shooting. In the aftermath of the confession, his soon-to-be wife Emma (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/zendaya\">Zendaya<\/a>) explains that she was mildly bullied and isolated at school, but was ultimately drawn to the \u2018subculture\u2019 that surrounds school shootings for another reason. \u201cIt was just the aesthetics of it,\u201d she says. Imaginary images of her as a slightly nerdy, awkward teen, sharing romantic moments with current-day Charlie, are played for comic effect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Regardless of how ingrained it\u2019s become in our culture, committing mass murder for the \u201caesthetic\u201d might sound like a shallow \u2013\u00a0and very 2010s \u2013 excuse, but Borgli makes it believable. It\u2019s why, despite bringing a gun to school, Emma is easily dissuaded from going through with her plan by a simultaneous mass shooting, and ultimately sympathises with its victims, even becoming a spokesperson for a gun violence prevention organisation. She seems more interested in being the \u2018kind of person\u2019 who might commit a horrendous act of violence than actually committing the act itself, putting far more time into taking swamp selfies with her dad\u2019s rifle and recording a clich\u00e9-laden confession. When she\u2019s offered an out \u2013 and somewhere else to direct her emotions \u2013 via the anti-gun violence group, she grabs it with both hands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This turn as an activist is arguably as performative as her stint as a prospective school shooter. As her dad alludes to at the wedding, she went through lots of phases, and played many different characters growing up, which leads to the uneasy question at the heart of <em>The Drama<\/em>: is Charlie marrying the \u2018real\u2019 Emma, or is she still LARPing, deep into adult life? Is her \u2018normal\u2019 persona just another role?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"6zmKcUa4Xxk\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"422\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6zmKcUa4Xxk\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"750\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>There\u2019s another question that\u2019s raised throughout the film, though, which is: why are we so drawn to transgression in the first place? Why does Emma initially find solace in the most horrific act imaginable? Borgli suggests that the fault lies, at least in part, with the internet. Or, as one X user puts it: \u201c<\/span><em><span>the drama<\/span><\/em><span> is all about what it\u2019s like when a millennial starts dating someone from Gen Z and they find out what unsupervised internet access does to a mf.\u201d (Emma isn\u2019t quite Gen Z, but there\u2019s a big enough age gap that we can assume they grew up in very different online environments.) This echoes a very real phenomenon in the wake of the Columbine massacre, which saw cultish online communities \u2013 first on YouTube, then Tumblr \u2013 idolise the two shooters. The so-called \u201cColumbine effect\u201d inspired copycats across North America and Europe, including the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook shooting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It would be reductive to blame the internet alone, though. Offline, artists, designers, musicians and filmmakers have always existed in a tangled relationship with extreme subcultures. In <\/span><em><span>The Drama<\/span><\/em><span>, this manifests as a book that appears on Charlie\u2019s desk in the museum he works at: titled <\/span><em><span>Brain Rot<\/span><\/em><span>, it shows sexualised portraits of women posing with guns, which contribute to his fantasies about Emma clutching a rifle on their bed. IRL, though, Columbine sparked a moral panic about Marilyn Manson\u2019s influence on young fans (a connection that the musician strongly rejected) while years later the fashion brand Bstroy <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/fashion\/2019\/sep\/18\/bstroy-school-shooting-hoodies-clothes-line-backlash\"><span>drew criticism<\/span><\/a><span> when it promoted a series of hoodies bearing the Columbine name, alongside Sandy Hook and Stoneman Douglas, complete with bullet holes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>More recently, we\u2019ve had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/kanye-west\">Kanye West<\/a> mining the violent, often racist subculture of European football ultras \u2013 long before he started selling t-shirts with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/66086\/1\/kanye-west-yeezy-website-is-banned-in-response-swastika-tshirt-superbowl-shopify\"><span>swastikas on the front<\/span><\/a><span> \u2013 as well as Dimes Square\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/57309\/1\/edgelords-far-right-views-kanye-west-dimes-square-urbit\"><span>flirtations<\/span><\/a><span> with far-right ideas and iconography, including gun violence. Maybe the most obvious recent example, though, is the looksmaxxing influencer Clavicular taking to the runway at an Elena Velez show in NYC, staged in collaboration with the notorious collective Remilia Corporation. This is despite (or because of) his connection to yet more controversial figures like Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>This is not to say that the examples listed above are all the same in terms of their impact or intent, or that transgressive art, fashion, film, etc shouldn\u2019t be allowed to exist. In many cases listed above, aesthetics are used to critique, or reflect, the extremes of the culture we\u2019re living in; others would be better described as mindless provocation at best, or at worst, a wholehearted embrace of violence and xenophobia. (We\u2019ll let you decide which is which.) Ultimately, the line between critique and glamourisation is a blurry one, especially in the online spaces that <em>The Drama<\/em>\u2019s Emma grew up in, where the image is presented out of context, copied and pasted to a Tumblr moodboard.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What does this mean for <\/span><em><span>The Drama<\/span><\/em><span>? Arguably, it makes it easier to forgive Emma\u2019s past if you haven\u2019t already. Steeped in images and stories of glamourised gun violence, it seems a pretty obvious place for her to have channelled her feelings of anger and loneliness. And, as Borgli shows us by the end of the film, we all require a degree of LARPing to get through life with our sanity and relationships intact. However, in an ironic twist, the film itself \u2013\u00a0and its marketing by A24 \u2013 has also been criticised by the anti-gun organisation March for Our Lives, which posted a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWpVP0SDVyc\/?img_index=1\"><span>statement<\/span><\/a><span> to Instagram asking: \u201cWhat kind of conversation is this meant to start?\u201d Elsewhere, a Columbine victim parent and gun reform activist told <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/03\/24\/zendaya-the-drama-called-out-by-columbine-parent\/\"><em><span>TMZ<\/span><\/em><\/a><span> that the filmmakers\u2019 choice to use a school shooting as Emma\u2019s revelation is \u201cawful\u201d, adding that it could help \u201cnormalise\u201d shootings and \u201chumanise\u201d the people who carry them out.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>In a different interview with the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/the-drama-parkland-shooting-jackie-corin-zendaya-pattinson-1236555461\/\"><em><span>Hollywood Reporter<\/span><\/em><\/a><span>, Jackie Corin, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting and co-founder of March for Our Lives, was more nuanced about <\/span><em><span>The Drama<\/span><\/em><span>, calling it \u201can inevitable evolution in storytelling\u201d as gun violence becomes increasingly embedded in our cultural conversations. <\/span><span>\u201cArt has the capacity to deepen public understanding and create emotional clarity and awareness,\u201d she told the publication (although she hadn\u2019t watched the film yet). \u201cBut it can also flatten and distort reality, especially when it leans on shorthand or tries to make something more palatable than it actually is. With something like a near school shooting, even small tonal choices can shift whether a story feels productive or dismissive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Whether <\/span><em><span>The Drama <\/span><\/em><span>feels \u201cproductive\u201d probably depends on what category of transgression you think the film falls into: mindless provocation that exploits the imagery and culture surrounding America\u2019s gun violence crisis, or a work of art that inspires real engagement with the subject, its causes, and its long-term fallout. As Borgli is all too aware, aesthetics, and what you choose to do with them, really matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! 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An intro to Japanese cinema\u2019s cult provocateur<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69958\/1\/the-good-boy-stephen-graham-jan-komasa-kit-rakusen-film-interview-2026\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Good Boy\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/419-152-1520-1011\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442262.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">The Good Boy is a sick, twisted nightmare about delinquent teens<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69952\/1\/arco-a-visually-striking-soul-stirring-science-fantasy-ugo-bienvenu-interview\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Arco\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/213-0-2523-1678\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442132.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Arco, a striking, soul-stirring sci-fi about lonely kids in 2075<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69939\/1\/dead-man-wire-interview-gus-van-sant-bill-skarsgard-luigi-mangione\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Dead Man\u2019s Wire (2025)\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-2-3000-1995\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442047.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd and Gus Van Sant on their scrappy thriller Dead Man\u2019s Wire<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69930\/1\/anime-legend-mamoru-hosoda-scarlet-hamlet-interview-japan\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Scarlet (2026)\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/268-0-1260-838\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441848.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Scarlet: Anime legend Mamoru Hosoda\u2019s trippy new take on Hamlet<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69925\/1\/2026-sxsw-south-by-southwest-film-guide-boots-riley-i-love-boosters-alex-prager\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_FirstLook\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/63-0-1097-730\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441809.jpeg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">7 unmissable films from South by Southwest 2026 <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69918\/1\/timothee-chalamet-oscars-fans-backlash-criticism-marty-supreme-press-tour\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Timoth&#233;e Chalamet Oscars\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-0-1024-681\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441743.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Why fans are turning against Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><em>Warning: this article contains major spoilers for The Drama<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><span>In season one of the animated TV show <\/span><em><span>Smiling Friends<\/span><\/em><span>, there\u2019s an episode that follows an anthropomorphic shrimp on a quest to win back his ex-girlfriend. This involves going into a clothing store to swap his outfit for something an \u201cactual adult\u201d would wear, but it doesn\u2019t pan out. When he emerges from the changing room wearing a leather trenchcoat, thick glasses, and a black metal t-shirt, another character named Charlie tells him: \u201cYou look like you\u2019re about to tell your friend not to come to school tomorrow, man.\u201d Equally, Shrimp looks like he might have just walked off a Vetements catwalk <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/31884\/1\/behind-vetements-rule-breaking-take-on-couture\">circa 2017<\/a>, or from backstage at an Anne Imhof performance. The joke lands because the aesthetic stereotype of the school shooter \u2013 dating back to the Columbine high school massacre in 1999 \u2013 is so instantly recognisable, filtered through years of fashion collections, art projects, music subcultures, and films.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In Kristoffer Borgli\u2019s 2026 film <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70060\/1\/fucked-boyfriend-brother-readers-confess-their-worst-mistakes-the-drama\"><em><span>The Drama<\/span><\/em><\/a><span>, another Charlie (played by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/robert-pattinson\">Robert Pattinson<\/a>) gradually comes to terms with his fianc\u00e9e\u2019s admission that, as a teenager, she planned but didn\u2019t carry out a school shooting. In the aftermath of the confession, his soon-to-be wife Emma (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/zendaya\">Zendaya<\/a>) explains that she was mildly bullied and isolated at school, but was ultimately drawn to the \u2018subculture\u2019 that surrounds school shootings for another reason. \u201cIt was just the aesthetics of it,\u201d she says. Imaginary images of her as a slightly nerdy, awkward teen, sharing romantic moments with current-day Charlie, are played for comic effect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Regardless of how ingrained it\u2019s become in our culture, committing mass murder for the \u201caesthetic\u201d might sound like a shallow \u2013\u00a0and very 2010s \u2013 excuse, but Borgli makes it believable. It\u2019s why, despite bringing a gun to school, Emma is easily dissuaded from going through with her plan by a simultaneous mass shooting, and ultimately sympathises with its victims, even becoming a spokesperson for a gun violence prevention organisation. She seems more interested in being the \u2018kind of person\u2019 who might commit a horrendous act of violence than actually committing the act itself, putting far more time into taking swamp selfies with her dad\u2019s rifle and recording a clich\u00e9-laden confession. When she\u2019s offered an out \u2013 and somewhere else to direct her emotions \u2013 via the anti-gun violence group, she grabs it with both hands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This turn as an activist is arguably as performative as her stint as a prospective school shooter. As her dad alludes to at the wedding, she went through lots of phases, and played many different characters growing up, which leads to the uneasy question at the heart of <em>The Drama<\/em>: is Charlie marrying the \u2018real\u2019 Emma, or is she still LARPing, deep into adult life? Is her \u2018normal\u2019 persona just another role?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"6zmKcUa4Xxk\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"422\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6zmKcUa4Xxk\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"750\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>There\u2019s another question that\u2019s raised throughout the film, though, which is: why are we so drawn to transgression in the first place? Why does Emma initially find solace in the most horrific act imaginable? Borgli suggests that the fault lies, at least in part, with the internet. Or, as one X user puts it: \u201c<\/span><em><span>the drama<\/span><\/em><span> is all about what it\u2019s like when a millennial starts dating someone from Gen Z and they find out what unsupervised internet access does to a mf.\u201d (Emma isn\u2019t quite Gen Z, but there\u2019s a big enough age gap that we can assume they grew up in very different online environments.) This echoes a very real phenomenon in the wake of the Columbine massacre, which saw cultish online communities \u2013 first on YouTube, then Tumblr \u2013 idolise the two shooters. The so-called \u201cColumbine effect\u201d inspired copycats across North America and Europe, including the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook shooting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It would be reductive to blame the internet alone, though. Offline, artists, designers, musicians and filmmakers have always existed in a tangled relationship with extreme subcultures. In <\/span><em><span>The Drama<\/span><\/em><span>, this manifests as a book that appears on Charlie\u2019s desk in the museum he works at: titled <\/span><em><span>Brain Rot<\/span><\/em><span>, it shows sexualised portraits of women posing with guns, which contribute to his fantasies about Emma clutching a rifle on their bed. IRL, though, Columbine sparked a moral panic about Marilyn Manson\u2019s influence on young fans (a connection that the musician strongly rejected) while years later the fashion brand Bstroy <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/fashion\/2019\/sep\/18\/bstroy-school-shooting-hoodies-clothes-line-backlash\"><span>drew criticism<\/span><\/a><span> when it promoted a series of hoodies bearing the Columbine name, alongside Sandy Hook and Stoneman Douglas, complete with bullet holes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>More recently, we\u2019ve had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/kanye-west\">Kanye West<\/a> mining the violent, often racist subculture of European football ultras \u2013 long before he started selling t-shirts with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/66086\/1\/kanye-west-yeezy-website-is-banned-in-response-swastika-tshirt-superbowl-shopify\"><span>swastikas on the front<\/span><\/a><span> \u2013 as well as Dimes Square\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/57309\/1\/edgelords-far-right-views-kanye-west-dimes-square-urbit\"><span>flirtations<\/span><\/a><span> with far-right ideas and iconography, including gun violence. Maybe the most obvious recent example, though, is the looksmaxxing influencer Clavicular taking to the runway at an Elena Velez show in NYC, staged in collaboration with the notorious collective Remilia Corporation. This is despite (or because of) his connection to yet more controversial figures like Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>This is not to say that the examples listed above are all the same in terms of their impact or intent, or that transgressive art, fashion, film, etc shouldn\u2019t be allowed to exist. In many cases listed above, aesthetics are used to critique, or reflect, the extremes of the culture we\u2019re living in; others would be better described as mindless provocation at best, or at worst, a wholehearted embrace of violence and xenophobia. (We\u2019ll let you decide which is which.) Ultimately, the line between critique and glamourisation is a blurry one, especially in the online spaces that <em>The Drama<\/em>\u2019s Emma grew up in, where the image is presented out of context, copied and pasted to a Tumblr moodboard.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What does this mean for <\/span><em><span>The Drama<\/span><\/em><span>? Arguably, it makes it easier to forgive Emma\u2019s past if you haven\u2019t already. Steeped in images and stories of glamourised gun violence, it seems a pretty obvious place for her to have channelled her feelings of anger and loneliness. And, as Borgli shows us by the end of the film, we all require a degree of LARPing to get through life with our sanity and relationships intact. However, in an ironic twist, the film itself \u2013\u00a0and its marketing by A24 \u2013 has also been criticised by the anti-gun organisation March for Our Lives, which posted a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWpVP0SDVyc\/?img_index=1\"><span>statement<\/span><\/a><span> to Instagram asking: \u201cWhat kind of conversation is this meant to start?\u201d Elsewhere, a Columbine victim parent and gun reform activist told <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/03\/24\/zendaya-the-drama-called-out-by-columbine-parent\/\"><em><span>TMZ<\/span><\/em><\/a><span> that the filmmakers\u2019 choice to use a school shooting as Emma\u2019s revelation is \u201cawful\u201d, adding that it could help \u201cnormalise\u201d shootings and \u201chumanise\u201d the people who carry them out.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>In a different interview with the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/the-drama-parkland-shooting-jackie-corin-zendaya-pattinson-1236555461\/\"><em><span>Hollywood Reporter<\/span><\/em><\/a><span>, Jackie Corin, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting and co-founder of March for Our Lives, was more nuanced about <\/span><em><span>The Drama<\/span><\/em><span>, calling it \u201can inevitable evolution in storytelling\u201d as gun violence becomes increasingly embedded in our cultural conversations. <\/span><span>\u201cArt has the capacity to deepen public understanding and create emotional clarity and awareness,\u201d she told the publication (although she hadn\u2019t watched the film yet). \u201cBut it can also flatten and distort reality, especially when it leans on shorthand or tries to make something more palatable than it actually is. With something like a near school shooting, even small tonal choices can shift whether a story feels productive or dismissive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Whether <\/span><em><span>The Drama <\/span><\/em><span>feels \u201cproductive\u201d probably depends on what category of transgression you think the film falls into: mindless provocation that exploits the imagery and culture surrounding America\u2019s gun violence crisis, or a work of art that inspires real engagement with the subject, its causes, and its long-term fallout. As Borgli is all too aware, aesthetics, and what you choose to do with them, really matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/70069\/1\/why-transgression-attractive-the-drama-goth-zendaya-robert-pattinson-columbine&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-0-1682-1121\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443220.jpg&#8221;] Courtesy A24 April\u00a0 10,\u00a0 2026 Film &amp; TV \/ Opinion Film &amp; TV \/ Opinion \u2018It\u2019s just the aesthetic\u2019: The Drama and the allure of violent subcultures In Kristoffer Borgli\u2019s new film, Zendaya\u2019s character makes an admission that gets to the darkest parts of our culture. But what led her there in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1876016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1876016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876016\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1876016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1876016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1876016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}