He's a sideshow freak.

He likes to think he is. But he is a shock rocker, which makes him part of the crowd of "freaks" and goth just happen to share that crowd.

manson is not a goth just a feaky person who is probaly mentaly disturbed or something if not just survily screwed up aparantly he had two of his ribs taken out so he suck his own you know what!!

Or should I say Marilyn Manson is to goth, what Blink 182 is to punk. Purist tend to express annoyance whenever certain popular bands with specific features of a subculture (however coopted, diluted, or insincere) - musically or aesthetically, gain media attention and invariably bring in all types of people who would otherwise not be part of a particular movement, community or scene. Personally I can see both sides of the arguement. On one hand, what one is attempting to do by associating with such an underground community is in part, rejecting the outside dominant culture. However, in this light, such bands as Manson might be viewed as diluting the very cause or scene by bringing in those very outside elements shunned by the subgroup itself. So many people from the mainstream might actually assimilate into the counter-culture that it might gradually begin to reflect dominant culture more and more (for hardcore followers, always a bad thing!). Thus, in the eyes of the true hardcore followers, outsiders or posers might pose a possible threat to a scene, for in their eyes it has the potential to possibly negate or weaken it. On the other hand, such movements can come off as highly superficial, cliquish and even elitist, particularly when acting snobbishly selective about who is to be accepted and who is not, based upon issues that cannot truly be measured (attitude, appearance, scene connections, friendships, musical knowledge, etc). Ultimately, perhaps a loftier goal might be to reject all scenes and subgroups period, and instead, attempt to become a genuine individual outside all societal categories. It's everyone's existential choice of course, but for some I suppose, such individualism might seem too frightening a prospect.

No. Neither is Slipknot or Evanescence. To experience true goth music, start with classics like Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Joy Division. Progress to artists such as Faith and the Muse and The Cruxshadows.